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Terror list goof-up

In the third shockingly absurd instance, a team of CBI sleuths flew to Copenhagen to seek extradition of Purulia arms drop case accused Kim Davy with an expired arrest warrant. That the UPA Government is in a state of self induced stupor is very much evident in the manner in which internal security is being handled in the country. These shameful incidents besides making a mockery of the most powerful Central Agency expose us as a nation whose security and intelligence agencies are working at cross purposes to undermine each other and expand their own political turf. Truth to tell, these goof ups tell the story of the Congress led  UPA Government's resolve to fight terror.

Indeed, the error occurred due to India's over dependence on dossiers to nail Pakistan's lie that it doesn’t harbour terrorists. As such, Pakistan had not made much progress on turning over the fugitives even though the list was handed over to it two months ago. But in the wake of Osama’s killing and the subsequent international outrage against Islamabad, India thought it was the most opportune time to add to its terror sponsoring neighbour’s discomfiture and remind the world of the country’s dalliance with terrorism. But New Delhi has committed a serious blunder which Islamabad is most likely to exploit to the hilt. In one stroke, it has succeeded in virtually justifying the country’s continued denials of the presence of terrorists on its soil. If anything, this will make even our genuine demands look very weak.

Union Home Minister P. Chidambaram’s casual reaction to cover the goof ups as a “genuine error” is rather unfortunate. Downplaying such fatal flaws in our intelligence and investigation agencies as minor errors reflect the criminally callous attitude of the Government especially when the security of the country is involved. The credibility of the list will be questioned now by not only Pakistan but other countries also. No doubt, it will be a huge diplomatic victory for Pakistan as it will be easier for it to cite the Wazhul Khan and Feroz Khan incident to deny New Delhi’s charge. Isn’t it preposterous that the Government should have prepared a list of 50 most wanted terrorists accused of committing heinous crimes in India and being sheltered in Pakistan without bothering to cross check facts before making it public? Given that Pakistani leadership has hardly paid heed to any of our demands in the past, there is good reason to believe that we have been put on the backfoot.

That our intelligence, security and investigation agencies are busy undermining each other does not need reiteration. Also, there is lack of coordination between the state departments and central departments even in vital cases where our security aspect is involved. A document drafted by the Ministry of Defence of India in 1992 titled “Official History Of The 1965 War” reveals that on September 22nd when the Security Council was pressing for a cease-fire, the Indian Prime Minister asked Commanding General Chaudhuri if India could possibly win the war, were he to delay accepting the cease-fire. The General replied that most of India’s frontline ammunition had been used up and the Indian Army had suffered considerable tank losses. It was only later on found that while Pakistan had used close to 80% of its ammunition, India had only fired 14% of its frontline ammunition by that time and it still held twice the number of tanks as Pakistan. Air Chief Marshal (retired) P.C. Lal who was the Vice Chief of Air Staff during the conflict reveals that the lack of coordination between the IAF and the Indian Army was such that neither side was cognizant of the battle plans of the other. These facts show us a nation whose security institutions which are supposed to work in tandem are in fact, working at cross purposes or not working at all.

That our intelligence agencies were not aware of the fact that their ‘most wanted’ list included one person who was staying openly in Thane speaks a lot about their professionalism and information gathering techniques. It is obvious that the IB which is expected to collaborate with the CBI and the police was caught napping. It is also common knowledge that the party bosses are using intelligence agencies for political purposes rather than strengthening national security. The flip-flops in the Quattrocchi case issued in 1998 and withdrawn in 2009 amply demonstrate their political abuse. The error should serve as a lesson to them to get their house in order rather than hobnobbing with media and planting stories on crucial foreign policy.

New Delhi has only itself to blame for the denouement. The UPA Government does not even have a clear stand on how to combat terrorism effectively. Notwithstanding Army Chief V.K. Singh’s public boasting about India’s ability to mount an Abbottabad type operation, we are yet to take action against terrorists such as Afzal Guru and Ajmal Kasab. While the US got back at the Al-Qaeda leader after 10 years, we are still debating in courts about what to do with Kasab, the lone surviving terrorist of the 26/11 Mumbai attacks.

Going by the latest fiasco, the Government’s promise of linking various agencies and information processing centres is yet to be fulfilled. It is simply relying on Pakistan to yield results. It is no wonder that Islamabad is responding to our fugitive lists with contempt ridiculing the reams of evidence as some silly stuff on a piece of paper. Given it’s overwhelming superiority over New Delhi’s propaganda department, Pakistan, which has been paying lip service to punishing the Mumbai attack conspirators can now justifiably continue its proxy war against India.

Sunita Vakil
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