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GS Paper: GS3-21.Role of External State and Non-state Actors in creating challenges to Internal Security.

  • Conviction of Hafiz Saeed

    The Lashkar-e-Taiba founder (LeT) and Jamat-ud Dawa (JuD) chief Hafiz Saeed was convicted by a Pakistan court in two terror-financing cases and sentenced to five-and-a-half years in prison concurrently.

    Why such move?

    • With pressure from the international community building up, Pakistan has been trying to convince the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) to prevent it getting blacklisted.
    • Saeed’s conviction is perhaps a reflection of Pakistan’s changing approach towards its treatment of terror groups, given the FATF’s actions and warnings.

    Who is Hafiz Saeed?

    • Hafiz Saeed is the founder and leader of the fundamentalist terrorist organisation Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), which is a group that follows an extreme interpretation of religious texts.
    • It was founded in 1990 and its goals include conducting jihad, preaching the true religion and training the new generation along true religious lines.
    • Some of its goals are aligned with that of Pakistan, including the liberation of Kashmir from India.

    Why his conviction matters?

    • Saeed is also the mastermind of the 2008 Mumbai terrorist attacks.
    • Other attacks that LeT has been involved in include the 2001 shootout at Parliament House in New Delhi, and, most recently, the 2016 attack on the military headquarters in Uri.
    • In 2012, in order to support India in its attempt to extradite Saeed, the US State Department offered a bounty of up to $10 million for information that could lead to his arrest or conviction.
    • Moreover, the US Department of the Treasury has marked Saeed as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist since 2012.
    • ISI and the Pakistani government too help the LeT bring in funds, and it is believed to have fund-raising offices in Bangladesh, Nepal, Maldives and the Gulf region.

    A shield against FATF actions

    • The FATF placed Pakistan in the grey list in July 2018 nonetheless.
    • Before Saeed’s arrest, the FATF had warned Pakistan to deliver on its commitments to curb terror financing. Pakistan feared being a part of FATF’s “Grey List”.
    • Significantly, if Pakistan did not follow up on FATF’s warnings, it could potentially be downgraded to the Black List, which would make things more difficult for the country.
    • FATF is de facto run by the US Treasury Department.

  • [op-ed snap] Maoist rebellion: policy fade-out, policy fade-in

     Context

    When much is made of peace talks with rebels in Northeast India, avoidance of peace talks with Maoist rebels is strange.

    States left to deal with the Maoists

    • Scale and extent of the problem: Officially in 2019, there are 11 states and 90 affected districts.
    • State subject: This is because policing and maintaining law and order are matters devolved to states.
    • The approach adopted to deal with the problem: According to MHA-
      • Capacity building: Primarily by capacity building of the state governments.
      • Areas of capacity building: Capacity building is to be carried out in areas of security and development. This will continue with the-
      • Better police training.
      • Better intelligence gathering.
      • Reinforcing police stations in conflict zones.
      • And recruiting locals into auxiliary forces.
    • Support by MHA: MHA will continue to provide the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) and other paramilitaries under its command.
      • Support of NTRO: Intelligence gathering outfits such as the National Technical Research Organisation (NTRO).
      • NTRO has in the past year increased drone surveillance over the densely forested Abujhmad area in southwest Chhattisgarh, which remains the main rebel hub.

    The success achieved so far

    • Influence reduced to 90 districts: The policies so far has certainly contained the rebels across 90 affected districts.
    • Surrender and rehabilitation policy: Most Maoist-affected states in India have a surrender and rehabilitation policy.
    • Surrender policy along with search and destroy : Surrender policy rides in tandem with search-and-destroy missions that police and paramilitaries provide.
    • This pincer has massively depleted rebel leadership and ranks with regular killings, arrests, and surrender of its leaders and cadres.

    Return of conflict displaced people

    • It is crucial for the conflict-displaced to return to their homes.
    • Issues related to return of displaced: Agencies discourage those returning from going back to their old home and instead are offered state-mandated enclaves.
      • No or little economic imperatives: Those returning are offered little economic imperative besides daily wage labour and scrambling for government handouts.
      • Some government jobs: For some, jobs are offered in
      • That is, in any case, the present for much of the 50,000 or so who did not manage to escape to Telangana and elsewhere.

    Conclusion

    • The central government would do well to focus here and in beginning negotiations for peace.
    • The Left-wing rebellion, a reality for over 50 years, is difficult to end until poor governance is improved.

     

  • Explained: What is the NIA Act, and why is Chhattisgarh challenging it?

    The Chhattisgarh state govt. moved the Supreme Court against the 2008 National Investigative Agency (NIA) Act, stating it is violative of the Constitution. In its civil suit, the government told the apex court the NIA should have no power over state policing matters.

    What is the NIA Act, 2008?

    • The NIA Act, 2008 governs the functioning of India’s premier counter-terror agency.
    • It was introduced by then home minister P Chidambaram in the wake of the 26/11 Mumbai terrorist attacks and was passed in Parliament with very little opposition.
    • The Act makes the NIA the only truly federal agency in the country, along the lines of the FBI in the United States, more powerful than the CBI.
    • It gives the NIA powers to take suo motu cognizance of terror activities in any part of India and register a case, to enter any state without permission from the state government, and to investigate and arrest people.

    Objections made by CG

    • In its petition, the Chhattisgarh govt. said the Act is “ultra vires the Constitution” and “beyond the legislative competence of the Parliament”.
    • According to the state, the 2008 Act allows the Centre to create an agency for investigation, which is a function of the state police.
    • ‘Police’ is an entry in the State List of the Constitution’s 7th Schedule.
    • The petition says the 2008 Act takes away the state’s power of conducting an investigation through the police, while conferring unfettered, discretionary and arbitrary powers” on the Centre.
    • The provisions of the Act leave no room of coordination and pre-condition of consent, in any form whatsoever, by the Centre from the State govt. which clearly repudiates the idea of state sovereignty as envisaged under the Constitution.

    Changes made to the NIA’s powers last year

    • The 2019 NIA Amendment Act expanded the type of offences that the investigative body could investigate and prosecute.
    • The agency can now investigate offences related to human trafficking, counterfeit currency, manufacture or sale of prohibited arms, cyber-terrorism, and offences under the Explosive Substances Act, 1908.
    • The amendment also enables the central government to designate sessions courts as special courts for NIA trials.
    • The Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Amendment (UAPA), also passed in 2019, allows an NIA officer to conduct raids, and seize properties that are suspected to be linked to terrorist activities without taking prior permission of the DG of Police of a state.
    • The investigating officer only requires sanction from the Director General of NIA.

  • Internal Security Trends and Incidents

  • Internal Security Architecture Shortcomings – Key Forces, NIA, IB, CCTNS, etc.

  • Terrorism and Challenges Related To It