By IANS,
New Delhi : The multiple terror blasts in Delhi have again underscored the need for a coherent counter-terrorism strategy and exposed glaring gaps in policing and intelligence structure required to avert such attacks, say experts.
“The police-population ratio in India is 26 per 100,000 compared to 225-500 in Western European countries. With this kind of manpower, how can you prevent terrorist from striking?” Ajai Sahni, a well-known expert on terrorism, told IANS.
“If you take into account the quality of education and training of police personnel, the police are just not equipped to prevent terror attacks of this nature.
“You have lathi (baton) bearing policemen in the 21st century. You are trying to fight a 21st century threat with a 19th century police force. There is simply no counter-terrorism policy,” Sahni said in a critique of the government’s attitude towards combating terrorism.
Alluding to Saturday’s multiple blasts in crowded market across different parts of the city, Sahni said they bore the hallmarks of Indian Mujahideen, a terror outfit which later in the evening claimed responsibility for deadly attacks that have killed 18 people and left hundreds injured.
Sahni also recommended an increase in intelligence penetration and an upgradation of India’s intelligence networks as part of a larger counter-terrorism policy.
“The Intelligence Bureau requires 30,000 field personnel. At present, IB has a little over 3,500 people engaged in information gathering in a country with a population of 1.2 billion people. You need a complete overhauling of intelligence system in the country to combat terrorism of this kind,” he stressed.
To address this gap, the Girish Saxena report on intelligence recommended in 2001 the recruitment of additional 3,000 personnel. Till date, only 1,400 posts have been sanctioned, Sahni pointed out.
Ajit Doval, a former director of the Intelligence Bureau, admits that the strengthening of intelligence network is required, but he feels there is no system in place to address the issue of terrorism in all its complexity.
“There is no doubt that strengthening of intelligence is required. But there is total confusion on how to deal with terrorism. We don’t have a law and we don’t have a system to deal with this,” he said.
“They (the government) have run out of ideas and they have run out of initiative. There is no clarity on what is to be achieved and how it is to be achieved.”
Sahni also stressed on a more proactive diplomacy to stop the flow of terror from across the border. “The terror attacks all these years, be in Mumbai, Bangalore or Ahmedabad, are part of the larger war of terror against India. Pakistan has been masterminding these blasts. It’s basically part of their ongoing enterprise,” he said.