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India’s Home Minister Shivraj Patil resigned over the failure of domestic security, for which he was responsible. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh convened urgent meetings of high-ranking officers, ministers and defense chiefs, who decided to speed up the formation of a Federal Investigation Agency and set up four new National Security Guard centers in the country. National Security Advisor M.K. Narayanan tendered his resignation, which the government did not accept.
Sonia Gandhi, president of the Indian National Congress, insisted that her party would not tolerate terrorism and called on Indians to eradicate it from the country. One may ask if the Indian government intends to take responsibility to prevent such incidents, or does it expect the people to take matters into their own hands?
Among many other things, the attacks in Mumbai are the latest reminder of the weak law-and-order apparatus in the country and the police in particular. As with many former incidents, India's external intelligence agency, the Research and Analysis Wing, claimed that it had passed information to the Maharashtra state police well in advance that a terrorist attack on the city was likely. The agency blamed local police for their lack of preparedness.
The fact is that the Maharashtra state police, like any other state police force in the country, could have done little to avert these incidents. The police have severed their contacts with the people, except to demand bribes from them. Corruption is high; efficiency is low.
The use of violence by the police is so rampant that the sight of an officer is enough to scare an ordinary person, particularly the poor. Information, irrespective of its nature, is forced out of ordinary people. Such information provided under the threat of violence is tainted and cannot be acted upon. Anti-state agents are not ordinary people – they have money, training and equipment. They can bribe the police and are doing so.
A month ago several suspects were taken into custody in the state of Kerala, accused of recruiting youngsters for terrorist activities in north India and abroad. They claimed they were able to carry out their operations without hindrance after bribing police officers in the state.
In fact, many Kerala police officers had no clue that terrorist recruitment cells were in full swing in their state until the identity cards of recruits recently killed in the state of Kashmir were recovered from their personal belongings. The identity documents were issued in Kerala.
Even if they had information about possible terrorist activities, ordinary people could not be expected to approach the police with this information. An example of what could happen to them is shown in the infamous Noida serial murder case of December, 2006. The case began after the discovery of skeletal remains of missing children in Nithari village on the outskirts of Noida city, close to New Delhi.
An investigation revealed that the parents had approached the Noida police to lodge complaints about their missing children, but the police had refused to register their complaints. When the parents persisted, they were chased away with the threat that if they returned they would be charged with selling their children. Since they were poor and could not afford to bribe the police, the parents could not even register their complaints.
Public mistrust in the police is long-term and widespread. Therefore the administration could not expect the public to freely approach local police with information of any kind.
No Indian government has ever tried to address the deep-rooted problems that affect policing and law and order in the country. Politicians across the board use the police to serve their own short-term political interests, and the police reciprocate by allowing themselves to be exploited.
Today in India the police serve the rich and the powerful. The police are a demoralized state agency that cannot properly investigate petty crimes, let alone prevent terrorism. Rather, they are more likely to promote it.
The Mumbai attacks, like many former incidents, will soon be forgotten. Only those who lost their loved ones will remember them. But unfortunately, they do not have the political or financial clout to move the policymakers in India.
The windfall of the Mumbai incident for the government is evident. The Federal Investigation Agency will soon be formed and will assume the role of super cop. This will further demoralize the ordinary policemen.
India does not need a super cop. What it needs is a people-friendly police force. Otherwise people will take the law into their own hands. On Saturday in Khatoli town in the state of Uttar Pradesh, the public lynched a person for suspected theft. This year there were more than a dozen cases of public lynching reported in India.
Yes, the people had started taking things into their own hands long before Sonia Gandhi's request. There is no doubt that Indians are united in their distrust of the police and politicians.
The government of India can be expected to initiate farcical policies on the pretext of countering terrorism, without addressing the deep-rooted problems. And while the police and politicians go about their business as usual, both are likely to overlook the preparations for the next terror attack.
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(Bijo Francis is a human rights lawyer currently working with the Asian Legal Resource Center in Hong Kong. He is responsible for the South Asia desk at the center. Mr. Francis has practiced law for more than a decade and holds an advanced master's degree in human rights law.)
This reporter should have been in the Taj Hotel or Oberoi at the time of Mumbai carnage. His views perhaps would have been different.
Perhaps the terror will visit Hong Kong, you never know, then we will ask the same question from this reporter.