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"Grave
threat" to India's internal security
Anil
Narendra
Internal
security in our country
is of great concern today because of the regular and unabated proxy
war launched by Pakistan. The Deputy Prime Minister and Home
Minister, Shri L.K. Advani says that Paskistan’s only goal is to
destablize the democratic and secular fabric of our nation as it
cannot live with such a system.
The
proxy war in the form of cross border terrorism is undoubtedly the
greatest threat to India’s unity and integrity in the present
times. In the name of freedom struggle Pakistan is actively helping
the terrorist groups in disrupting the multi-religious harmony in
the country. This movement carried out by Pakistan and its fanatic
groups is in complete violation of the UN resolution against
terrorism. The developments following the destruction of the Al-Qaida
base in Afghanistan are another point of concern. The fanatics have
now shifted their base from Pakistan to the immediate neighbourhood
of India and are spreading their tentacles in many other countries.
These elements need to be tackled effectively by the civilized
world.
Shri
Advani’s statement in Guwahati the other day that the internal
security situation in the country is "extremely grave" and
"war-like", is no exaggeration. Nor is his assertion that
India’s leaders are "under threat all the time". A
suspected Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) terrorist, Sadiq Jamal Mahetar, who
was reportedly involved in a plot to murder Shri Advani, the Gujarat
Chief Minister, Shri Narendra Modi and the Vishwa Hindu Parishad
leader Praveen Togadia, was killed in an encounter with the police
in Ahmedabad recently. Besides the D-company the terrorist outfits,
which were part of the “operation Ramjee”, were Laskhar-e-Toiba,
Jaish-e-Mohammed, Harkat-ul-Mujahideen, Al-Badr and the United
Liberation Front of Assam (ULFA).
In
fact, Indian leaders have lived in the shadow of death for years.
Pakistan’s ISI made several attempts last year including one
code-named "operation Ramjee", to eliminate the Deputy
Prime Minister, Shri L.K. Advani through terrorist outfits aided by
it and the underworld network of Dawood Ibrahim. Intelligence inputs
suggest that renewed efforts could be made this year as well. There
was another attempt to kill Shri Advani in Coimbatore in Tamil Nadu
on February 14, 1998 when a series of blasts occurred in and around
the venue of a BJP election rally, killing 36 persons and injuring
153. Shri Advani, who was slated to address the rally, survived as
his flight was delayed.
Many
chief ministers have been and continue to be the targets of the
militants. Shri Prafulla Kumar Mohanta escaped at least one attempt
on his life when he was the Chief Minister of Assam. There have been
plots against the present Chief Minister, Shri Tarun Gogoi. Several
years ago, bombs were unearthed near a dais from which Shri
Buddhadeb Bhattacharyya, then a Minister in West Bengal and now the
State’s Chief Minister, was to address a rally in Murshidabad
district. One can go on citing examples. Attempted assassinations
are part of the terrorist outfits’ wider strategy of destabilizing
India. Terrorism unfortunately has been adopted as a means of state
policy by Pakistan.
Pakistan’s
intelligence agency ISI has been raising, training, funding and
motivating these fanatics for years to carry out their subversive
activities against India. The main threat today undoubtedly comes
from those like the LeT, the Jaish-e-Mohammad and the Hizbul
Mujaheedin. The long list of outrages perpetrated by them, including
the attack on Parliament on December 13, 2001 hardly requires any
recapitulation. According to latest intelligence reports, they are
trying to disrupt the Republic Day celebrations throughout the
country by staging suicide attacks on some famous temples in Andhra
Pradesh and Kerala besides shrines in Maharashtra. Their other
targets include defence and central government establishments in
Delhi and elsewhere in the country.
While
dealing with the ISI-sponsored terrorism with a firm hand, the
threats by ULFA, the National Democratic Front of Bodoland, the
United National Liberation Front and People’s Liberation Army of
Manipur and the National Liberation Front of Tripura with their
bases in Bangladesh and Bhutan and actively aided by Bangladesh’s
Directorate-General of Forces’ Intelligence and the ISI cannot be
ignored. The rising incidence of violence unleashed by extremist
outfits like the People’s War Group and the Maoist Communist
Centre further complicates the situation.
It
is a tribute to the inherent stability of India’s political system
and the efficiency of the Union Home Ministry and its security
forces that the country has been able to take all this in its stride
and yet make impressive economic progress. That, however, should not
cause complacency. There is an urgent need to further ginger up
intelligence-gathering mechanisms and equip the security forces
better.
The
main burden of protecting the VIPs of Delhi falls on the shoulders
of the Delhi Police. The Delhi Police is presently providing
security to 368 protected persons under various categories, in
addition to other VVIPs and other dignitaries and diplomats. There
are 18 protected persons in Z-plus category, 39 in Z, 209 in Y and
102 in X categories who are Cabinet Ministers, Supreme Court and
High Court Judges, heads of various missions and some persons under
threat.
The
Deputy Prime Minister has warned the anti-national elements saying,
"India is a democratic country, but a democratic state need not
be a soft state". It was "the urgency to dispel the image
of a soft state" which led the Government to suspend the
passport of "elements that keep on running down the country,
even abroad." Shri Advani commended President George W. Bush,
who is reported to have authorized the U.S. Air Force to shoot down
any plane that was hijacked, after news came in of the first three
plane attacks on September 11, 2001. Shri Advani said that this
willingness to take the 100 or so civilian causalities that his
order entailed was an example of "a democracy, which is not
soft".
There
has been some criticism against the Home Ministry withdrawing the
passport of some Hurriyat Conference leaders. Shri Advani has
justified the government’s decision to withdraw the passport of
Hurriyat leader, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq. Asked if denial of passport
would not amount to denial of democratic rights, Shri Advani said,
"Democracy does not mean allowing people to do whatever they
feel like".
"We
have reached a point where threats to internal security are very
grave. India is a democratic state but a democratic state need not
be a soft state. It is democracy, which makes us talk to NSCN (I-M)
or with the Bodos. But there is an urgency to dispel the image of a
soft state. He said the threat to internal security came not just
from Pakistan but also from the attitude adopted by our
"eastern neighbour (Bangladesh), with regard to some indigenous
groups who go and take asylum there and set up camps."
Today
the security situation in India is "extremely grave". Not
like an "emergency" but "like war". (PIB
Features)
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