Mumbai Attacks - A view from afar
And so I saw it dying.. Wicks burnt out and doors closed.. The familiar scent of spicy Indian curry doused out the burnt cordite.. The tears dried up and minds returned to the familiar problem of balancing bank accounts than to the completely alien problem of how to counter terror. And cynicism found a home again at the corner of my mouth.
The sheer rage and impotence I felt as I watched the attack unfold in live news feeds , chats with my friend Siddhartha in Oslo (who gave me a minute by minute update on Google Talk) and finally on the news channels back home ,was matched by my equally vociferous thoughts on what next. I have found planning ahead makes a current crisis easier to handle. A plan soothes ruffled minds and shows the way ahead. And the only thought that punctuated all my plans for the future is.... nothing will happen.
True to my nature I tried working on the big picture. Preventing a terror attack is far more important than reacting to it. As proud as I am of the NSG and the MARCOS the hackneyed response to the terror strikes showed the apathy and malaise that hamstrings our security system. The fact remains our security apparatus needs to first work at preventing such attacks and then creating a defined response system.
Intelligence and information are the life blood of a prevention strategy, as several security analysts have pointed out in copious articles in numerous papers. To take it a bit further, obtaining information constitutes of information acquisition, information transfer and processing to create actionable intelligence and finally setting up response mechanisms calibrated to act on this intelligence. To make this a seamless process in the current Indian security setup would require nothing short of a complete transformation.
Working on another model, the effective prevention of terrorism rests on a stakeholder triad where each member has a specific roles and responsibilities.The triad constitutes of citizens, the security establishment including the police, armed forces and intelligence agencies and finally the legislative and judicial establishments. Each one of these members has a stake in the security of the country and much to loose in the event of an attack.
It is imperative that citizen security councils be formed with specific duties and jurisdiction assigned. From what I envisage, information collection , liasioning with the local police and performing neighborhood watch duties would be their major tasks. Information collection and reports to a data bank would be the key activity that these councils can perform that will allow much needed visibility to the country's security apparatus . Remember the words bandied about in all the articles- huge population, immense diversity,porous borders etc. Well if we have the right to scoff at these as excuses we have a duty to take the first steps towards helping the government with information that it can use. To make these councils effective - light training in self defense, intelligence gathering and report making along with seed money based on donations should be made available. Security is after all everybody's business. I get shot boarding a train at VT if I dont watch out! The key to this of course is urgency. There is rage among people now. There is fear and anger. The time to channelize it effectively into something useful, at least in high profile cities, is now. Will we? Punctuation time a.k.a Reality check .. Nothing will happen.
The second side of the triad has been called the frontline , the sword arms of the country and the ironically one which has been most criticized. The security establishment needs a complete overhaul and the time to do it is now. My suggestions would be a very incomplete list but it would be a very very good start if half of my wish list is achieved.
Let us start with the local thana.. the one we call when we are fearful of anything. The thana has existed with pretty much the same structure since the British left home. In an age of specialization and increasing sophistication in crime we have a generalist panacea to cure all evils in the thana.
Let us start with the local thana.. the one we call when we are fearful of anything. The thana has existed with pretty much the same structure since the British left home. In an age of specialization and increasing sophistication in crime we have a generalist panacea to cure all evils in the thana.
The very first thing to look at is staffing. Arun Shourie highlighted the importance of staffing in strategic locations like the Lakshadweep islands where uninhabited islands have been used as terrorist bases and there is a staff of only 4 to manage over 10 islands spread across the ocean!
The staffing needs to be calibrated in terms of population, area of jurisdiction and security priority of the area. The assessment of priority needs to be annually reviewed based on economy, strategic importance and events of the previous year.
The next step is to look at the organization of the local police force. From the beat cop upwards the departments needs to be organized into specific units for specialized duties. Homicide, Forensic, Rapid Response, Special investigation , Citizen Liasioning,Mobile Patrol and Intelligence are specialized functions that spring to mind immediately. Each police department in a major city should have a specialized force like a SWAT team of the NYPD that can be rapidly deployed for situations that require advanced weapons handling. They can serve as advance reconnaissance units for more specialized forces like the NSG in the event of terrorist attacks.
The support structure is critical for such a reorganization. Weapons and training needs to be revamped ground up to allow for greater confidence among the members of the police force while approaching explosive situations. Incentives should be hiked and directly linked to a performance assessment program and a rewards process. Information processing should be given paramount importance to coordinate both police and citizen intelligence reports. This means the setup of a high speed network along with a database to track and maintain these reports. Just goes to show how critical a proper information technology infrastructure is to support such an initiative.
