With manifestos of both BJP and Congress out in the open, it
would be interesting to take stock of where the major parties stand so far as
key national issues go. As part of a series of articles on election manifesto,
this one would concentrate on the issues of internal security. Incidentally
internal security today has become one of the biggest challenges for India.
What Congress Manifesto Says
The Congress Manifesto states, ‘Left Wing Extremism will be
dealt with a firm hand. We will strengthen our security forces deployed in LWE
affected areas by augmenting equipment, infrastructure and manpower, while also
pursuing a development agenda to empower locals.'
Sadly, even when this article was being written, a CRPF
Deputy Commandant bled to death in Bihar after getting severely injured in an
explosion, conducted by Maoists. For six hours, the CRPF officer did not get
any medical help in spite of profusely bleeding and eventually died.
This incident is just one of several such instances which
keep on happening day in and day out in the Maoist prone areas. Almost every
year over the last one decade, there have been several major instances of
ambushes and sabotage leading to death of thousands of civilians and police
personnel. This includes the gruesome massacre of 76 CRPF personnel in
Chhattisgarh in 2010 and derailing of Gyaneshwari Express by Maoists in Bengal
in which more than 150 people had died.
The UPA have for most of the period remained completely
clueless as to how to deal with the menace of Maoist. Lack of cohesive national
policy on the issue of dealing with Maoist menace has also been a major
problem.
The Congress Manifesto likewise, remains silent on the issue
of escalation of terror attacks in J&K as well instances of cross border
ambushes on Indian outposts by Pakistani Army personnel. It is also silent on
how it plans to prevent the recurrence of 26/11 kind of terror attacks.
Further, the manifesto does not mention anything about how
it plans to stop the rise of indigenous radical extremist groups including the
likes of Indian Mujahideen and SIMI. The issue of too many acquittals in terror
related cases, communalising terrorism cases and confusing statements by
ministers have not helped the cause of fight against terrorism.
The Reality Check
While Congress promises to augment the equipment and
manpower of Central Police Forces deployed in Maoist areas, the shocking fact
is that over the last one year or so, there has been drastic reduction in the
allocations made to Central Police Forces for purchase of weapons and
equipment. Reports state that during the financial year 2013-14, while the
Central Police Forces like ITBP, CRPF, CISF, BSF and NSG had sought Rs 2,360
crores from the Home Ministry for purchase of critical equipment, they were
actually provided a pittance for the same.
While CRPF had sought Rs 873 crore for purchase of critical
equipment, it was provided a mere Rs 20 crore. Likewise, BSF, which had sought
Rs 694 crore for purchase of critical weapons, it too got a mere Rs 20 crore.
The same is the case with Assam Rifles which had sought Rs 309 crore but got a
mere Rs 28 crore. Further, NSG, which plays such a critical role in
safeguarding the nation from major terror attacks, had asked for Rs 118 crore
for purchase of modern weapons but was allocated a mere Rs 86 lakhs.
Against this backdrop, the Congress pledge to equip India's
Central Police Forces with modern weapons, actually is hard to believe. The
manifesto also remains silent on what Congress plans to do with the issue of a
large number of Central Police Personnel quitting jobs because of pathetic work
condition, indifference of senior officers, lack of timely leave and lack of
even basic amenities. More than 60,000 Central Police personnel have taken
voluntary retirement from Central Police Forces in the last six years.
The Congress manifesto also remains silent on the issue of
cross border illegal infiltrations from Bangladesh and how it plans to contain
it.
What BJP Manifesto States
The BJP manifesto on the other hand makes promises of
reviving ‘the anti-terror mechanism that has been dismantled by the Congress,
strengthen the role of NIA and put a system in place for swift and fair trial
of terror related cases.' This is a clear indication that BJP, if voted to
power would bring into place a POTA (Prevention of Terrorist Acts) kind of
strong anti-terror law and change the architecture for speedy trial in terror
related cases.
The BJP manifesto also pledges to insulate the intelligence
agencies from political interference. This is perhaps one of the most important
things that is needed to be done, given the rampant and most blatant misuse of
intelligence agencies, especially the Central Intelligence Bureau, has happened
in India.
The Ishrat Jahan case has been striking example where CBI
and IB came at loggerheads with each other and eventually IB Director Asif
Ibrahim even went to extent of stating that charge sheeting IB officers in the
Ishrat Jahan case would have severe impact on the morale of IB officers and can
severely impact counter-terror operations.
However, how BJP plans to insulate IB from political
interference and witch-hunting, would be interesting to see. The best way
forward would be to make it a constitutional body though a statutory act of
parliament much on the lines of CAG and Election Commission. It would be even
better if NIA, NSG, IB and a few other agencies are integrated into one
cohesive counter-terror, intelligence gathering and national security agency.
A special mention as also been mentioned in the manifesto
for protecting migrant workers as well as for introduction of NCC at
universities and strengthen Civil Defence for community defence, civil defence
and disaster management. For a country which is so much prone to natural
disasters and terrorism, development of community defence and disaster
management skills is a much needed programme.
On the issue of Border Management, the BJP manifesto pledges
to introduce punitive measures to check illegal migrations, which today has
become one of the most critical internal security issues. It also pledges to
deal with cross border terrorism with a firm hand.
However, on the issue of addressing grievances of the
Central Police Forces, nothing specific has been mentioned in the BJP manifesto
as well. Ideally, if BJP comes to power, it has to solve the systemic issues of
the Central Police Forces on a war footing without which the war against
Maoists and cross border terrorism as well as illegal infiltrations, cannot be
fought.
Source: http://news.oneindia.in/feature/internal-security-what-election-manifestos-of-cong-bjp-promise-to-do-lse-1427205.html
