[Reader-list] News Items posted on the net on Multipurpose National Identity Cards-93

[Taha Mehmood]

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Terror_struck_Mumbai_responds/rssarticleshow/3785515.cms

The Times of India

Terror struck Mumbai responds
2 Dec 2008, 2128 hrs IST, Vasundhara Sanger, TIMESOFINDIA.COM

 MUMBAI: Six days after the terror strike on Mumbai, the metropolis'
numbed citizenry comprising top corporates, bankers and Bollywood
actors
assembled near the state secretariat on Tuesday in a bid to impel the
government to provide fool proof safety to its citizens.

A ten point action plan was signed by scores of individuals from all
segments of society and the same is to be presented to the governor.
Thereafter, the group plans to set out to Delhi by road on the 10th of
this month, reaching the capital four days later. The group is
determined to meet Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Sonia Gandhi and
present them with their demands.

"It doesn't end there. We will not keep quiet. We will go back again
and again to see what action they have taken," said Aroona Bhat, one
of the active members who organised the peaceful demonstration in
Mumbai, on Tuesday.

"Terrorism Will Not Go Away By Wishing It, We Have To Make It Go Away
By Killing It," is what the demonstrators have been screaming. Roughly
the ten point programme to be presented to the government of India is:

A single federal anti-terror agency - with a significant presence in
each city - rapid response and the best equipment money can buy - why
was Karkare's bullet-proof (BP) jacket inferior to the NSG BP jacket
in this age and time when India pays Rs 5 trillion in taxes?

Network the communication and financial data - Post-9/11 the US and UK
networked their communication and financial data so that security
agencies could check on their computer screens on any terror suspect -
India is nowhere near that nor are we even thinking of it.

Anticipation of attacks rather than post-facto preparation - When the
terrorist started hijacking planes and entering through the Indo-Pak
border, post facto we enhanced checking at airports and fenced the
border. So he shifted to hotels and the sea route; post facto we shall
make all our hotels and sea ports and coastlines secure. When he
shifts to malls and micro light aircraft, post facto we shall make
malls and the air space more secure and so on...

For countering terrorism (as compared to normal policing) we need much
higher number/ levels and grades of police/ intelligence
infrastructure.

Intelligence operatives to population ratio in India is less than 5
per lakh in India compared to above 40 in many countries - this,
despite India being beset with multiple types of terror - Islamic,
Kashmiri, Hindu, Sikh, north-east and Naxals - much more than only
Islamic terror threat for the west, Russia, China etc.

We need a tough anti-terror law and the judiciary to act quickly.

We kept Maulana Masood Azhar in our jails as an under trial for 6
years and released him to the Kandahar hijackers - he is the current
big boss of the LeT in Pakistan. Why did the judiciary take so much
time? At that time we had the strictest of laws - TADA.

In 2000, post-Kargil a Group of Ministers made a report to realign and
resolve India's security infrastructure - red tape has killed it. To
get over the red tape, the pm in 2005 announced the Police Mission to
reform the police system - red tape killed that too.

We need to fill senior level vacancies in IB & RAW. IB and R&AW have
suffered 40% vacancies in top level supervisors (IPS officers) for
more than a decade now and 50% vacancies in levels of SI and
Inspector!

Mumbai needs to have a directly elected mayor, who will act as the
head of government for the city (and head all the local level
organisations like BMC). While statehood (like Delhi) would be ideal,
let's start with a directly elected mayor, like London, New York,
Shanghai.

Massive investment in the training of the police, firemen and citizens
with security drills, evacuation and sanitization procedures. Also
provide a CCTV network across the city with a coordinated crisis
management cell during emergency, colour coded alerts and a
media/communication strategy. Many lives could have been saved by a
faster and more professional response, such as by the fire department
and the police. Training and drills must be undertaken regularly so
that people know exactly what to do in an emergency- during the
emergency there is no time to think and then start planning or making
ad hoc decisions.

Implement national ID card project for all citizens.

Regular communication and updates - the nation needs to be informed of
the progress in implanting this plan. Start with daily/weekly
briefings by the home ministry on the total progress in the prior
period and action taken, and action to be taken as a formal media
brief. Within the next seven days a time line for communicating to the
nation: who was responsible; confront with evidence and seek global
alignment for action; action for attack and neutralise.

A little further down and in the vicinity of last Wednesday's terrors
target the Oberoi-Trident hotel at Marine Drive, former sheriff of
Mumbai, Nana Chudasma organizsed a solemn gathering where people were
asked to pay homage to the slain heroes who were killed fighting the
terrorists. Hundreds of grateful Mumbaikars were signing and putting
their thoughts on a chain of banner, laid out on the sidewalk.