We need to resolve once for all that terror needs to be dealt with a coherent strategy , all shades of indians united as a people and IT NEEDS TO BE DONE ON A PRIORITY BASIS immediately. We, more than one billion people with nationalism as a top agenda with no place for petty political squabbles should realize what we are facing is a full fledged diplomatic offensive by our uneasy neighbours on our very existence by challenging our very established borders and lines. Inside Naxals and Kashmiri stone pelting are a front but for discernible eye there is no smoke screen to see the obvious as these are a challenge to a United prosperous India. USA might because of compulsions to deal with Pakistan may have different views on issues which concern us also but we should have our nationalism agenda cut out with some flexibility built in. We must remember any problem not dealt with in time frames festers like a wound. I also think that why a terror attack should only unite us and why we should have any fissures at all politically while dealing with national sovereignty issues . Does not it needs to be looked from all possible angles which cause these fissures in the first place. Is the situation beyond redemption or still by some bold political action the situation can be salvaged or remedied. We as a country including the loud mouthed politicians and the silent intellectual majority need to introspect what has gone wrong.
To do all this we need a national will to change certain things which have gone wrong and need culling .additions, modifications and curing. This is a long term and time consuming measure but there are some short time measures which need to under taken soonest. I think the most pertinent is to secure our borders - sea air and land by unscrupulously honest Indians who will not falter on the twin alter of duty and honesty. Their compensation packages should be the best as we need to get this out of our mindset the WORK PAY comparison .Please for god sake do not compare forces (includes every body who is involved in tasks which demands guts like NSG commandos going in for sure death while operating) with others including babudom while deciding pay commissions because blood will always sell dearer than ink. Any body who is on a high risk assignment give him more –nobody will grudge that because they are the one who make you cozy in your well furnished AC rooms .By giving them the most handsome salaries and making them above financial allurements -you are securing them against one of the weapons used against the citizens of any poor country - the weapon of financial allurement /bribes which we have seen has been used all over the world by the terrorists in advancing their designs. But IF they still falter in the line of DUTY than nothing less than capital punishment for TREASON should be given because this is the biggest crime a citizen can commit against one's own country. If we need to amend the constitution/IPC make new laws/acts and any other legal statutes -we need to do so post haste. Why we must move on these issues with alacrity because we are moving into an era where our resources of safeguarding ourselves are getting spread thinly but of the resources of terrorists are fast getting concentrated. A day is not far when you will under the threat of a sub kilo ton nuke threat or under the threat of a biological/chemical bomb. This is a real possibility with Al Qaida and the likes. We need to train more and more small groups from the armed forces, Para military and police on NSG pattern and this should be a continuous process because terrorists actions in future may give you a very short reaction time - they could go in initially before the terrorists establish and others could later build on them. We must train civilian volunteers also to reduce reaction time -Let us not leave every thing in the hands of a few elite forces and just watch TV - remember we are plus 100 Crore. Also needs immediate attention is the bureaucratic delays of intelligence interpreting which should be curtailed by having an agency that works 24X7 which acts and reacts on real time basis. We do not need to announce we killed so and so master mind but we need to follow the Israeli zeal in going after the perpetrators of such attacks on our sovereignty..Let them feel we are not a soft state and they can get away like Kandahar hijacking any more because this time in Mumbai we have shown that resolve to seek out and go for the kill come what may. What we need to appreciate is that we need to need to watch ,patrol dominate each cove and beach by physical presence as well as electronic means because without doing so we will remain very vulnerable . I am sure that India incorporated will not hesitate to contribute some percentage of their profits if GOVT OF INDIA is short on funds to execute such elaborate and fool proof border control measures so that we all citizens of this great country can have a safe and secure environment to run our daily lives and businesses. It goes without saying that actually the central government is the sole agency which decides how to secure this country's frontiers and coastlines.
I appeal to all the decision makers and well meaning individuals in places of power not to waste this chance to secure our borders now and do what actually we should have done after 1993 Bombay blasts so that we do not have repeats of 10 terrorists holding our nation hostage for 60 hours. It is never too late to make amends.
To do all this we need a national will to change certain things which have gone wrong and need culling .additions, modifications and curing. This is a long term and time consuming measure but there are some short time measures which need to under taken soonest. I think the most pertinent is to secure our borders - sea air and land by unscrupulously honest Indians who will not falter on the twin alter of duty and honesty. Their compensation packages should be the best as we need to get this out of our mindset the WORK PAY comparison .Please for god sake do not compare forces (includes every body who is involved in tasks which demands guts like NSG commandos going in for sure death while operating) with others including babudom while deciding pay commissions because blood will always sell dearer than ink. Any body who is on a high risk assignment give him more –nobody will grudge that because they are the one who make you cozy in your well furnished AC rooms .By giving them the most handsome salaries and making them above financial allurements -you are securing them against one of the weapons used against the citizens of any poor country - the weapon of financial allurement /bribes which we have seen has been used all over the world by the terrorists in advancing their designs. But IF they still falter in the line of DUTY than nothing less than capital punishment for TREASON should be given because this is the biggest crime a citizen can commit against one's own country. If we need to amend the constitution/IPC make new laws/acts and any other legal statutes -we need to do so post haste. Why we must move on these issues with alacrity because we are moving into an era where our resources of safeguarding ourselves are getting spread thinly but of the resources of terrorists are fast getting concentrated. A day is not far when you will under the threat of a sub kilo ton nuke threat or under the threat of a biological/chemical bomb. This is a real possibility with Al Qaida and the likes. We need to train more and more small groups from the armed forces, Para military and police on NSG pattern and this should be a continuous process because terrorists actions in future may give you a very short reaction time - they could go in initially before the terrorists establish and others could later build on them. We must train civilian volunteers also to reduce reaction time -Let us not leave every thing in the hands of a few elite forces and just watch TV - remember we are plus 100 Crore. Also needs immediate attention is the bureaucratic delays of intelligence interpreting which should be curtailed by having an agency that works 24X7 which acts and reacts on real time basis. We do not need to announce we killed so and so master mind but we need to follow the Israeli zeal in going after the perpetrators of such attacks on our sovereignty..Let them feel we are not a soft state and they can get away like Kandahar hijacking any more because this time in Mumbai we have shown that resolve to seek out and go for the kill come what may. What we need to appreciate is that we need to need to watch ,patrol dominate each cove and beach by physical presence as well as electronic means because without doing so we will remain very vulnerable . I am sure that India incorporated will not hesitate to contribute some percentage of their profits if GOVT OF INDIA is short on funds to execute such elaborate and fool proof border control measures so that we all citizens of this great country can have a safe and secure environment to run our daily lives and businesses. It goes without saying that actually the central government is the sole agency which decides how to secure this country's frontiers and coastlines.
I appeal to all the decision makers and well meaning individuals in places of power not to waste this chance to secure our borders now and do what actually we should have done after 1993 Bombay blasts so that we do not have repeats of 10 terrorists holding our nation hostage for 60 hours. It is never too late to make amends.
Very well said Col Saab.
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