He says that such a project was conceptualised by the then Union Home Minister L.K. Advani a few years ago. “The creation of a computerised register would enable government agencies to trace the identity of any person with a single click. Advani rightly thought that a national register of Indian citizens would act as a deterrent to illegal immigration. Maintenance of such a register would also help the authorities in identifying and isolating jihadis that keep sneaking into the country to spread terror. The project when implemented in full will be a credible identification system for citizens throughout the country.”

Father of the bomb

Sandhya Jain writes on the connection between the US and ‘Islamic bomb’. “The long suspected truth about Pakistan’s supposedly clandestine nuclear programme is finally out — it was fathered by the United States! The Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Turkish translator, Sibel Edmonds, has let the cat out of the bag. What is more, there may be more covert nuclear powers in the Gulf than beleaguered Teheran, because it seems to have been US policy to use a circuitous route to facilitate Islamabad’s nuclear armament, and as with all illicit deals, one can’t manage the leaks”, she says.

Ancient intelligence

The Indian Penal Code framed by Macaulay should be scrapped, argues Himanshu Shekhar Jha, and we must return to ancient Indian ways of intelligence gathering. “... in ancient India intelligence played the most important role in collecting information about the criminals and enemies of the state. Cases were decided on the basis of the evidences adduced by secret agencies. The Mahabharata which is called the fifth Veda attaches greatest importance to intelligence in the maintenance of law and order in the state. It says, ‘Rajyam Pranidhi moolam hi mantrasaram prachakchathe’ (Shanti Parva 83:51), which means that ‘according to those who have great knowledge intelligence is the foundation of the state and secret consultation is the essence of intelligence.’”