The key to effective counter-terror, however, is a balanced and non-partisan partnership between the Centre and the states. For, the police stations are the nodal policing agencies, as they alone can discover and keep tabs on the sleeper cells within their territories. Police reforms therefore are key to effective counter-terror; an inefficient, corrupt and brutal police system cannot take on terrorism despite a Union body to fight terrorism. The Punchhi Commission, assigned a fresh look at Centre-state relations, has a task in hand in this regard too.

Last but not the least, the political blame game amongst politicians obfuscates the real issue of the “ticking bomb” scenario presented by the politics of terror. Considering that the extreme use of terror is only a deviant extension of mainstream politics (I am indeed implying that the use of a certain degree of terror is implied in politics), the politics of terror finds space, if not justification, in democratic politics, which condemns terrorism day in and day out.

The writer is Ford Foundation Professor, Centre for Dalit and Minorities Studies, Jamia Millia Islamia

drmehra@vsnl.com