Fighting Terrorism

India has been held hostage to recurring acts of terror in the last few months. The latest of these attacks has occurred on September 27 in the Mehrauli area of New Delhi killing two people and injuring around 20. Just a fortnight ago on September 13, five serial blasts had spread panic across the geographical spread of India’s capital, killing 30 and injuring nearly 90.These had been preceded by the Jaipur serial bombings of May 13, the Bangalore bombings of July 25 and the Ahmedabad bombings of July 26, respectively. These Indian cities have been particularly chosen by the terrorists as they represent some of the most economically vibrant areas of the country.In 2006 and 2007, Mumbai and Hyderabad, India’s financial and computer software capitals had faced similar serial terror bombings.The worst affected in these recurring acts of terror has been civilians. From 2006 till date, more than 1000 civilians have lost their lives in India due to terror attacks. Though this trend is not very different from other areas of the world like Iraq where terrorist attacks have resulted in heavy civilian casualties, what is strikingly unique in the Indian case is that most of the market areas targeted by the terrorists are the favourite hubs of India’s growing middle class, the mainstay of its economic surge since 1991.A little known terror outfit calling itself “Indian Mujahideen” has claimed responsibility for the Jaipur, Ahmedabad and Delhi bombings. In an email tilted “Message of Death” sent after the Delhi bombings of September 13, the Indian Mujahideen asserted that atrocities by the Anti-Terrorism Squads (ATS) against India’s minority Muslim community after the Jaipur and Ahmedabad bombings, the Amarnath land dispute in Kashmir, the Babri Masjid demolition in 1992, and the Gujarat riots of 2002 were the reasons for its terror attacks.However, this is militant rhetorical posturing at best. What is evident from the recent attacks of terror including the low intensity blast on September 27 is that the Indian Mujahideen has two main objectives: First, it wants to establish its credibility as a home grown terror outfit to its target audience and funders in India and possible sponsors abroad.This aspect became evident after the Ahmedabad bombings when it demanded of the Lashkar–e-Taiyabba (LeT) to refrain from claiming a role behind the Ahmedabad bombings as that would have surely minimised the impact of the Indian Mujahideen’s effectiveness as an Indian terror outfit.Second, use of low intensity bombs indicate that the outfit wants to create social panic in India and also demonstrate the inability of the Indian security agencies in thwarting its violent activities. Recurring acts of terror in Indian cities have indeed revealed the alarming lack of security in these areas for the common citizen. What is worse is that it also reflects poorly on the security agencies.It has now come to light that after the Ahmedabad bombings of July 26, the police had intelligence that Delhi could be the likely target area of terrorist bombings after an arrested Indian Mujahideen cadre, Abul Bashar Qasmi revealed to the police the existence of such a terror plan.Averting terror requires a dedicated and well staffed security force. Indian cities, however, suffer from a gross shortage of police personnel since half of them are utilized for providing security to VIPs, and another half is utilized for administrative duties. Delhi for instance has a police force of 65,000 personnel, half of which are being used for government security. This leaves few personnel free for purely law enforcement duties.Close Circuit Television (CCTV) cameras installed in crowded areas are of a poor quality. For example, in the M-Block market of South Delhi, which was one of the areas that witnessed a terror blast on September 13, the terrorists had placed a bomb right under the CCTV at an angle of 25 degrees whereas the camera there could capture images only at an 80 degrees angle. Higher quality CCTVs are capable of capturing images at angles as low as 5-10 degrees range in vertical viewing and 6-11 degrees range in horizontal viewing depending on the lens type. This is rather disturbing as it drives home the fact that the Indian Mujahideen cadres, who had carried out reconnaissance of the target areas in Delhi on September 11, were aware of the type of CCTV camera installed in the area.Deterring recurring acts of terror in India would require a coordinated effort between the state and society. This means that instead of enacting more and more stringent anti-terror laws, the present Unlawful Activities Prevention Act must be better implemented. Also, it is vital that minority civil society organizations, who has already spoken against this kind of senseless terror acts, are utilized by the state to assuage fears prevalent in the communities they represent of victimization after terror attacks. The Indian media must also refrain from assuming who is a terrorist before guilt is proved in a court of law.Violent attacks on civilians by terror outfits never work in attaining an outfit’s objectives. Rather, it has proved counter-productive for the community a terror outfit claims to represent. Therefore, the state and society urgently requires activating counter-propaganda against objectives such as those cited by the Indian Mujahideen or any other such outfits.