In the wake of the 60 hour siege in Mumbai, a lot of indignation has been expressed online, on the media and on the streets, and right so. However, it is time to look back at some of the suggestions being thrown around by bloggers, the media, the intelligentsia and the people in general and do a quick evaluation of the pros and cons of these suggestions, most of which come across as kneejerk.
1. Make Ratan Tata/(your favorite personality) a dictator of India
Pro: Is there really any upside to voluntarily giving up a democracy in favor of dictatorship, whoever that dictator might be, in a moment of panic?
Con: One doesn’t need to look any further than Pakistan to see how dictatorships have worked out in the context of South Asia.
2. Make Mumbai a Union territory under the Federal government?
Pro: At this stage it is unclear as to what this move will achieve.
Con: Delhi, a union territory, is currently fighting for statehood. Now if the suggestion were to make the city of Mumbai and its surrounding areas, a separate state that would probably make a little more sense. Making Mumbai, a Union territory governed by a weak central government halfway up the country, comes across as nothing but a knee jerk reaction.
3. Impose army rule in India/Mumbai
Pro/Con: Refer to #1
4. Police in at least the major metros need to be better equipped
Pro: This will help them combat terror better.
Con: While there is no downside for better equipped law enforcement, the problem being ignored here is the lack of an elite first response team (an Indian equivalent of the American police’s SWAT teams). Sure Mumbai has an Anti-Terrorist Squad whose members did a commendable job but the ATS still operates like a police unit as opposed to a commando unit. I know hindsight is 20/20 but would the body count have been much lower if the NSG commandos arrived at the scene within a few minutes as opposed to hours?
5. Don’t vote in elections
Pro: Is there any upside to this suggestion besides the purported “strong message” it’s supposed to send out?
Con: All this could end up accomplishing is that someone who had little chance of coming to power could end up at the helm. 49-O looks good as a cricket score when your team is batting (or as a football score when your team is up 49), but voluntarily giving up your right to vote undermines the very democracy that these gunmen struck against. Instead a good idea would be to demand a concrete plan of action from these candidates, and vote for the one with the most substance and least rhetoric. If they don’t follow through, next time vote for someone else with an equal or better plan. That is how democracy works and yes, this will take time. After all you know the cliche about Rome being built on IST. If a billion people could actually band together and get to the ballot in droves, that would send a strong message to the terrorists.
6. Legalize gun control
Pro: In case of an unexpected attack you could defend yourself.
Con: Where do I start? Most people are either too poor or too docile to own guns anyway. Operating guns needs a lot of care and expertise. Potential for misuse and crime increases exponentially.
7. Stop paying taxes (in Mumbai) until government ensures that the money comes back to Mumbai for security and better infrastructure. It is an unestablished but well known adage that taxes from Mumbai subsidize a lot of civic improvements in Delhi and other places!
Pro: This is Gandhian civil disobedience.
Con: Requires everyone to cooperate and for salaried guys not even feasible.
8 . Hold your leaders accountable .Start small, hound your local corporator about neighborhood issues to start with. Then move on to your mayor, your MP etc etc. File PILs ( Freedom of info act means ANYONE can ask the govt for info)
Pro: Obvious – they work for you. Demand results.
Cons: It is not practically feasible for 9-5 job holders to devote that much time and energy on a regular basis.
9. Improve Intelligence Agencies
Pros: Obviously to prevent such attacks in the future
Cons: Costly affair, politically sensitive. RAW is governed by IPS officials with little or no experience in international espionage and gets stuck up in regional politics. Also, western intelligence agencies easily infiltrate RAW as evident from the Rabindra Singh case. India’s intelligence agencies do not function like the CIA/FBI/Mossad. However, the fact remains that Indian Intelligence mechanism needs an overhaul.
10. Covert ops against known terrorists
Pros: Eliminate Dawood Ibrahim, Masood Azhar, LeT keymen over the next 3-4 years or lesser, not going to war with Pak, yet sending a strong message not to mess around anymore.
Cons: Keep the monster they create in control, otherwise India will face the same problems Pakistan has with its army and ISI, a rogue intelligence agency. Also, this could start a cold war type situation with Pakistan. Considering the current situation while that may not make too much of a difference, the long term repercussions are hard to evaluate.
11. Punish communal riot inciting politicians and leaders
Pros: Slow, and dangerous but right strategy to punish Hindu and Muslim extremist leaders, irrespective of their political affiliation, India needs to do this at the right time, some time soon.
Cons: Extremely risky given the control of these politicians over the masses, this could launch riots all over the country.
12. Forge better relations with Kashmiris
Pros: Slow and long process of recovery and damage control, may have to take some serious risks to gain their confidence, including punishing army officers of the Indian army, who have committed crimes.
Cons: Knowing the manner in which bureaucratic witch hunts are conducted, any prosecution of army officials could be a big blow to the morale of the armed forces. Also trusting local Kashmiri leaders would mean taking up some extremists into confidence.
The bottom line is there are no silver bullets for this situation which has been over the better half of half a century in the making. However, some of these suggestions implemented correctly, can actually start making a difference almost immediately.
These “suggestions” were compiled from a list of news clippings, TV reports, blogs and talk shows. Please feel free to discuss these in detail and elaborate on the pros and cons further or add to this list.
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