Editorial

Versus Terror

In Indian body politic the combination of complexity and uncertainty is often volatile, especially for policymakers in political parties and
government who prefer their variables to be kept to a minimum. It seems that the ruling elites in Delhi wish to surround and isolate ‘terrorists’ by curtailing fundamental rights of citizens in every possible way while opposition parties, not excluding left parties, simply allow the obnoxious trends to continue unabated. In almost all controversial issues the government proposes and they don’t oppose, knowing fully well how the dynamics of democracy is changing rapidly for the worse. The union government is all set to set up the National Counter Terrorism Centre (NCTC) by ignoring mild opposition offered by non-Congress ruled states like West Bengal, Gujarat, Tamil Nadu and Odisha. Surprisingly the notable absentee in the opposition brigade was Bihar.

NCTC, a brainchild of former Home Minister P Chidambaram was severely opposed and criticised at the last chief ministers’ conference held on March 5 last year for floating such an idea of creating a security authority with extra-ordinary powers. In those days Chidambaram was harried at home and abroad for stalling of MoUs with global mining giants in Central India due to what they call ‘maoist menace’. The persons in power, the relentless lobbyists of foreign direct investment and ‘growth’ paranoids—all were restless and Chidambaram’s pet project—NCTC—came as a ray of hope for them. Now with maoist resistance to state terror, is on the defensive, the home ministry whipped passion against insurgency in the North East and jihadi terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir. The Union and State Governments are armed with dozens of draconian laws to tackle ‘disorder’, violent or non-violent. And yet they need one more police agency with authoritarian powers to terrorise democrats and liberals at every level, even bypassing states.

The Union has long lost its federal character. It has become more and more unitary over the years. They have a plan to bring in all people under their surveillance, thanks to the notorious scheme of unique identification number—AADHAR. And now NCTC would be empowered to conduct any search operation or arrest anyone in any state without any compulsion of taking the state concerned into confidence before executing such operations. In other words NCTC’s unilateral move would infringe on the states’ jurisdiction and authority, albeit they still cherish the concept of ‘law and order’ being state subject.

Terror, rather ‘war on terror’, is now officially recognised as big business. It’s a flourishing industry worldwide, with government being the main stake-holder. The centre’s budget allocations, some disguised under dubious heads, are on the rise and yet they cannot contain terror which gets momentum and new lease of life after every anti-terror campaign.

The security network in India is so big today that sometimes they work at cross-purposes only to mock at their ‘internal security concerns’. The recent ‘Hizbul’ row is a case in point. The Union Home Ministry has ordered a probe into the controversial arrest of Hizbul Mujahideen ‘militant’ Sayyed Liyaqat Shah as claims by the Delhi police and counter-claims by the Jammu and Kashmir police have produced a surrealistic tone. Intelligence agencies will go bankrupt and jobless and, powers to spend unaudited sums, if somehow militancy in the Kashmir valley and elsewhere gets subdued. The men in uniform need militancy and terror to have cash and gallantry awards as well. What is going on in the name of surrender of militants and their rehabilitation deserves serious attention. Those who manage the affairs stand to gain doubly—they extract money from the families of ‘terrorists’ and also get dividends from the state. While the J&K police said Shah was on his way back home from Pakistan to surrender under the rehabilitation scheme, the Delhi police insisted on his involvement in a planned fidayeen attack, possibly in the capital, which they foiled. Nobody knows exactly the truth behind the arrest drama, not even the Union Home Ministry, though Shah’s family more or less corroborated the stance posed by the J&K police.

The fate of the surrendered militants is not rosy despite tall talk of rehabilitation. They are haunted by the past and chased by the present as well. Afzal Guru was a surrendered militant who after getting disillussioned with the jihadi terror projects based in Pakistan, decided to surrender and enter what is commonly known as mainstream life. The past didn’t take revenge on him but the present didn’t allow him to live in peace. Finally he had his peace in grave.

India is literally heading towards a full-fledged police state while displaying the signboard of biggest democracy of the world. The army has special powers under the Armed Forces Special Powers Act and now Central Police Forces under NCTC will enjoy the right to do whatever they like, ostensibly to tackle ‘terrorists’ without being accountable to the public. With so many security and intelligence agencies working overtime they need more jails. Incidentally Indian jails, mostly built by the British, are horrific and prisoners are allowed to rot in inhuman conditions year after year. Prison torture is routine. There are horror stories circulating around inside ‘high security’ and ‘low security’ jails and sub-jails otherwise overcrowded all the time. In America there are at least hearings on prison torture but in India it is unthinkable.

Frontier
Vol. 45, No. 39, Apr 7-13, 2013

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