PrintFriendlyOne of the most striking aspects of Modi era that started since 2014, has been the fact that people are no more scared to go shopping malls or other public places during festive seasons. Prior to June 2014, the fear of an impending bomb blast in shopping malls, Puja Pandals, crowded market places or even in rail stations and train compartments made people feel shivers at the thought of going out, especially during festive occasions, and on moments like the Independence Day or Republic Day. Serial blasts in major cities, between the year 2005 and 2011, had almost become a routine affair in India. But no more.
How Situation Changed Since 2014
Since 2014, actions by central law enforcement agencies under Modi Government has neutralized innumerable terror cells, preempted several major terror attacks, banned radical extremist organizations like PFI, and have worked in coordination with state level agencies to ensure that India’s major cities, which are the hub of India’s commercial and economic growth, remain much safer than what they were before 2014.
Law & Order situation in states like J&K has also considerably improved since 2019 after abrogation of Article 370 by Modi Government. Stone pelting is now a thing of the past. However, it would take more time to completely eradicate cross border terrorism there, given the multidimensional complexity of the situation. Therefore, sporadic incidents of terrorism in J&K cannot be taken as an example to dilute the incredible work done by Modi Government to take India’s growth story to the next level, by ensuring that India’s cities, and over 95% of India, are vibrant once again, and not stifled by fear of terrorism any more.
In here, it is important to mention that economic growth and prosperity of any country depends to a great extent on the security situation of that country as well. No country with deteriorating security situation can ever prosper. Therefore, India’s stupendous growth story over the last one decade, wherein its annual GDP literally leapfrogged from $2 trillion in 2014, to near $4 trillion now, has a lot to do with efforts being made by Modi Government in effectively ensuring higher level of security in the country, apart from critical economic policies.
From a time when Ayodhya temple site was attacked by LeT terrorists in 2005 in UPA era, to a time when seamless construction of Ram Temple in Ayodhya, or construction of Kashi Vishwanath Corridor in Varanasi, went ahead smoothly without any problem during Modi era, India has come a long way. Credit for this transformation goes to the decisive leadership of Modi Government and its stringent approach while dealing with terrorism.
The Stellar Performance of NIA
A very critical aspect of India’s war on terror has been the impunity with which India’s premier investigating agency, i.e. National Investigation Agency or NIA, has operated in the last one decade. At the Anti-Terror Conference 2024, India’s Union Home Minister Shri Amit Shah mentioned that NIA till date has registered 632 cases, has already filed charge sheets in 498 of those cases, and has a stellar record of 95% conviction rate in the cases it pursued. The proficiency shown by NIA has also been a key reason in ensuring that many potential terror attacks could be preempted by neutralizing terror modules and arresting of masterminds and mentors of such modules. Union Home Minister Amit Shah also played a key role in expanding the reach of NIA through opening of new branches. Currently it has 18 branches across India apart from headquarters in Delhi.
The irony however has been the sheer contrast in terms of the performance of some of the state level agencies while pursuing terror investigation cases in their own respective states. Today, most of the states either have a dedicated Anti Terrorist Squad (ATS) or a Special Task Force (STF) tasked with tracking and investigation of terror modules. While some of the state agencies have been extremely nimble footed, and have earned a name for themselves by their performance in dealing with terror cases, some others have fallen short of expectations, possibly because of political pressure and vote-bank politics.
Why Imposing UAPA in Terror Cases is a Necessity
Union Home Minister during the conference, urged the state level police forces to impose the stringent UAPA without hesitation. In this context it is important to understand the reason why applying UAPA is important while investigating terror related cases. Terrorism over the years has evolved. Modules created by radical violent extremist groups are no more amateur but are suave and operate such terror modules through the support of an ecosystem, that ensures that no money, digital or other trails remain in such cases of terror attacks. It is for this reason that lone-wolf attacks have gained popularity among terror modules, along with usage of dark web and messaging apps, to leave behind least minimal trails, thereby making it extremely difficult for agencies to unearth such cases quickly. It is a painstaking process. Investigations in unearthing such cases, therefore, cannot be done successfully under the provisions of normal legal recourse, which is why UAPA was specifically designed for dealing with terrorism cases, and which is why its application is a necessity to successfully crack cases and save lives from future attacks.
Also, the announcement of Amit Shah that Union Government would soon come out with a National Counter Terrorism Policy to not just fight with terrorists, but also terrorism and the ecosystem that supports it, is heartening. Fighting with the ecosystem that nurtures and incubates terrorism is as critical as combating the terrorist who plants bombs or fires with a rifle.
