At the Congress Working Committee meeting last Saturday, Karan Singh, Kamal Nath and Kapil Sibal, and an unusually vocal Rahul Gandhi, wanted political as well as administrative accountability for the Mumbai massacre. Sibal, particularly, attacked both Shivraj Patil and National Security Advisor M.K. Narayanan for failing in their duties in anticipating the terror strike. Then, Nationalist Congress Party leader Sharad Pawar made a telling point at the recent all-party meet in New Delhi: he pointed out that the Mumbai Anti-Terror Squad had only 10 bullet-proof jackets and helmets, all of them acquired circa 1992.

Now that the politicians have been held accountable, it is time Prime Minister Manmohan Singh took urgent steps to ensure administrative accountability. Indications that the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) passed on credible intelligence, based on Lashkar-e-Toiba intercepts, to Narayanan’s secretariat about an impending terrorist attack on Mumbai luxury hotels are worrying. Narayanan is experienced: he was director of the Intelligence Bureau (IB) during Rajiv Gandhi’s prime ministership; he looked at intelligence reforms following the Kargil war for the NDA. He will see that the picture at present is not pretty.

What are the RAW and the IB? Established in 1968, RAW is today one of the biggest government employers, collecting intelligence from abroad about threats to India and its strategic interests. Reporting directly to the PM with the cabinet secretary taking care of its administrative requirements, the RAW has a special operations wing and a specialised counter-terror cell manned by a joint secretary at its headquarters. The IB, the oldest intelligence agency in the world, collects information — political, industrial, insurgency or terror-related — about threats to India’s internal security. Although administratively under the home ministry, the IB’s director can directly brief the PM if necessary. The Bureau has substantial discretionary funds and an operational wing specifically designed to tackle Islamist terrorism. 

... contd.