Is Internal Security Just Internal? 26/11, Pulwama and More…
In light of the not-so-old spree of events widespread in India, we macro analyze the several constituents of the same and therein delve deeper on the corrective measures that’ve since been adopted or are in the clearance pipeline.
Coastal Security
On 26/11/2008 an amphibious assault by 10 armed terrorists was carried out over the financial capital which lasted for four days killing 166 people and injuring over 300. In its response, in 2015, Indian Prime Minister has activated the first of the Indian Navy’s planned 32 coastal surveillance radar (CSR) stations in Seychelles, marking the beginning of the rollout of an Indian-led maritime surveillance project set to have stations in Seychelles, the Maldives, Mauritius and Sri Lanka.
A radar chain—which will link up with similar systems in India, Sri Lanka, Mauritius and Seychelles—will provide a comprehensive live feed of ship movements in the Indian Ocean Region that can be used by friendly navies.
After an initial stumble following political uncertainty in the Maldives in 2019, work on setting up a coastal surveillance radar chain in the island nation has resumed full steam, with technical teams from India finishing installation work to get the system operational.
Dealing with the Enemy Within
To curtail the funding of Insurgents elements, in 2015, the government issued notices to more than 10,000 NGOs for failing to submit their mandatory annual returns. In December 2017, it was revealed that foreign funding to Indian NGOs had dropped by 66% from the previous year, where all this money was going?! We can take a well-educated guess. In June 2018, the Home Ministry launched an online tool to enable lawmakers to monitor funds received from abroad. Since assuming power in 2014, the government has deregistered 16,000 NGOs and cancelled the FCRA registrations of 13,000 of them till 2018, and the number stood at about 15,000 NGOs by the end of 2019.
Drawing a New Read Line
On 14th February 2019, a CRPF convoy was attacked in Pulwama in which 40 CRPF personnel attained martyrdom and was followed by the Balakot Airstrikes that followed.
February 26, 2019, a red-letter day for Indian political will with the Balakot Airstrike. India successfully drew a new line that should become the new common to constantly remind the adversary that there are lines they shouldn’t cross.
For all this to be achieved and to deal with anything that the ladder of escalation brings upon us, preparation is the key. As our former honourable President APJ Abdul Kalam once said,
“Unless India stands up to the world, no one will respect us. In this world, fear has no place, only strength respects strength.”
It was only after the URI attack the Defence Ministry has enhanced the financial powers of the three vice chiefs of the armed forces from Rs 100 crore to Rs 500 crore giving the Armed Forces a bare minimum breathing space from the long-drawn bureaucratic process of procurement to address the issues of critical importance, like spares, ammunition and upgrade of defence equipments.
In 2019 the government also relaxed certain rules to cut delays in military purchase like allowing single vendor purchases and
has granted emergency powers to the three services to procure military hardware enhance their operational preparedness.
The creation of the rank of CDS (Chief of Defence Staff) and the Department of Military Affairs is another welcome step in the integration of the three services and efficient utilization of the resources available.
That will only be the case when the Military is freed from the bureaucratic dominance which has not been done yet.
According to LT GEN H S PANAG (RETD), It is understandable that the Narendra Modi government did not want to create a five-star general senior to the cabinet secretary and the three Chiefs. However, the rank disparity between civil and military officials need to be evened out.
Students of Techno Main, Salt Lake, have organized a silent march and also have lit candles to pay condolences to those CRPF jawans who have been martyred in the Pulwama bombing. The profit on purchase of each Filanthropia 4.0 merchandise was donated to the families of the martyred CRPF jawans.
1 Comments
A very informative and thoroughly researched article. Really liked it.