Arun Joshi
With the Centre convening one after another meeting to review the security situation in the aftermath of a series of terror attacks in Jammu region of the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir, Union Home Minister Amit Shah made it clear that there would be no compromises and he spelled out five imperatives to meet evolving threats and also to destroy the ecosystem of terrorism.
Home Minister chaired a meeting of the Multi-Agency Centre ( MAC) of Intelligence Bureau in Delhi on Friday to tackle the country's security challenges. This meeting came a day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi chaired a meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Security ( CCS), in which the recent terror attacks in Jammu region were discussed and instructions were passed on to all the security agencies to do their best to counter and curb Pakistan sponsored terrorism .
Home Minister who is responsible for the maintenance of the internal security of the country is aware of the challenges visiting the national security from time to time . He has been at the forefront of studying the national security as head of the ministry of home affairs for the sixth year running , and one of the momentous decisions that he piloted in the Parliament was abrogation of Article 370 that granted special status to J&K . As such , the constitutional provision existed for almost 70 years and there was a perception that it supported a bridge between the ( now erstwhile ) state of J&K and the country , but it did give an impression that the country and Kashmir were two different entities – as the state had its own flag, constitution and also an all powerful legislative Assembly that had equivalent powers as that of the Indian Parliament as it could pass laws on its own , and accept or decline extension of the Central laws to the state. That one step redefined the courage of Delhi in taking bold decisions.
This decision taken on August 5, 2019 , also redefined the national security . It conveyed a message to one and all in Jammu and Kashmir, and the rest of the country as also beyond its borders – to Pakistan – as well that the Modi Government was not shy of walking the unchartered political and constitutional path to take head on the inimical forces Constitutionally, Jammu and Kashmir is firmly Indian , though there are other gaps that remain to be bridged.
Now he has come up with five mantras for he national security and if these are translated into real time action , India would diminish a host of security challenges that the nation faces at the moment .
First mantra is , a whole-of-the government approach towards national security- greater synergy between all the agencies to dismantle the terror networks and their supporting eco-system, to address the evolving security threat scenario of the country.
Second,, he listed increase in engagement in the Multi-Agency Centre and to make it into a cohesive platform that brings together all the law enforcement agencies, anti-drug agencies, cyber security and intelligence agencies, for decisive and prompt action.
Third mantra that Home Minister outlined was for MAC to continue to work 24X7 as a platform for pro-active and real-time sharing of actionable intelligence, amongst various stakeholders, including last-mile responders.
Fourth , Amit Shah made one of the most innovative suggestions for constituting a team of young, technically proficient and passionate officers drawn from all agencies involved in National Security to dismantle the terror ecosystem utilizing Big Data and Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning -driven analytics and technological advancements.
Fifth mantra was that in the face of new and emerging security challenges, we must always be one step ahead in our responses. As he also underlined that under the leadership of Prime Minister Modi the MAC framework was poised to undergo a major technical and operational revamp to increase its reach and effectiveness.
