This week Kolkata had to share
the trauma of terrorist attacks against Mumbai, India’s commercial capital.
A red alert was declared throughout the state of West Bengal, and this
included the city of Kolkata, India’s cultural capital. Railway stations and
airports and major industrial centers along with public offices were put
under strict surveillance.
The authorities even carried out large-scale evictions of illegal
encroachers along the Eastern Metropolitan Bypass on the fringes of Kolkata
in order to carry out the road widening works of this important
thoroughfare. Security was cited as a sensitive issue to dismantle the
illegal structures along a sizable section of this road. Widespread
speculation and rumor was fanned by the incident of an explosion inside a
parked car at Jadavpur in South Kolkata. Apparently the reason for this
explosion was the presence of a carbon dioxide gas cylinder that was inside
the vehicle. But the police arrested the owner of the car and have started
investigations in this regard.
It is a well-documented fact that insurgents from Pakistan and Bangladesh
have been using Kolkata as a safe haven for quite sometime now. We keep on
reading about incidents where police forces from outside West Bengal have
nabbed wanted criminals from Kolkata without soliciting any intelligence
backup or logistic support from the local authorities, anticipating
information leaks at strategic levels. Even shootouts and encounters have
taken place in the heart of Kolkata without the local police authorities
having any advance information on the same.
The long and insecure international border that West Bengal shares with
Bangladesh is porous, to say the least. Smuggling of cows, rice, narcotics
and gold and trafficking in women and children are among the several illegal
activities that take place in the border area. Coupled with this is the
constant terror of crossfire between the Border Security Force and
Bangladesh Rifle. While BSF tries to pushback illegal immigrants, the BDR
ensures that the Indian security forces’ actions and attempts are thwarted,
according to Press and Media sources.
Some years back there was this infamous terrorist attack against security
personnel stationed before American Center at Kolkata. The gang responsible
for this daredevil attack in broad daylight was later identified as an
inter-state criminal organization that also specializes in kidnapping of
celebrities against hefty ransom demands. Terror is a mind game that is
targeted to numb the citizens’ morale and emasculate the State’s repressive
apparatuses. It is an intellectual resource whose physical deployment is a
constant reminder of forces that operate within and without or boundaries
for ulterior purposes of evil.
Security preparedness of the
local police authorities needs to be upgraded at all levels. This is also
true for combating the radical left activists in the state. Even the Chief
Minister’s residence is apparently not quite safe. It is true that
inadequate development and growth of militant radical left politics are
complementary forces, but it is also relevant to explore the ways and means
to strengthen the State’s vigil so that the lives and properties of
peace-loving and innocent civilians are safeguarded.
Gory incidents like the Mumbai explosions prove how insecure we all are in
this age when terror has been globalized in its philosophy, impacts and
application. Kolkata should be always alert to avert such incidents in the
future. But the cosmopolitan character of Kolkata is a hindrance to locate
strangers. The assassin of Phulan Devi (Bandit Queen turned Member of
Parliament) was recently from Kolkata by the police forces of another state.
This indicates the lack of confidence in Kolkata Police on the part of other
police forces.
West Bengal is under constant threat from insurgent of terrorist
organizations locate din Pakistan, Bangladesh and even Nepal, where the
Maoist rebels have recently succeeded to topple the last Hindu King from his
throne and have entered the constitutional arena of parliamentary politics.
India’s muddle and meddle foreign policy is largely responsible for this
sorry state of affairs. We have failed to exhibit the iron hand in the
velvet glove whenever and wherever required. Kicks and kisses were required
to maintain a viable balance of power in South Asia, but we have constantly
toyed with the morale of our military forces and have chosen the wring
allies at historically wrong junctures.
India should have consolidated her military gains during the series of wars
it had fought since Independence. But she had squandered the military
advantages in the name of Panchasheel policy that propagates
non-aggression, non-interference, mutually peaceful existence and regional
cooperation etc. But critical issues like Kashmir and Siachen cannot be
simply solved on the basis of goodwill. Confidence-building measures also
fail in the face of trans-border terrorism.
So tough measures short of actual warfare appear to be the only solution.
Riding piggyback on Big Brother United States will not actually help India,
as the US of A will never ever allow India to emerge as a regional
superpower in South Asia. So strategic alliance with China and Russia would
appear to be the short-term tactical policy that India should adopt in order
to fight terrorism in Kashmir and elsewhere in the country.
The lessons for Kolkata in this context are to tighten community vigil and
citizen watch in all public and private places that have sensitive value or
strategic importance. Terrorists are cowards in the final estimation, so
community policing is an essential requirement at this hour of crisis when
the security of the state is in grave question.
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