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Mumbai - is it time?
Written By silkboard - 27 November, 2008
law and order Police Reforms Mumbai Complaint terrorism
Who is not stunned? Writing more about the incident from terrorism angle will lead to needless rambling. I have only one question to ask, from the angle of law and order. Isn't it time for Police Reforms, and overhaul of our internal security systems?
Till when will we wait? Till when will we keep getting distracted into Hindu Muslim Naxalism Conversion Jobs-for-locals this-movie-is-wrong whatever whatever angles and just ingore the basic thread that is common to all - how tight, modern and ready is our law and order system to prevent these boiling points? Whether a stick or a gun, leaving the domain of peaceful protests is crossing the line of law. Am I being too mechanical in looking at law and order infrastructure of our country in isolation?
I am just lost for words.
[PS: no hate comments please, go to media sites if you want to indulge in those discussions]
COMMENTS
Naveen - 3 December, 2008 - 07:37
First of all, I am not sure who you referred to as "boss" in the title ? I hope it was the home minister or the defense minister. If you are referring to one of us here, I think that would be incorrect as we are all civilians & have the same resources to derive ideas from for our comments - just as you or anyone else !
I am also unsure what you meant when you stated "Holding ISRO and NRSA not responsible because their expertise in the form of government employees and organisation was not called for is absurd" - I had not mentioned that their services were "not called for". What I had stated was that their services may not have been requested, & hence, it would be unfair if we held them responsible.
As far as I know, during an emergency such as this, the state (home ministry) requests resources from the central govt since only they (state authorities) would be in a position to gauge the magnitude or scale of the event, at least at the beginning. Even in cases of natural calamities, the first appeal usually comes from the local authorities, following which the central govt responds. I may be wrong, but news reports usually suggest this as the chain of command that is generally followed during emergencies.
Once things are better known of course, the central govt (home ministry) takes charge & uses resources available as needed. If ISRO /NRSA were not contacted & their services never requested, then effectively, they would not have jurisdiction & might even be held responsible for interference since their services were never requested in the first place.
In any event (including war), there has to be a command structure that decides what resources to use based on availability, the ground situation, & of course diplomacy & international relations, etc.. This command center appears to have been non-existent & valuable time was lost.
I will try to clarify further with yr example of IAF. If the army did not want air force on the field, their request will go up to the chief of the armed forces & then he would take a decision with the defense minister's consent as the ministry has to decide this - this procedure is the same in most countries.
Another example - During the Chinese incursion in 1962, the air force was not allowed action by the politicians at that time since they did not want the war to escalate beyond control, & also because they were ill-prepared, & knew the superiority of the Chinese air force.
It may be true that ISRO /NRSA has a "Manual for Emergencies" & also, that they are part of the setup, but it may be worth checking what the manual actually states - Are they required to respond directly without being called in by the command center, or if such a command center does not exist, are they mandated to act without anyone calling them in or authorizing them ?
If so, then yes, they can also be held accountable. If the manual does not state this, then I dont think we can apportion blame on them, can we ?
Is there a category more tha Z+ for security?
Nitinjhanwar - 15 December, 2008 - 09:27
http://switch3.castup.net/cunet/gm.asp?ai=214&ar=1050wmv&ak
nJ
Do we deserve statesmen in our country??
s_yajaman - 29 November, 2008 - 08:23
Some painful things that I saw
a. Our politicians and their grandstanding. Initially our great "statesmanlike" opposition leader said that he would not exploit this and we must remain united, etc etc. He could not keep his promise for 12 hrs. What business did Modi have to come and make announcements in Bombay? How would he like it if Karunanidhi went to Gujarat and promised relief to people?
b. Our Finance Minister and Commerce Minister were quick to point out that "growth" would not get affected and investments will continue. Is this all they can think of? Sadly what they say is true. Businessmen smell money just like politicians smell votes. The company I used to work for ran its business in Lebanon during the civil war there, it has a factory in Saudi Arabia and has operations in Pakistan. And it is a US multinational.
They can do this because the shareholders and the people-that-matter don't have to risk their lives anywhere. If they did they would ask the government to get its act together before they invested. And because money talks, governments would listen.
c. Mr. Tata said that the government needs to have a crisis infrastructure in place. And his own hotel took 24 hrs to provide maps of the interior. Apparently the government asked the commercial establishments to beef up their security but this was not done - why spend money on things that might never be needed. The Taj employed two of the group without checking their backgrounds, etc.
All this begs the question - Do we as a nation really deserve statesmen. We cannot look beyond our own noses and still expect our representatives to have "vision". We cannot keep the footpath in front of our houses clean. Some of our industries don't want to pay taxes but want subsidized land. Look at the road outside UB City. Vijay Mallya can lobby the government for 4% ST on ATF, but can't get the BBMP to put a decent footpath and a proper road in front of his landmark building.
In a way it is good that this round of violence hit the rich and the famous (I just wish no one had died and I don;t condone terrorism) and not the common man in buses and trains. Once rubbish lands in Mr.Tata's and Mr. Oberoi's backyard, they will force the government to clean up. Let's see what the media does; they want this not to be forgotten - yet they will be the first to move on to the next sound bite. They let 1993 be forgotten as well.
Sorry to write such a pessimistic note. But I really wonder why people like Mr.Karkare give up their lives for an ungrateful people.
Srivathsa
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