(Study Material for IPS LCE) National Security: Need for reform in The Internal Security of India By Rosy Tripathy & Nidhi Singh

By : Rosy Tripathy & Nidhi Singh Courtesy: Ministry of Home Affairs

Abstract

“Internal Security” represents the inner strength and health potential of the Nation-State to preserve its international personality. Today’s security problem has become a concern for the civilians as their Fundamental Rights are being violated. The need of the hour is to bring in newfangled changes in techniques and technology, so that even terrorists are dealt with on unpredictable lines.
The first part of the paper presents the overview of the security problems in India. The second part discusses the Constitutional background of internal security. Then, the paper deals with the laws that the Legislature has made for the regulation of the internal security operations. The fourth part of the paper elucidates how internal security can be maintained and elevated taking into account the cooperation of the general populace. The paper also highlights the internal security operations and their impact on Human Rights. The paper then examines the manner in which community policing helps in combating insurgency. Finally, the author concludes by showing the weakness of the existing system on internal security and giving concrete recommendations.
India is one of the most rapidly-developing economies of the world. If the political, economic and military strength of India is accompanied with a fragile internal security, it will be susceptible to an unstable State in the arena internationals relations.

An Overview

In recent times, there have been many terrorist attacks in our country. For a heavily-populated country like India, internal peace and stability is very significant in order that the common people live peacefully and perform their duties without any trepidation. The rising incidents of terrorism in the country, particularly in Jammu & Kashmir, remains still unchanged. In the north-eastern region, no major breakthrough is visible in the insurgencies in Assam, Manipur, and Nagaland and they equally pose a serious threat to the internal security of the nation. There has also been an influence of the underworld in our economy and politics. The increasing death toll of the Police officials everyday being killed by the Maoists is an indication towards the fact that our Police Department is also not secure. “National security” implies the ability of the nation to use its national power for preservation, protection of its integrity and furtherance of its core values, national aims and objectives. “Internal security” being a part of national security represents the inner strength and health potential of the Nation-State to preserve its international personality by its capacity to secure its sovereign power, Government, defined territory, and permanent population from all internal threats. Currently, the whole of South Asia - India, Nepal, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Maldives, and Pakistan - is going through internal unrest and upheavals due to insurgency movements, ethnic conflicts and religious fundamentalism. Such unrest has a history of crossing national boundaries and leading to interstate tensions. Hence, India’s security is influenced by events in South Asia due to historical, geographical and demographic imperatives. The ethnic, religious and linguistic overlap has not only affected internal political developments in each State, but also the interstate relationships. Therefore, there is a likelihood of witnessing a trans-border impact. Our security is vulnerable to threats, tensions and conflicts originating both from indigenous and exogenous sources. The domestic dynamics of India’s internal security are reflected in its sociopolitical milieu, the main feature of which is its diversity. Therefore, our internal security scenario will continue to be complex and varied. While problems will intrinsically rest on domestic roots, external factors will play a major role in aggravating the same. The external forces in conjunction with internal security will thus be one of the principal challenges facing the country. The administration of the internal security in India calls for a major reform process. Usually, during grave circumstances, the Central Police and Armed Forces are sent to help the States, however, they act under the directions of the local police and as such, do not have an independent existence except in notified ‘Disturbed areas’.

Constitutional Background of Internal Security

The reason why the State and not the Centre come to manage the internal security is that we unoriginally copied ingredients of the Government of India Act, 1935 while formulating distribution of subjects between the Centre and State. The 1935 Act had divided the subjects into Federal, Provincial and Concurrent. Thus, in our Constitution, ‘Public Order’ and ‘Police’ came under the State List in the Seventh Schedule. The word ‘security’ was never used while enumerating the subjects in the Union or State Lists. Instead, ‘defence of India and every part thereof’ was used in the Union List. The management of ‘Naval, Military and Air Forces’, as well as the Central Bureau of Intelligence and Investigation were enlisted under the Union List.
Article 355 (Emergency Provisions) of the Constitution entrusted upon the Union Government the responsibility to protect every State against internal disturbances and to ensure that the Government of every State is carried in accordance with the provisions of the Constitution. Thus, the concept of ‘Internal security’ as we understand today was not clearly mentioned while drafting of the Constitution. It was synonymous with ‘Public Order’. For them, it meant mere internal disturbances or war. Since Independence, Armed Forces and not the State Police have handled grave internal disturbances. Subsequently, the Armed Forces Special Powers Act was passed in 1958 for the north-east. These were not treated as ‘Public Order’ issues and were usually tackled by the State Police with occasional assistance by the extra central forces. However, this arrangement could not sustain for a long period of time and large-scale disturbances started to scale across the nation. Immediate need was felt to treat acts of terrorism not merely as State subjects and there was a need for interference from the Centre as well. The Centre waited too long to intervene, although it was aware that the situation was worsening.