The Mumbai attack was unique in a lot of ways because the attackers used sea routes. 7000 km of coastline and the coast guard is stretched to capacity.This is symptomatic of border control whether its land or sea. There is serious need for revamping every form of border control. Strong borders are not built solely by barbed wire fences but a combination of prosperous borders thriving on intra- border trade and monitoring mechanisms, both manual and technical. The former is an arduous task given India's geopolitical realities but an area hitherto little explored or understood. The latter is again a focus area of specialization. The BSF mandate has been diluted over the years to counter insurgency operations and there is need to get it back on track to border control along with specialized support units that use infra red sensors, satellite monitoring and other innovative techniques to facilitate effective border control and tracking.
The NSG was formed after Operation Blue Star with a specific mandate to handle anti terrorist/anti hijack operations and other close quarter encounters that required specialized operational knowledge. Over the years the NSG mandate has again been diluted to provide Z level security to politicians. It took 7 hours for the NSG to get to the spot when the Mumbai attacks took place. The response was anything but planned , as has been noted in the Haaretz by several Israeli intelligence agencies. The need to use standardized playbooks and have specific response plans was underscored brutally.It is necessary that the elite commando force be kept in prime shape with adequate training,support and practice. The idea to set up 4 NSG hubs is a start but that in isolation is a step in the dark.
The notion of information collection has been a central theme of this thought process and a logical conclusion to it is the setting up of an agency whose specific task is to collect , collate, make sense of incoming information and advise security agencies accordingly. There has been plenty of talk of how several alerts had been received and even passed down to the Mumbai Police but could not be converted into actionable intelligence. Well the setup of a centralized information data bank and a dedicated agency that works on the lines of the NSA will specifically address this gap. This agency could be a part of the proposed FIA or an independent agency.
The final member of the triad is the most difficult one to align with plans. It requires that intangible beast called political will. It requires the setup of legislation and effective anti terror laws that focus on countering this menace and allow the FIA to operate without the indiscriminate politicization that has been the bane of CBI. It requires the set up of continuous monitoring mechanisms consisting of Home Ministry, intelligence and other security agency officials that poll credible threats on a regular basis . It requires the set up of a response mechanism consisting of Home, Foreign and Defense ministry personnel with defined playbooks to respond to crisis situations without the headless scampering and mixed voices we heard during the Mumbai episode. The judicial system needs to work in sync with all these systems to ensure a fair and firm hearing. Meandering and confusing judicial proceedings in such cases gives out the wrong signals to such troublemakers.
A final note on intelligence is citizen history acquisition. For years the country has been tinkering with ideas to have a single view of every citizen's background and history. PAN cards and voter ID cards were brief steps in that direction. Its high time something similar to the SSN in the US is put into place to effectively manage both security and services that the government provides. This is in itself is a gargantuan task given the diversity of the country and the sheer numbers involved. But not impossible.
To understand that the Mumbai attack is a wake up call that can be used as a catalyst to transform much of our security apparatus from a reactive sleeping giant to a proactive well directed instrument of protection is critical. People have been given a rude shock. People have been outraged. A mirror has been shown to us and we cannot afford to ignore the stagnant image that looks back at us. Our biggest enemy is not the faceless terrorist . It is time. It is eating away at outraged passions , at a nation's resolve and a definite sense of purpose. The geopolitical realities of India will never allow any grandiose action. I have watched the rhetoric tone down from full scale war to surgical strikes to diplomatic negotiations and joint probes. Strategy dictates innovation is necessary to break out of a deadlock. It is this diktat of time that we have to heed. If we cannot dissuade our neighbors from stealing from our apple tree we have to make our walls stronger and build a stockade that affords only a sliver of opportunity. Let the enemy approach then. We will be waiting. This is a proven approach .7 years after 9/11 there have been several thwarted attacks and no terrorist events of scale in continental United States.
The eternal question is will we do it? Will we shake this age old apathy and break free from the morbid roots of sab chalta hai? These threads of doubt are what punctuated all these thoughts that coursed through my brains as I watched the attacks. They spoke to me whenIi counted the number of headlines related to the Mumbai attacks on my RSS feed from IBN on December 9th . Zero. I carry these threads with me each walking day and they furrow my forehead with anguish and the sorrow of my impotence .
Meanwhile news reports tell me that life on streets of Mumbai has returned to normal...
