IBNLive Chat: 'Need a law tougher than POTA to fight terror'

TALKING TOUGH: Former BSF DG Prakash Singh feels India needs a tough, no-negotiator leader like Vladimir Putin to combat terrror.

Featured Blog

Rajdeep Sardesai

Maharaj or Dada, Ganguly's legacy lives on

Featured Slideshows

Tuesday's serial blasts in Jaipur once again reared the country's ugly face of terror. It also reiterated that terrorists need no stereotypes or pre-identified targets to attack. A hitherto unknown terror group, Indian Mujahideen, meanwhile, has claimed responsibility for it and warned of more such attacks.

As a developing nation, why can't India have a sound non-negotiable, anti-terror policy in place?

Why do we have a soft-pedal approach when it comes to tackling terror at home? Why is India soft on terror?

IBNLive.com organised a webchat with Prakash Singh, former DG, Border Security Force on India's soft approach towards terror and terrorists. A distinguished police officer, Singh has had an excellent track record of combating terrorism in the turbulent parts of the country including Nagaland, Assam, Punjab, UP and J&K. He has also served as the Police Chief of UP and Assam.

Reproduced below is the full text of the chat.

Neeraj: Why can't we have a policy and law against terrorism that should be political party, central government-independent and only managed and controlled by a central agency like RAW and special designated courts to manage terrorism-related cases?

Prakash Singh: All that is possible. Wish we had a leader like Putin or Ho-Chi-Minh or even Mao.

Chandra: Why doesn’t India strike on terror camps? What is the use of Agni missiles if not used for such things?

Prakash Singh: Weak leaders, devoid of guts.

K Rao: In many countries which are facing the scourge of terrorism, like the USA & the UK, one terrorist attack is all it took for the countries’ lawmakers to wake up and deal with the situation. Do our lawmakers lack the courage? By not addressing this are they not becoming silent accomplices to this menace?

Prakash Singh: Our leaders will wake up only when a couple of MPs get killed. As long as the common man is getting killed, they are not bothered.

Sunil: Sir, you have been active in the service and you seem to agree with common people like me that we should combat terrorism more aggressively. So does it mean that senior personnel from security forces, such as yourself, are advising the government to take this approach, and the government is not doing it?

Prakash Singh: The Government does not listen to people like me. They like chamchas.

Indian: Is it not shameful that Chinese guys hack our websites. In the era of technology revolution why we do not push for strong technical capabilities in lines of NSA?

Prakash Singh: Even Pakistanis hack our sites. We lack the aggressive instincts.

Sunil: Sir, where in the system is the first weak link ? Is it that we do not have enough intelligence, or is it that the government is ignoring such intelligence?

Prakash Singh: Weak links are - inefficient police, poor intelligence, court delays, hypocrites who masquerade as human rights activists and of course, leaders who cannot see beyond their nose.

Jassi: How serious is the threat of Naxal movement and why is the government not talking about it? Do they also have foreign support?

Prakash Singh: Threat is serious. The Government is doing a lot of talking. Action is not commensurate. They have foreign linkages.

Kaviean: You mentioned in an answer "Detect them, try them and hang them." so, you believe in blood-for-blood? Don't we have any other option to stop terrorism...after all, Mahathma Gandhi is the father of our nation...

Prakash Singh: Gandhigiri will not work against terrorists. It worked against the British, who were a civilized people. Terrorists are monsters.

Amal John: Sir, I would like to know whether we have the capability to protect our country from terrorism.

Prakash Singh: Yes we have the capability. But unfortunately our leaders do not take the necessary hard decisions - clear policy, firm laws, prompt conviction, prolonged detention, appropriate action against neighbours sponsoring terrorism.

Ashwin: Is it possible to maintain one single main database having information about all the fellow citizens for each state so that it becomes easy to track the outsiders?