Bangalore bomb blasts
Terror visited Bangalore for the second time, echoing the view that the Indian government has no seriousness in countering terror and extremism in the country. There are hardly any state where there are no extremist disturbances. Right from the north to south and east to west, country has become a hub for antisocial and extremist elements. Intelligence gathering is at its lowest ever with Ashok Chaturvedi at its head. Congress government should push him out of that post and appoint someone who is capable in doing this tedious job. If government cant find a suitable man to head its chief intelligence wing, the RAW, then National defence advisor M K Narayanan should be given that extra responsibility.
In western countries, especially in United States which is becoming a strong “ally” of India, national security is an important issue in day-to-day politics. In US, there are various government agencies just for the security of the country. Like wise, India should also look at creating a new and seperate agency for securing national limits and weed out extremist threats before they fruitify.
India government should look at creating an agency which is similar in line with Federal Bureau of Investigation of USA and remodel its chief agency, the RAW, in line with CIA or MI5 of Britain.
Common man can also play an important role in national security. One should be “ever vigilant” to notify any kind of suspicius acitivities in his or her locality. New people into a community should be scanned and any lack of transparency should be dealt in proper way. Also, people should make national security and terror an election issue there by pressurising political faction into taking more serious look at protecting the life of common man in the country.
It is sure that bangalore’s 7-serial bomb attacks are mere trials. The main attack should be following this trial run [i really really hope that is not the case, but attacks on previous occassions are all been like this...main one after the trials...]. Bangalore being the IT capital of the country add spice into the attacks, giving extremists more incentives to attack the ebullient culture of the new emerging ebullient India.
Security of the major IT institutions are a cause of major concern for everybody, especially for the parents of Gen-X. Eventhough major IT institutions like Infosys and Wipro have taken steps to avoid any kind of nasty troubles, problems still linger around securing employees are concerned. Country’s major IT company Infosys Technology has put new measures to beef up the security of its campuses. They have now for sometime installed metal detectors at its entry position.
Infosys has also reduced entry points from many to one, there by increasing the security of the campuses. There are also 10 -15 security guards at the entry position for mandatory bag checks and Identity card checks. Even after all these security beefings, threat still remains. One of the most important criteria of entry -Identity card- can be faked. One can fake an employee ID card and get into the campus eventhough security people checks ID cards on “entry point”. It is therefore important for the gaurds to check everyone on one-by-one basis. Even such one-by-one checkings can be overcomed if proper efforts are put into faking an ID. Therefore companies should think about new revelutionary methods to improve its security like using biometric eye scan or palm identification methods. It wont be a waste on the part of the companies to include mock drills to effectively shape its employees to deal with emergencies.
Another glaring flaw in the Bangalore regarding IT mob is transportation. No one checks who get on the buses of IT companies as long as one displays an ID card. This process of transporting employees is a very risky business. It is should be changed. Each bus should have a security person who does one-on-one check of the ID before entering a person into the bus of the company. Eventhough company bus dont enter the campus, it still present a great threat of the life of the employee.
One thing I should mention regarding the internal security of the country is something like a Patriot Act. Eventhough Patriot Act of United States makes a serious dent in the privacy of a person, it when equated with products of terrorism is a case of major thumbs up. Time has come for India government [and also other governments in that case] to serisouly think about such an act where the concerned agencies could get a serious headway in the security matters.
Bangalore is not only an IT hub anymore. Headquaters of major banks like Canara Bank and other companies like Biocon are situated in Bangalore. The security of other non-IT US-linked companies like Spheris and call centers should be beefed up too. Efforts should be taken to exponentially increase the security of these companies and PSUs as well.
Vulnerable areas like shopping malls [which is mushrooming everywhere in the city] and high throng areas like Brigade road, MG road, Lal Bagh, Majestic bus stand, Railway Stations and AIrports should be digitally watched 24×7. It is very essential that a rapid action security force which is very proactive other than the existing state Police, concerned with law and order, should be established within the city limits to take care of any serious terrorism-linked emergencies.
One important thing to say before I close this entry is that the top decision makers of the Indian government should look towards the policies of Indira Gandhi and her ways of dealing with terror – face it with a straight face and be hard on it.
