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A Strategy to Deter Terrorism continues....
Apart from enacting these laws, countries have to integrate laws to allow wiretaps, have doubled or trebled border guards, customs and investigators, enhanced coordination between banks and other financial institutions and regulators, make sharing of data banks easier, introduced video surveillance, mandatory maintenance of telephone records, designation of terrorist crime and, above all, fast trials and tough sentences for the convicted.
In India, the dimension of terror sponsors are many—it has neighbours like Pakistan and Bangladesh, where terror groups like JeM, LeT and HUJI find shelter, and perhaps much more. Besides, there are no racial distinctions between the operatives of these groups and Indians, unlike in western democracies. On top of this, there are pockets in the country which appear to have been influenced by extremist doctrines; thus, it’s not as difficult to find logistical support in India as it is in western democracies.
Targeting terrorism through special laws therefore is also a declaration of intent and signals that the political and societal have resolved to take on the terrorist enemy.
Yet in India we are still shying away from doing any of this in the fear that the wider powers given to agencies would be abused. That is not a good enough reason to weaken the battle against terror? Of course we should have special anti-terror laws and like in other democracies, make them open to legislative oversight and reviews. That will give our police more of a level playing field against terror.
Since the terrorists threat to India has become multidimensional and complex, the question is whether one can devise a counter-terrorist deterrence strategy. Most prominent national security analysts have argued that deterrent strategies are difficult to formulate and any that is devised will have no significant impact in countering terrorist threat. For example, Richard Betts writes that deterrence has “limited efficacy … for modern counter-terrorism.” The 2002 Rand Corporation study on terrorism asserts, “The concept of deterrence is both too limiting and too naïve to be applicable to the war on terrorism.”
to be continued...
( This account is maintained by Har Anand Publication)