NATIONAL LEGISLATION ON INTERNAL SECURITY AND ITS EFFICIENCY

Terrorism and Internal Security

Terrorism as the term itself denotes is used for an act which spreads terror. It is not very easy to define the term ‘terrorism’, but the general notions about terrorism connotes a kind of violent act intended to create massive sense of fear or terror through planned attack. Terrorism is not committed like any other criminal act mostly in isolation, so that no evidence can be gathered, but it requires the propaganda among the audience, so that their motive is fulfilled. The terrorists do not have rancour or enmity with the guiltless people who are killed, but the only intention is to disturb the peace and tranquillity of the State and develop a sense of insecurity amongst the general populace.

Enactment of POTA and the Political Turmoil

To overcome the problem of terrorism, it is necessary to understand its political nature as well as its basic criminality and psychology. The National Democratic Alliance (NDA) had promulgated a national legislation - Prevention of Terrorist Activities Act (POTA) to curb this deadly uncivilized Act. Human rights and civil liberty groups vehemently fought against the law and the law was highly criticized. The use of the Act became one of the foremost issues during the 2004 election. This law allowed the detention of a suspect for up to 180 days without the filing of charges in court. It also allowed Law Enforcement Agencies to withhold the identities of witnesses and treat a confession made to the police as an admission of guilt. Under regular Indian law, a person can deny such confessions in court, but not under POTA. The United Progressive Alliance (UPA) Government in May 2004 then abolished POTA by the very fact that India already had a number of stringent laws like the National Security Act and the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act to check terrorism. The repeal of POTA is justified on grounds of being misued and ineffective, but acquittals, even in a case like Parliament attack, is these result of inefficiency on the part of prosecution rather because of POTA.

MISA and its Abusive Powers

The Maintenance of Internal Security Act was the law passed by the Indian Parliament in 1971 to regulate the internal security within India. This Act gave the then administration of Prime Minister of India Mrs. Indira Gandhi and Indian Law Enforcement Agencies superpowers, i.e. indefinite “preventive” detention of individuals, search and seizure of property without warrants, and wiretapping - in the quelling of civil and political disorder in India, as well as countering foreign-inspired sabotage, terrorism, subterfuge and threats to national security. Due to this law being in force, during the period of national emergency (1975- 1977), thousands of innocent people were arbitrarily arrested, tortured and in some cases, forcibly sterilized. MISA was placed under the Ninth Schedule via the 39th Amendment to the Constitution of India which, at that time, was completely immune from judicial review; even on the grounds that it contravened Fundamental Rights, which are guaranteed by the Constitution, or violated the basic structure. However, the law was repealed in 1977 and under the 42nd Amendment Act of 1978, MISA was finally distanced from the Ninth Schedule.

TADA and its Drawbacks

The Legislature has indeed made many laws for maintaining the security within the country. There are laws like Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act (TADA). But, these laws were criticized for authorizing excessive powers for the aim of fighting internal and cross-border terrorism and political violence, without safeguards for civil freedom. TADA on its attack on democratic rights undermines almost every safeguard provided by the Indian Constitution and violates all principles of liberal jurisprudence and natural justice. The definition of Terrorist and Disruptive Activities is wide enough to cover anything and everything that the authority may choose to find embarrassing, inconvenient, and undesirable. Under the Terrorist Affected Areas (Special Court) Act, 1984 and the Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act, 1987, “any person can be arrested on suspicion and is denied bail. Statements made by persons to a Police Officer and the confession of a co-accused have been made admissible even the burden of proof in certain cases is reversed and placed on the accused”.

