Revisit Pathankot, Uri, Nagrota

Fatalities Due to Negligence?

Behind the grim toll 2016 has inflicted on Indian soldiers and police personnel in Kashmir lies one, little-noticed fact: Almost half of the 87 fatalities, the worst since 2009, can be attributed to events like the Uri and Nagrota attacks, which involved flaws in basic training or poor perimeter security at bases.

Lax Perimeter Security – Both Pathankot and Nagrota

Indian Express has revealed that the terrorists who attacked the XVI Corps headquarters at Nagrota scaled its wall simply by climbing a tree growing alongside the officer’s mess.

The technique was almost identical to that used by terrorists in Pathankot, where they took advantage of Eucalyptus trees next to the boundary wall.

No Lessons Learnt from Pathankot

Even though J&K Governor N.N. Vohra had ordered a security review of all bases after the Pathankot attack, the military experts who audited the Nagrota base were either careless or remiss.

No Action taken on Recommendations Post Pathankot Incident

In the wake of the Pathankot attack, the ministry of defence had tasked former army Vice-Chief Lieutenant-General Philip Campose with studying the problem. General Campose’s report recommended:

* Rectification of the training of base security teams

* Acquisition of technologies like night-vision devices and movement sensors.

These technologies were not purchased when the Uri attack took place; they were not available at Nagrota either.

Accountability?

In any other country, these failures would have sparked a national scandal. In India, the deaths of soldiers barely provoke concern — a silence passed off as patriotism.

The country has not been told why there was no perimeter wall at Uri, though funds had been found to build a golf course there.

In the absence of accountability, it ought to surprise no-one that neither the ministry of defence nor the army leadership feel any sense of urgency to rectify the situation. Thus, a toxic culture of mediocrity runs through the executive leadership of institutions that are India’s ultimate guardians.

That terrorists wish to kill Indian soldiers does not surprise; the failure to address glaring problems, though, is shocking.

Lapses like these could be condoned if they did not involve the lives of women and men who serve the country — and if the means to protect them were not so easily available and affordable.

Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar needs to let sunlight into the stables, and then set to work in earnest with shovel and broom.

Note: INS Betwa tipped over recently while undocking at Naval Dockyard, Mumbai. There too we had discussed the importance of fixing accountability. Here is the link to that discussion:

http://sheriasacademy.blogspot.in/2016/12/editorial-round-up-071216.html

Security Issues: Counter-terrorism Strategy

Security Issues: Counter-terrorism Strategy

UPSC General Studies: Paper III

Question: Research finds that many foreign fighters joining ISIS originate from countries with high levels of economic development, low income inequality, and highly developed political institutions. How do these findings affect the commonplace understanding of causes of terrorism? What policy measures would you suggest to stem the breeding of violent extremists?

Backgrounder: (This is just for the sake of putting things in a perspective and not for the actual answer)

It is generally believed that terrorists are from economically backward and educationally poor backgrounds. A growing body of economic research disputes this hypothesis.

Evidence in favor of above assertion: Perpetrators of the Dhaka terror attack were from well-off families and received good education.

Tunisia, Saudi Arabia, Russia, Turkey and Jordan are the top five countries by number of foreign fighters.

However, an interesting picture emerges if one looks at the percentage share of foreign fighters in the total Muslim population of these countries. Four West European countries, Finland; Belgium; Ireland and Sweden are among the top five countries.

(India is at the bottom of the chart in terms of number of fighters as well as their share in total Muslim population.)

Pointers that will help tackle the above question:

Other causes of terrorism

Ideology and assimilation: Flow of foreign fighters to ISIS could be driven “not by economic or political conditions but rather by ideology and the difficulty of assimilation into homogeneous Western countries.”

Bloated sense of self-worth: the elite in a poor country might turn to terrorism while seeking to improve the condition of their society. Altruism and an exaggerated sense of importance plays an important role in driving terrorists including suicide attackers. The attackers often believe that their acts would force repressive forces to reverse their policies and hence improve the quality of life of the population whose cause the terrorist group claims to be fighting.

Socio-Economic roots of terrorism: Dependence on superficially benign organizations (often religious) for services/company/support, which eventually exposes the beneficiary to ideas of Jihad etc. If the member refuses to partake, he/she maybe threatened with exclusion from organization.

Policy Responses

Has to be multi-faceted.

Security policies should be but one component. There has to be others.

Policies need to be targeted at filling in the voids left by weak states and shifting incentive structures within societies away from the use of violence.

Associated Information

Specific Steps taken by India

Legislation: Amongst the specific steps, at the legal level, the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) was strengthened, reinforced and equipped to handle terrorism in all its manifestations.

Logistics: The limitation of inadequate security forces were addressed by opening NSG hubs at places other than Manesar in order to ensure faster and more effective reaction to crisis situations.

Intelligence: Intelligence gathering, sharing and dissemination became a priority and the NATGRID was established, which is in the process of formalization.

A Multi Agency Centre was established which is likely to evolve into the NCTC, thereby honing the inter-agency capability to fight terrorism.

Diplomacy: At the diplomatic level as well, India has pushed for international recognition of terrorism in all its forms and a number of UN Resolutions have been passed to provide a cohesive effort against terrorism.

Finance: Yet another initiative has been the targeting of terrorism finance, which has received an impetus with both the UAPA and Anti Money Laundering legislations becoming more effective.

Socially: A long-term step has also been to address the alienation of certain sections of the population through better integration, concessions, and targeting of hardline propaganda machinery, both from within and outside the country.

Further Reading

http://www.cfr.org/india/counterterrorism-india/p11170