Performance of NCB, ED and Customs Deserve Accolades too
In this respect, it is important to mention that two of the most profound elements that support the terror ecosystem to thrive, are essentially trade in narcotics and money laundering. There is a close connection between narcotics business, the money laundering syndicates and terrorism. Over the last few years, the role played by Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB), the Customs Department, and Enforcement Directorate (ED) in seizing narcotics consignment, as well as seizing illicit money earned as proceeds of crimes, have been stupendous. Dismantling the narcotics business of organized crime syndicates, followed by identification and seizure of laundered money, are some of the keys to stopping the fund flow of terror syndicates.
In a way, it can be said that NCB, NIA, ED, as well as the Customs Department have worked jointly in creating the right kind of positive impact in fight against terrorism and its tentacles. Also, some of the key legislative initiatives taken by Modi Government in 2019, have played a major role in making India’s fight against terrorism more effective. The NIA Act was amended in 2019, in Modi 2.0 after Amit Shah became Union Home Minister. The amendment included expanding the domain or the mandate of NIA to include in it, the power to investigate crimes under the ambit of human trafficking, manufacture and sale of prohibited arms, offences under Explosive Substances Act as well as cybercrimes.
Further, UAPA was also amended to ensure that individuals, and not just organizations alone, can henceforth be designated as terrorists, even if he is not part of any terror organization. Previously, only organizations could be designated as ‘terrorists’ and not individuals. As a result, even key masterminds, and top operatives of radical extremist groups used to simply jump the ship from the banned, to a new one, and continue with the same type of radical extremist work. The amendment put a lid on that and was a shot in the arm for investigating agencies combating terrorism.
Modi Government’s Fight Against Maoist Terrorism
Finally, elaborating the success of Modi Government in combating terrorism would be incomplete without mentioning the stellar success India got in the last few years in significantly decimating the influence of Maoist terrorists in the Maoist hotbed of Dandakaranya region. Several hundred Maoist terrorists have been neutralized while many more have surrendered. The Central Police Forces in coordination with state level counterparts have worked tirelessly in Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh, Odisha and Telangana. Security agencies today are not just conducting operations in those regions which used to be Maoist bastions earlier, but are also setting up camps there for permanent area domination. The Union Home Ministry deserves much credit for its stringent steps and resolve in wiping out Maoist terrorism.
Prime Minister Modi has also mentioned the need to identify and unmask the Urban Naxals. It must be remembered that while the battle against Maoist terrorists is being fought in the jungles and rough terrains of Chhattisgarh, Odisha or Maharashtra, the funding, the poetic justification, as well as ideological push to fight against the Indian state comes from these foreign funded Urban Naxals who reside in top tier cities, live a lavish life, and push innocent young people into taking up arms against their own country. Identifying and prosecuting such masterminds who promote anti-national ideologies is equally important.
Combating terrorism is more complex than dealing with ordinary law & order issue. It must be remembered that there are many foreign elements and other non-state actors conspiring consistently to destabilize India from within. Much as Modi Government is tirelessly doing its work, people too would have to have patience and trust in the Government, and support it in every possible manner through cooperation and suggestions.
SPMRF Recommendations
While the tireless work being done Modi Government in India’s fight against terrorism deserves much appreciation and accolade, to make the agencies more effective in this ever-evolving hybrid war, SPMRF recommends the following:
- Capacity building of specialized agencies like NIA, NCB, ED and even Customs must continue.
- The manpower of each of these agencies must be enhanced to a minimum of 5000-7000 each.
- Given the increasing complexity of hybrid war, and the necessity of involving central agencies to investigate large number of cases, is the reason why more manpower is needed to secure a nation of 1.4 billion people.
- Enhancing the manpower strength of specialized law enforcement and investigation agencies must be prioritized with the same intensity with which expansion of Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF) happened, and which has made CAPF today a near 1 million strong entity.
- The massive success of NCB in the recent past may be attributed to enhancing of manpower strength of NCB, which was increased by 1800 by Union Home Ministry, a few years back.
- This is exactly the reason why manpower enhancement has a direct positive impact on performance of such agencies.
- Organizations like NIA and ED must focus more on building and enhancing their own cadre base. While bringing officers from other central or state departments on deputation may be necessitated at times, when top performing officers return to parent cadre on completion of deputation, it leads to erosion of institutional memory. This issue must be addressed.
- To deal with issues of threats to critical infrastructure, much on the lines of UAPA, Government of India should consider legislating Critical Infrastructure Protection Act.