The third issue is that our policy making bodies need to be revamped. To give you an example, the union home ministry is the apex policy making body for all police and internal security related matters.  However out of the 25 odd officers of joint secretary rank and above in the ministry of home affairs (MHA), only two of them are professional police officers with any field experience, and their real influence on policy making is debatable. Other nerve centres of the decision making structure, namely the PMO and the cabinet secretariat are equally bereft of professional internal security expertise. The present NSA is a distinguished intelligence officer, but he is an honourable exception, as there is no pride of place to professionals with direct experience of policing in the field. The same situation prevails in the states where home departments pride themselves on keeping police professionals away from policy making. The political executive cannot leave police professionals out of the critical loops of internal security policy making.  

The fourth issue is the de-politicisation of the day to day working of our police and intelligence agencies. For the police, urgent implementation of the reforms outlined in the Supreme Court judgment of September 2006 are a must. For our intelligence agencies, we may like to consider a system of parliamentary oversight similar to the one in place in the USA to prevent them from becoming a tool of partisan politics. This would require an enormous change of mindset from our political classes, but without this change, India’s police forces would never be able to rise to the challenge posed by anti-national forces with any kind of institutional credibility.  As a policeman, I cannot help but feel growing rage and anger at the repeated assaults on the idea of India. If Mumbai 26/11 is able to create a national mood for effecting the changes outlined above in a time bound manner, it would be the most apt tribute to all the innocents who lost their lives. Otherwise it would be business as usual.

... contd.