In this debate over building police capacity, quality is as important, if not more, than the quantity.
In the aftermath of the massacre of ill-trained and poorly-equipped policemen in West Bengal by the Maoists, Saikat Datta of the Outlook magazine unravels the depth of the crisis engulfing the Indian police forces. And Saikat does it by [...]
First, organised stone pelting and now, outsourced terror strikes.
Stone pelting by protesters during demonstrations is not a new thing. Over the past decades, our drawing rooms have been satiated with images beamed from all over the world — places in Europe, South East Asia, West Asia and South America easily come to the mind — [...]
Draft Model Police Act of 2006, a part of police reforms, provided for Special Security Zones to overcome the differences between states on conducting security operations against Maoists.
Maoists are back in news again. Two dastardly attacks, one kidnapping, one Chief Minister publicly capitulating before the Maoists, another Chief Minister who publicly opposes any use of [...]
India needs a holistic, well-crafted response that balances its short-term, mid-term and long-term goals vis-à-vis Pakistan.
The jehadis have struck again on the Indian mainland; this time in Pune, albeit more than a year after the horrendous terror attacks on Mumbai in November 2008. The initial response, while going with the most plausible and popular assumption [...]
Two initiatives of the home ministry — monthly report card & updated Action plan — are exemplars for other ministries to emulate.
P Chidambaram has done a lot of good things since taking over as the Home Minister of this country in the aftermath of the ghastly terror attack on Mumbai in November 2008. He has [...]
The decision to revoke the ban on pre-paid mobile telephones is a welcome one.
Thank God, the ban on pre-paid mobiles in Jammu & Kashmir has finally been revoked. The manner in which the ban was imposed — it wasn’t even publicised that the telecom department had also imposed a penalty of Rs 7.38 crore on [...]
Why do terror incidents in India that are counted refer only to Pakistan-backed Islamist terrorist attacks in major urban centres outside Jammu & Kashmir?
An error is simply a failure to adjust immediately from a preconception to an actuality.~John Cage
At the turn of the year, Ajai Sahni critically examines the hugely publicised statement — “no terror [...]
P Chidambaram must now walk the talk, and execute K Subrahmanyam’s vision of creating a ministry of internal security.
Although the complete text of 22nd Intelligence Bureau Centenary Endowment Lecture on A New Architecture of India’s Security by P Chidambaram should be mandatory reading for all students of internal (and national) security, here is an [...]
High voting percentages in Jharkhand assembly polls, despite the state being a Maoist stronghold, raises uncomfortable questions.
The relatively high voter turnout figures in the ongoing Jharkhand assembly elections should have attracted far more attention that they have done so far. With nearly 80 percent of assembly constituencies declared as Maoist-affected by the Centre, the first [...]
Some essential readings on the first anniversary of Mumbai terror attacks.
Amidst the plethora of articles, blogposts, columns and news-items written in the print and the electronic media on the first anniversary of the Mumbai terror attacks, here is my selection of eminently read-worthy material from the lot.
Pratap Bhanu Mehta in the Indian Express and Nitin [...]
The Army Chief labels Maoists’ a “socio-economic class struggle”.
During an event at the Pune University, the Army Chief explained his reservations about employing the army against the Left Wing Extremists in this manner.
The disruptive activities and spread of Naxalites in around 14 states poses a major security challenge. The government has adopted a multi-dimensional and [...]
Union Home Minister’s arguments for amending the AFSPA are prudent.
Anyone who makes an honest effort to understand the background of the Armed Forces Special Powers Act [AFSPA] will find it extremely hard to disagree with Union Home Minister, P. Chidambaram.
On AFSPA – the Justice Jeevan Reddy Committee recommended repealing it. If they had stopped there, [...]
This is actually not merely about a cricket match between two lowly placed teams in the Plate division of the Ranji Trophy. It is much more than it, with all the political implications and messages that such an event in Srinagar conveys. The foremost among them is to shatter all the claims of the state government about a return of normalcy to the state.
Different institutional responses to 1962 and Sri Lanka 1987.
From the NYT Sunday Book Review of The Fourth Star – Four Generals and the Epic Struggle for the Future of the United States Army:
As an institution, the United States Army has much more in common with, say, a giant corporation like General Motors than with a [...]
Maoists are not concerned about problems of the tribals or poor. These are handy excuses to direct violence against the state.
Shrikant Patil, who is very angry after his trip to Sikkim — visibly shaken seeing the vast difference in infrastructure developed on the Chinese and the Indian side — made an interesting point about Maoists [...]
Forget the terminology. Focus on the execution of policy.
Left Wing Extremism, the official term for the mayhem caused by the Maoists and Naxals, is a rather bland term for a threat so grave. Nevertheless, it is far better than the expression used by the Pakistani security establishment to describe jehadis operating in that country — [...]
Better governance, not violence by Maoists, is an answer to a lack of governance.
Politics is war without bloodshed, while war is politics with bloodshed.~Mao
Here is a list of phrases often used in the discussion about the Maoists and the Indian government’s response to them by all leftist, bleeding liberal hearts: development, tribal rights, forests, mining [...]
Does the central government have a concerted plan on Kashmir?
Think of small details as if they were pebbles you can use to start a ripple effect. ~Thomas J. Leonard
Swiftly and stealthily, the Indian government is steadily moving forward on Kashmir. Close on the heels of reports of a quiet dialogue with the separatists and push [...]
Quiet talks between the Kashmiri separatists and centre have started. It is a long and bumpy road ahead.
The process has started. Jammu & Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah has ordered the release of separatist Kashmiri leader Shabbir Shah. This confidence building measure is in keeping with the Union Home Minister’s plan of “quiet dialogue” and [...]
If it plans to melt into anonymity, the fleeing Maoist leadership can only be neutralised by intelligence from the local police.
Sankarshan Thakur warns the Indian government of one of the fall-outs of their voluble anti-Maoist strategy.
Intelligence inputs reaching here from parts of Chhattisgarh, Orissa and Jharkhand suggest that large numbers of cadres may leave their [...]
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