Developments

As the investigation processes get underway, picking through the dust and mayhem of the events of last week, first pointers are already leading the beaten path to Pakistan. And the reaction there has been equally shrill and predictable. As India picks up the threads of daily life and the last of the funeral processions wind their weary way through cities across the world, there is growing anger on the streets - in glitzy offices buildings and high rise apartments, in schools and colleges and in cafetarias and malls of modern India - anger that at least for the moment, appears directed at our politicians. The intelligence communities have already started their finger pointing stating that they have been warning the various enforcement arms and the military of the imminence of a terror strike by the sea route. These agencies have been equally vociferous in their denial that there was "actionable intelligence", agency speak for a specific event giving details of date, timing, location and/or actors. There is talk of reform - reform in the police, reform in the intelligence community, reform in the crimimal justice system, reform in the political culture of the country. There is talk about mass participation and transparency in matters concerning the citizen. There are calls for responsibility and accountability and of a peoples movement. There is talk of removing metropolitan areas from the state ambit or converting metropolitan areas into states so that the citizens can determine their own destiny. Overall, there is complete revulsion of the political class and the bureaucracy that supports the system. But hey, aren't we still a democracy? Or are we guilty of allowing what is essentially a feudal system to masquerade as a democracy and sat back assuming it was all A-okay as long as it did not directly affect the safety and privileges of an educated and vocal ruling elite? When the terrorists targetted the general public who travelled by the suburban transit system, we heard voices speak about the spirit of Mumbai. And when it hit a five-star hotel, places for people like you and me, we are suddenly angry. And this time, we are going around assuring everyone who is willing to listen to us that we are going to remain angry until something is done to allow us to sip our coffee and our hors d'ouvres in peace. So Mumbai will have its own MSG - the local NSG - presumably to be based in or near Nariman Point - because if it were based in Panvel or Vashi or somewhere beyond Thane (where would you find the required 100 acres of land in central mumbai), they would be stuck in traffic and take as long as it would take them to arrive from Delhi. And what if the terrorists struck in Pune or Manmad or in Amravati? Would the government then setup a PSG or an MSG or ASG in those cities as well? Probably not as we are not talking about equals here. Mumbai as the commercial capital of India is incomparable. But what is the problem with such an argument? The problem is that the discussion should be about how we secure the lives of each and every citizen everywhere. Its a question of how we an acheive equitable distribution of resources in a country as diverse and impoverished as India, where the struggle is about basic means - nourishment, access to clean drinking water, sanitation, primary education and healthcare - means that would open the doors of opportunity for a better future. It is a question of how to acheive balance as much as it is about institutionalizing democracy.

From that vision, we need to work backward to the realm of reality. The security infrastructure needs urgent upgrades - some immediate, some in the medium term and some more longer term including fundamental changes in the national security framework. We can no longer allow different agencies to determine what is best for them - there has been too much of gold-plating in the past, too much of empire building and too much time spent in protecting their individual turf. This has to be driven by collective will. And a lot of very hard questions at each step of the way.