A Critique on the Anti-terrorist Legislations

Anti-terrorist legislations have given immense power to the Police and the Paramilitary Forces, which can, at times, be misused and can convert a Democratic State to a “total” State. The Total State is not totalitarian. It is according to popular description democratic with a cynical authoritarian ambiance. Indian is always in danger of succumbing to such a disguised and arrogant use of power. The vested interest that have grown around on hard option on counter-terrorism, involving the Police and Paramilitary Forces, bureacracy, politicians, and sundry and other dubious elements, only facilitates State terrorism. State terrorism as a political option has fared no better elsewhere in the country, it has produced only tragedies for the people. There are police encounter deaths that are rampant and are not properly investigated. Naxalism and terrorism are the words that have become blanket permits to rob the citizens of their basic Fundamental Right: right to life. India is facing diverse challenges to curb the threats of its internal security. The increase of cross-border terrorist activities and insurgent groups in different States of India are at roar. It is important to note that the existing legal and judicial system is already equipped to deal with offences referred to in the Act. There is a problem in the implementation and not the law per se.

INTERNAL SECURITY PARAMETERS

Causes of Internal Threats

Indian has a huge diversity — one billion spread over approximately 3.1 million square kilometres of territory. When a sociopolitical and socio-economic equilibrium is maintained, there is unity in diversity. But, if there is a slight imbalance, it leads to more diversity and less unity. Over the past decade and a half, ‘internal security’ requirements have grown phenomenally. There are unrests of various shades and hues in different States of our country, borne out of equally diverse causative factors. India faces many internal challenges, as it attempts to progress and seeks to gain a rightful place in regional and world affairs. There are basically four root causes of internal threats:
• Sub-regional aspirations;
• Weak governance;
• Systematic corruptions; and
• Social and a financial divide.
They lead to disruptive conditions or internal threats like armed violence, militancy, insurgency, terrorism, ethnic dissonance, disruption of governance and law and order and so on. Internal conflicts usually emanate from sociopolitical, ethnic and economic causes and hence, their resolution also lies in the political domain.

Sources of Internal Conflict in India

There are three main sources of internal conflict in India.

(i) First, there are long-running separatist movements in several north-eastern States (Assam, Manipur, Nagaland, Tripura). The insurgency in Assam began in 1979, with the formation of the United Liberation Front of Assam (ULFA) aimed at establishing a “sovereign, socialist Assam”. ULFA’s targets include businessmen, Government Security Forces, and infrastructure facilities, such as oil pipelines, freight trains and Government buildings. Since 2005, ULFA has been in a process of indirect negotiations with the Government via a People’s Consultative Group; however, they continued their campaign of violence, and did not respond to a unilateral ceasefire announced by the Government in 2006. The Government was more successful in dealing with another insurgency in Assam, which began in the late 1980s with the goal of autonomy and greater recognition for the Bodo tribe.

(ii) The second source of internal violence in India comes from incidents perpetrated by left-wing extremist groups (“Naxalite” movements) in many States of India. Hon’ble Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh has identified Naxalism as “the single biggest security challenge to India”. Left-wing extremist movements are often called “Naxalite” movements and the people involved in them are “Naxalites”. The Government responded with a heavy use of force, and the movement splintered into many different extremist groups in the 1970s. Left-wing groups were especially active in the lagging States of Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Orissa and West Bengal, and the leading States of Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra. The leading extremist group is the Communist Party of India — Maoist (CPI-Maoist), formed by the merger of the People’s War Group with the Maoist Communist Centre (MCC) in 2004. This group has an explicitly Maoist ideology, committed to a “democratic revolution” to be achieved by a “protracted people’s war with an armed seizure of power remaining as its central and principal task”.

(iii) The third source of increasing violence in India stems from incidents of terrorism In various cities of India. Such incidents, typically the use of bombs in crowded locations, have been on the rise. In recent years, there have been several instances of multiple coordinated bomb blasts in cities like Mumbai, Hyderabad, Jaipur, Bangalore and Ahmedabad. Many of these attacks are suspected to be orchestrated by fundamentalist Islamic groups, such as the Lashkar-e-Tayyiba (LeT), Jaishe-Mohammad (JeM) and the Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI). The urban focus of these groups stands in contrast to the separatist movements and left-wing extremism described earlier, which are concentrated in rural areas.