The Mumbai attack was unique in a lot of ways because the attackers used sea routes. 7000 km of coastline and the coast guard is stretched to capacity.This is symptomatic of border control whether its land or sea. There is serious need for revamping every form of border control. Strong borders are not built solely by barbed wire fences but a combination of prosperous borders thriving on intra- border trade and monitoring mechanisms, both manual and technical. The former is an arduous task given India's geopolitical realities but an area hitherto little explored or understood. The latter is again a focus area of specialization. The BSF mandate has been diluted over the years to counter insurgency operations and there is need to get it back on track to border control along with specialized support units that use infra red sensors, satellite monitoring and other innovative techniques to facilitate effective border control and tracking.
The NSG was formed after Operation Blue Star with a specific mandate to handle anti terrorist/anti hijack operations and other close quarter encounters that required specialized operational knowledge. Over the years the NSG mandate has again been diluted to provide Z level security to politicians. It took 7 hours for the NSG to get to the spot when the Mumbai attacks took place. The response was anything but planned , as has been noted in the Haaretz by several Israeli intelligence agencies. The need to use standardized playbooks and have specific response plans was underscored brutally.It is necessary that the elite commando force be kept in prime shape with adequate training,support and practice. The idea to set up 4 NSG hubs is a start but that in isolation is a step in the dark.
The notion of information collection has been a central theme of this thought process and a logical conclusion to it is the setting up of an agency whose specific task is to collect , collate, make sense of incoming information and advise security agencies accordingly. There has been plenty of talk of how several alerts had been received and even passed down to the Mumbai Police but could not be converted into actionable intelligence. Well the setup of a centralized information data bank and a dedicated agency that works on the lines of the NSA will specifically address this gap. This agency could be a part of the proposed FIA or an independent agency.
The final member of the triad is the most difficult one to align with plans. It requires that intangible beast called political will. It requires the setup of legislation and effective anti terror laws that focus on countering this menace and allow the FIA to operate without the indiscriminate politicization that has been the bane of CBI. It requires the set up of continuous monitoring mechanisms consisting of Home Ministry, intelligence and other security agency officials that poll credible threats on a regular basis . It requires the set up of a response mechanism consisting of Home, Foreign and Defense ministry personnel with defined playbooks to respond to crisis situations without the headless scampering and mixed voices we heard during the Mumbai episode. The judicial system needs to work in sync with all these systems to ensure a fair and firm hearing. Meandering and confusing judicial proceedings in such cases gives out the wrong signals to such troublemakers.
A final note on intelligence is citizen history acquisition. For years the country has been tinkering with ideas to have a single view of every citizen's background and history. PAN cards and voter ID cards were brief steps in that direction. Its high time something similar to the SSN in the US is put into place to effectively manage both security and services that the government provides. This is in itself is a gargantuan task given the diversity of the country and the sheer numbers involved. But not impossible.
To understand that the Mumbai attack is a wake up call that can be used as a catalyst to transform much of our security apparatus from a reactive sleeping giant to a proactive well directed instrument of protection is critical. People have been given a rude shock. People have been outraged. A mirror has been shown to us and we cannot afford to ignore the stagnant image that looks back at us. Our biggest enemy is not the faceless terrorist . It is time. It is eating away at outraged passions , at a nation's resolve and a definite sense of purpose. The geopolitical realities of India will never allow any grandiose action. I have watched the rhetoric tone down from full scale war to surgical strikes to diplomatic negotiations and joint probes. Strategy dictates innovation is necessary to break out of a deadlock. It is this diktat of time that we have to heed. If we cannot dissuade our neighbors from stealing from our apple tree we have to make our walls stronger and build a stockade that affords only a sliver of opportunity. Let the enemy approach then. We will be waiting. This is a proven approach .7 years after 9/11 there have been several thwarted attacks and no terrorist events of scale in continental United States.
The eternal question is will we do it? Will we shake this age old apathy and break free from the morbid roots of sab chalta hai? These threads of doubt are what punctuated all these thoughts that coursed through my brains as I watched the attacks. They spoke to me whenIi counted the number of headlines related to the Mumbai attacks on my RSS feed from IBN on December 9th . Zero. I carry these threads with me each walking day and they furrow my forehead with anguish and the sorrow of my impotence .
Meanwhile news reports tell me that life on streets of Mumbai has returned to normal...
Comments
specific actions that can be undertaken to prevent or atleast
minimize the possibility of future attacks. However, the final few lines capture the sad reality of india -- a nation mired in inaction, indiscipline and lack of resolve, a collection of individuals that fails to gel as a society..