Dharma of Counter-Terrorism

In the past 48 hours the Malegaon malefactors have turned the Terrorism debate in India on its head and the Indian State stands at a precipice on its response to Terrorism.

With an extended election season spreading over the next 6 months it seems that there just is no way out of a highly politicised and communalised debate on every act of terror.

In the last 48 hours we have seen editorials and opinion pieces in virtually every media outlet critical of the resolutions in the Panipat Conclave of religious leaders, RSS, VHP with the BJP President in attendance as well.

In the last 12 hours since the leader of the opposition and the NDA’s Prime Ministerial candidate L.K. Advani has issued a statement on the Malegaon case many more reactions have come in with fellow INI bloggers expressing concern.

So how did we get here ?

First we had the Congress dismantling the anti-terror legislative framework and going slow on a national response to attacks of mass terror in the name of hurting Muslim sentiments.

Next we had the apologists for the Jihadi terrorists making insinuations and crying foul on the investigative agencies every time an attack of mass terror occured.

Matters came to a head with the SIMI ban being overturned by a Delhi court and the apologists going on an overdrive as cheerleaders to question every detention of SIMI activists in the past.

Then came the first breakthrough in the Ahmedabad Blasts Case and questions were raised on Bashir’s complicity.

This was followed by the Batla Encounter in the Delhi Blasts Case which saw a full blown political war with the apologists and the Communal Socialists making a common cause to raise serious questions on the legitimacy of the encounter, complicity of the arrested and the credibility of the Delhi Police.

Then of course the Malegaon malefactors surfaced and its been a case of role reversal or was it ?

Which brings us to the questions of

What is the Dharma of Counter Terrorism ?

When do we know the acts of the State are legitimate, credible and necessary ?

When do we know the acts of the State were excessive ?

What ought to be our response to such lapses on the part of the State so we dont compromise the larger War on Terror yet at the same time we dont bur the distinction between the Terrorist and the Sentinel ?

To answer these questions Offstumped highlights the one case that has slipped every one’s attention.

It is a case where the conduct of the State has been beyond question by even the most cynical and sceptical leftist radicals who are usually the first to call foul.

Early October the Mumbai Anti-Terrorist Squad made one of the most dramatic breakthroughs when they announced the busting of the Indian Mujahideen Media Cell with the arrest of Mohammad Mansoor Asghar Peerbhoy and others responsible for hacking Wi-Fi networks and sending terror e-mails.

The Peerbhoy arrest is outstanding for the following reasons:

- Till the day of the Mumbai ATS going public there was not even a whiff of what was cooking in the media

- When the Mumbai ATS did decide to go public with the arrest it was not through a media circus or orchestrated leaks but it was through a very professional news conference spanning more than an hour.

- The Mumbai ATS was not vague or speculative on what “may” have happened.

- Instead they were very specific on what Peerbhoy and his associates did, where they did it, how they did it and when they did it.

- There were no multiple versions of the Truth floating in the media instead there was a single version of the truth that was delivered verbatim by the Police Chief.

- In fact so fool proof was the investigation and the case against the accused?that there was not even a murmur from the usual suspects to the Left or from Muslim Organisations on the credibility of the ATS’ conduct.

In a nutshell the Peerbhoy must be considered the Gold Standard on how a Counter Terrorism should be executed.

So going back to the original question of what is the Dharma of Counter Terrorism ?

The Dharma of Counter Terrorism demands that the agencies of the State execute these operations in a manner that inspires confidence even in its most cynical critics.

Unfortunately in the Malegaon Case while there is a legitimate reason to look for an anti-Muslim Terrorist group the conduct of the ATS through orchestrated leaks to the media and utter incompetence in informing the public of its actions have hurt its credibility and have diminished it as an Institution.

What is the Dharma of society at large in the context of Counter Terrorism ?

The Dharma of Counter Terrorism also demands that society at large be consistent in the freedoms it wants to forego to aid the State in conducting Counter Terrorism.

There is no Dharma in doubting the credibility of the State’s actions just because the accused was of a saintly persuasion.

There is no Dharma in questioning the legitimacy of the State’s actions just because the person tortured was a woman of saintly persuasion.

There is definitely no Dharma in pronouncing the accused innocent even before the Judicial Process has carried out its Dharma to convict or acquit the accused.

There is however Dharma in making a clear distinction between the Judicial Process inside the Court and the Politics of the Case outside the court.

There is Dharma in calling out the conduct of the ATS in leaking information to the media

There is also Dharma in calling out the political rumor mongering by the media that has tarnished reputations by claims based on unattributed remarks by unnamed sources.

It is this distinction that is clearly missing first in the Panipat Conclave’s response to Malegaon over the weekend and in Mr. Advani’s statement yesterday.

So what must the State do in Malegaon and what must the BJP and the media do ?

The State’s Dharma in Malegaon lies in taking immideate measures to make the Peerbhoy case as the Gold Standard and hold its Malegaon investigations to the same degree of professionalism.

The State’s Dharma in future Malegaon like cases would be to use all instruments available to it build a water tight body of evidence before going public with arrests. Some may ask doesnt Dharma demand that the State pre-empt terror. The answer is absolutely yes, the State must act to pre-empt imminent threats of Terror but in the absence of imminent threats the State must rely on other instruments of surveillance to gather a strong enough body of evidence rather than resort to illegal detentions and coerced confessions.

Hence the need for a strong Counter Terrorism Legislative Framework and Federal Agency that allows the State to monitor, pre-empt and arrest so Terror can be defeated like the in the Peerbhoy case rather than detain, coerce and arrest?like in the Malegaon Case.?

The BJP’s Dharma in Malegaon lies in seeking Institutional responses from the State to apparent lapses while not interfering with the Judicial process. The Sangh Parivar’s Dharma in Malegaon lies in calling out the politics and the media manipulations but refraining from pronouncing the accused innocent and in refraining from making sweeping generalizations based on religion.

The Media’s Dharma in Malegaon lies in not floating stories based on inspired leaks and rumors without even the most basic fack checks for consistency and accuracy.

If all three their Dharma the Indian State can definitely step back from this precipice it now finds itself at in its War against Terrorism.

Filed under: Chhattisgarh Polls 2008, Delhi Polls 2008, Dharma-debates, Lok Sabha Polls 2008-2009, Madhya Pradesh Polls 2008, War on Terror, betrayal of aam admi