Internal Conflicts and the Role of Indian Army

The instruments available to tackle internal conflicts of the quasi-military category, besides political and administrative, are State and Central Police Forces, and the Paramilitary Forces. The Army too should be deployed as a last resort only in exceptional cases. Our country has invariably been inflicted with internal conflicts of many types. The Army has perpetually found itself involved in most of these, as the Police Forces of the State and the Central Government are unable to control them. The role of the Army is quite clear. Its primary role is to fight external aggression. The Army has some secondary roles too. These are providing assistance to the civil authorities in the maintenance of law and order, when it is beyond the capability of the civil administration, including the Police Forces; assistance in the maintenance of essential services; and assistance during natural and other calamities. The caveat here is that the secondary role must never dilute the ability of the Army to perform its primary role.
Internal conflicts need to be managed by available forces in a tiered manner, so that appropriate force is used, depending on the gravity of the situation. They are:
• First Tier: Local police for low-level of law and order situations.
• Second Tier: State Armed Police for upgraded internal security situations, which are beyond the capability of the local police.
• Third Tier: Central Police Forces for high-level internal security situations and low-level insurgency
• Fourth Tier: The Internal Security Forces (ISF) of the Army of counterinsurgency, terrorism and proxy-war situations.
There is also the Intelligence, which is perhaps the single-most factor in conducting successful operations against insurgents. Good intelligence can allow the Government to learn of terrorism plans, disrupt their plots, and gain advance warning about impending attacks. Enhancements in intelligence-gathering practices, procedures and technologies have been the subject of controversy and confusion amidst the police.

Internal Security Operations and their Impact on Human Rights

Internal security threats in India mainly consist of insurgency, secessionism, terrorism, sectarian violence, large-scale smuggling, drug-trafficking and accompanying gangster violence, an undue centralization of authority and the consequent inability to exercise power constructively and effectively, decay of political institutions and so on. The nexus between drug-traffickers and terrorists must be conked out if terrorist activities in India are to be checked and contained. Any attempt to create discord or disturb the harmony amongst people on grounds of race, religion, or region has to be viewed as threat to the internal security of the country. The Human Rights Movement has become worldwide in the 21st century. All terrorists, insurgents and other criminal offenders are violating human rights of ordinary citizens. The Constitution of India itself safeguards human rights. The Universal Declaration on Human Rights forms the most widely-accepted document on Human Rights. Indian Constitution has incorporated most of these Human Rights as Fundamental Rights. The Criminal Procedure Code, 1973 also contains various provisions to safeguard various human rights. Various laws have been passed to maintain internal security of the country. But, human right groups and civil liberty groups fought against these laws and were subsequently repealed. These laws granted excessive powers to the Police and Paramilitary Forces and many a time, it has resulted in the lawlessness of the State, including extrajudicial kidnappings, and killings known as ‘encounters’, along with ‘custodial deaths’. Modern scientific methods of interrogation like lie detectors are not available at the grass-root levels in police and there is a constant pressure from higher police authorities and politicians to deliver speedy results. Inadequate police training, insufficient supervision by senior officers and rampant corruption within the police are some of the main causes of violation of human rights. Lack of adequate recognition of human rights by the police and the subculture of violence also contribute to the violation of human rights. The police violations of human rights in India have increased over a period of time because of an ineffective Criminal Justice System. Human rights and human survival are inalienably linked. Accomplishment of human rights has come to be acknowledged nationally and internationally as a major concern of all human rights organizations. The existence of human rights would become meaningful only when deprived, illiterate and vulnerable people are provided with free legal service as an inalienable right for fair and just trial. The Supreme Court of India has emphasized the role of people, voluntary organizations, and social action groups making legal aid meaningful, effective, and purpose-oriented.

Public Participation in Internal Security

No country can deal with its crime problem through its Criminal Justice System alone. There must be public participation as a whole. In order to maintain internal security in an effective manner, voluntary cooperation of the society is indispensably essential. Public participation is an important political process, which can take the shape of involvement in terms of planning, decision-making, implementation of the decision, and evaluation of any activity, system or programme. Participation by people can be in the form of consultation, cooperation or association. Internal security can be achieved and maintained only by securing the cooperation of the public. So, the relation between the police and public is of primary importance. Public participation in a democratic system depends on the awareness of the people about their Constitutional rights and duties.

