Opinion The state of the state’s readiness

Capturing Kasab alive,however,led the Mumbai Police and Central security and intelligence agencies to a trove of indisputable evidence against the perpetrators of the attack. It also corroborated much of the information they had gathered during those three days,such as the intercepts of the phone conversations between the attackers and their handlers in Pakistan. Islamabad was forced,if for the first time and reluctantly,to pursue a handful of Lashkar-e-Toiba leaders and managers for their roles in the conspiracy and the preparation of the attacks. However,two years on,as we take stock,why does it feel like the lessons of November 26,2008,have only been half learnt?

The good news first. Although 26/11 was not the worst terror attack India has witnessed in terms of the number of people killed — there were more casualties in the 1993 serial blasts and the July 2006 train attacks,both in Mumbai — it captured attention more than any others because of its prolonged nature,topped by the in-your-face live TV coverage. As a result,it multiplied the awareness levels of both the state and civil society to the challenge posed by cross-border terror and forced the system to respond like it had probably never done before.

From changing the leadership of the ministry responsible for the country’s internal security,to ensuring better coordination between the various intelligence and security agencies,along with urgent steps to decentralise the National Security Guard and spread it across the country,form a similar commando force in Maharashtra and approve the acquisition of modern arms and equipment,the Centre and the Maharashtra government got off to a good beginning in the first months after 26/11. And the fact that there has been only one terror attack since is proof that the measures have been working.

That,though,does not mean the threat perception has waned. If anything,it has only increased over the last two years,as botched attacks involving airliners aimed at the West,frequent terror alerts in Europe warning of an imminent “Mumbai-style” terror attack,advisories about attacks in India,and the unabated orgy of violence in Pakistan,all indicate. Al-Qaeda and the radical Islamist ideology of terror it spawned no longer operate from a central headquarters but are now more a loosely linked multinational conglomerate with subsidiaries and local units. Their motivation levels have not flagged and they are constantly in search of opportunities to cause mayhem.

And India,as US strategic affairs expert Ashley Tellis said post 26/11,remains a sponge that absorbs and protects the US and the West from terror. So the lack of opportunities in India will never be an issue. Securing the Commonwealth Games in Delhi was a huge challenge but it will pale in comparison to the task of protecting the cricket World Cup across the country next year. Which is why there should be concern at the indications that,in Maharashtra over the past year,the gains made in the immediate aftermath of 26/11 are being squandered.

As reported by this newspaper on Friday,the state home department has so far managed to spend less than Rs 100 crore of the Rs 126 crore that was sanctioned within weeks of 26/11 as an emergency fund to buy hi-tech security gadgets and arms. The story of red-tape,legal and turf battles that are behind the delays and inadequacies of the system are true to the state’s recent form. Committees formed to review the implementation of the recommendations of the Ram Pradhan committee,which investigated the response of the Mumbai Police to the attack,are not known to have met for about a year. The 66-member giant state security council formed after 26/11 has all but been disbanded and a smaller,core panel of about half-a-dozen people has been formed following a legal challenge. This one has just started moving now.

Differences between the state police and the Centre over who is responsible for coastal security has meant that the police,coast guard and navy have their own perceptions of their areas of operation and capabilities,and they obviously do not match. Renewed turf battles in recent months between the Mumbai police and their IAS bosses spilt out in the run-up to the visit of US President Barack Obama to the city,with top officers on both sides being asked to pipe down after they threatened to go on leave. And the police weaving stories with anti-imperialist metaphors — how they bravely stood up to the “high-handedness” of the Americans during the visit — did nothing for their image.

Time may be a great healer and it has certainly healed many of Mumbai’s grievous wounds from 26/11. But time is also a great teacher. And what better evidence in this context than the comments Kasab reportedly made — that he had reaped as he had sown — when Maharashtra Home Minister R.R. Patil and Opposition Leader Eknath Khadse visited him in jail this week in an ill-advised publicity gimmick? As Mumbai marks the second anniversary of the ghastly attack,the state needs to remind itself of the same moral to prevent it from going to sleep.

yp.rajesh@expressindia.com