The attack on a 78-vehicle military fleet killing 40 Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) in Pulwama district of Jammu & Kashmir on February 14, 2019 seems to be an indication of failure of inputs from Indian Intelligence agencies. In today’s ever-changing world order and geo-political dynamics, there is need of information sharing and multi-agency co-operation.
There are many intelligence agencies in India of which the best known are the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW), India’s external intelligence agency and the Intelligence Bureau (IB), the domestic intelligence agency. The Intelligence Bureau, the oldest intelligence agency in the country responsible for India’s internal intelligence also handled external intelligence untill 1968. The intelligence failure of Sino-Indian war and Indo-Pak war paved the way to establishment of RAW. RAW predominantly formed to counter China’s influence, over time it has moved its focus to India’s other traditional opponent, Pakistan.
After the Pakistan-backed Mumbai terror attacks in 2008, the security and intelligence architecture was overhauled in the country. The National Investigation Agency (NIA) was created to probe terror cases and the National Security Guard established regional commando hubs. Coastal security was strengthened and the Multi Agency Center (MAC) of IB started working to improve coordination among various Central and state security agencies.
MAC receives majority of its intelligence inputs from Central intelligence agencies and a handful of states. This points to the major weakness of many of India’s state police forces. It is well known that State police forces do have their own intelligence and counter-terrorism units but they are often weak and work in an isolated manner. Jammu and Kashmir is supposedly filled with operatives of military intelligence, RAW and the IB which has picked up a highly political character in the state but the coordination, cooperation and synchronization between the agencies remains limited.
Parliamentary Standing Committee on Home Affairs reported in 2017-18 that “after the neutralization of 3 terrorists of Hizbul Mujahideen on 8th July 2016, violent protests and law and order disturbances had started in different parts of Kashmir Valley. Inimical and anti-social elements exploited the news on social media platforms to inflame passions and incite sentiments. Protests were witnessed all over the Valley, particularly in the rural and far-flung areas, targeting security installations of South Kashmir and parts of Central and North Kashmir.” The Committee recommended that the Ministry of Home Affairs should work towards adopting a multi-pronged strategy that prevents youth from joining militancy, curbs their financing, and simultaneously launch counter-insurgency operations.
Looking at the present internal security situation in the country it is understandable that politics is deeply rooted in insurgency. But the central government should and must share the responsibility for this horrifying attack.
Featured Image Source: ANI