24 blasts in two days and India was left asking the usual question -- Intelligence failure?
The series of serial bombings in the last few months surely involved a lot of planning. Jaipur, Bangalore and Ahmedabad had many similarities. Even the same group claiming responsibility for two of the serial blasts.
So what ails our security apparatus and why is India so vulnerable? Are we a weak nation when it comes to responding to terror? Or are we simply not bothered, worried more about our yo-yoing markets and the political climate?
Think the answer lies within. Within us all. Intelligence is all about gathering information, ideally prior information, on anything around us which can have a bearing on our lives.
Information culled the routine way, by-the-way or even, any-which-way.
And that calls for human interaction. Conversations with the chaiwallah, postman, dhobi. Cultivating sources, talking, listening, having conversations -- gathering information intelligently.
But over the years, our Intelligence agencies have been forced to fall back on technology rather than human bodies for intelligence gathering. The reasons could be many and I am not an expert to comment but wise enough to understand this – HUMINT is the best way to gather intelligence -- still.
Technology will assist but cannot become the primary source of gathering intelligence. Penetration at the lowest level and cultivating sources cannot be ignored, a cost we pay now.
But then why blame our Intelligence agencies for ignoring the bare basic? Do we ourselves not rely on technology to gather news or information we need? Leave alone conversations, do we even remember the face of our postman, dhobi or our chowkidar? People, who generally have all the dope. So reliable, that within days of a Stork delivery, Eunuchs are at your door to bless the new born.
Intelligence gathering can be simple and yet be effective. Intelligence gathering need not be the domain of the agencies only. We all can chip in. How?
Know our immediate network well, socialise beyond our Facebook and Orkut friends or contacts -- and know our neighbors too.
It helps.
Tuesday, July 29, 2008
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1 comment:
Your blog post gives insight no doubt. What ails India is a serious approach to culling terror at its roots. Apart from of course allocating more resources for our security agencies for fighting the sudden outcropping of small terror outfits that want to make the A-list of anti-India groups. I say, spend more money on forensic sciences and do not tie the hands of IB and RAW in playing the good boy in neighbourhood diplomacy. That is, if you don't want to be caught with your pants down the next time human tragedy happens and lets not kid ourselves,it will happen. Security intercepts always warn of potential terror strikes but they are more often than not buried in the bureaucratic machinery.
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