Conclusion and Recommendations

Even an economic issue can become a security threat. There is a need to acknowledge the economic needs of the people. The problem of Naxalism is ever increasing and it is bound to worsen if the Government treats this problem callously. Our response to internal security has been purely that of crisis management, over-centralization and States abdicating their responsibilities. Even after so many years of Independence, there is widespread unrest, discontent and conflicts among a large section of the population. People lose faith in the ability of Law Enforcement Agencies to maintain order and enforce the Rule of Law and the ability of judicial system to provide justice. The State’s response has been to seek more Security Forces and greater militarization of the environment.
The key to dealing with internal security is to keep the focus on people and society as these clearly set out the parameters, both for policy framework and management. Unity of effort and close coordination are the two objects that are essential to manage and resolve the internal conflicts and thereby prevent internal disturbances. Unity of effort implies coordinated Government effort and unified planning by all instruments of the State. However, handling of these internal threats cannot be left alone to the State machineries. Such issues call for a coordinated effort from all State agencies, political and religious entities, civil society groups and social workers. In addition, centralized control is essential. There must also be clear-cut responsibility and accountability. There is also a need for intimate cooperation between the civil officials and the uniformed forces. Terrorist organizations are becoming more powerful. The nature of terrorist activities is also changing and becoming more suave. The scope and scale of activities are increasing, better equipment is being provided, often superior to that fielded by antiterrorist State-units. More funding is also available. Therefore, there is a need for reformation in the current internal security administration and the author makes an attempt to resolve this through the following recommendations:

(a) Overpopulation — Overpopulation has itself created problems to internal security and, therefore, further rise in population has to be considered as a threat to the internal security in India. So, there has to be population control. Security is not a luxury or a mere function of the State; it should be a way of life.

(b) Good governance — Good governance, better routine administration, and equitability-applied Rule of Law and control of migration into our country will certainly ease the problem. The Government has time and again conceded that the problem of Naxalism cannot be tackled militarily; rather there is a need for a concrete action plan, which does not fail at any cost.

(c) Economic development — Economic development will also ease the support given to terrorists in our country, but economic progress of the entire region is probably the most important measure to curb terrorism in India. Since Naxal problem is essentially an agrarian problem, exploitation of people by the landed class must be stopped. The Naxalaffected areas must be well equippped with Government officials.

(d) Good intelligence — The advances in technology have to be harnessed to produce new and novel means todeal with the internal security problem. Use of non-lethal weapon should be explored. The intelligence group must be given greater impetus and more funding. Good intelligence will always be the bedrock of a viable counter-terrorist strategy.

(e) Community Policing — Community policing is one of the best methods to prevent commission of any crime. There is a need for better police-public relation in prevention and detection of crime and in the maintenance of law and order.

(f) Cooperation — Police and Central Police Organizations cannot control organized violence and internal security problem without the active goodwill and cooperation of the people. In India, an immeasurable communication gap exists between the internal security agencies and the masses. In order to maintain the internal security in an effective manner, voluntary cooperation of the society is most essential.

(g) Public support and Public education— Public support for the anti-terrorist operations can go a long way in fighting terrorism and insurgency. The public can provide useful information and intelligence to the Security Forces about the movement and the location of militant groups and can act as guides to the Security Forces in reaching the hideouts of the terrorist and the insurgents. The need of the hour is to educate the public about the misguided nature of the terrorists thinking. Education will also help in restoring people’s faith in the just order of the State and the efficiency of its various organs.

(h) Police Training Centres — Only eight States out of 28 have set up Police Commissions. This impacts the reform process. Bihar is one-tenth of India, and yet it is the only State, which has the dubious distinction of not having a single Officers’ Police Training Academy. The earlier Bihar training centre is now in Jharkhand and the State did not think it necessasry to build one. In fact, our Police Forces are trained only once in their lifetime, while the Maoists train everyday. The Central Government has a Constitutional mandate for training and must do something about this.

(i) Research & Development Centres — Like the UK, India should have a Research & Development Cell in every State to address the local issues.

(j) Synergy between the Private Security Agencies and the Government — Regrettably, there is no synergy between the Private Security Agencies and the Government. There is no place to give training to private security guards, who are not allowed to carry arms.

We need to have short, medium and long-term plans to deal with Naxalism. While all of this is very important, our police must not lose sight of daily crime. What we need is single-minded commitment towards security. We need to treat the issue holistically. The problem of Naxalism cannot be denied. It is important to analyze the nature of threat and then approach the problem. The problem of internal security is such that it requires an intellectual brainstorming and a national effort towards addressing the same. Better training and arming of the Police Forces is always the solution to this problem, but it is also necessary to strategize various responses to this problem.

Courtesy: Ministry of Home Affairs

Author's Name:  Rosy Tripathy & Nidhi Singh