India

India continue to be one of the softest targets for terror strikes in the world after terrorists attacked of Indian parliament and train system several years ago. The blame game over who was responsible for bloody terror attacks in Mumbai has a sense of deja vu about it. India seems to be careful building public case to show that the perpetrators of the attacks were trained in and sent on their mission from Pakistan amid angry protesters in Mumbai have chanted anti-Pakistan slogans.

Yet the local police and security agencies appeared to have failed to act on any of the information despite doubts as to whether the information was shared promptly enough between the Mumbai authorities. This is a story which keeps repeating itself in a country which has been hit by over half a dozen big "terror attacks", the central and local security authorities trade charges over the sharing and quality of intelligence, followed by knee-jerk responses and investigations.

The attacks and their aftermath again point to the rot that has set into the country's internal security system and a lack of cohesion between civilian and security wings of the government. The Indian police appear to be incapacitated by a lack of money and training; poor working conditions, rudimentary surveillance and communications equipment, inadequate forensic science laboratories and outdated weaponry are making matters worse.

The Mumbai attacks prove that the whole system is falling apart. The police in India are working on manpower and equipment assessments last made in the 1970s," says security analyst Praveen Swami. "The fact that the gunmen came by sea and sneaked into the city through a crowded fishing colony points to almost non-existent coastal police patrols. The Mumbai police like most police in India remain in a time warp: they are equipped with World War II vintage rifles and carbines handed down by the army. In most states, an average policeman's salary and status is equivalent to that of an unskilled municipal worker."

Bullet proof vests are of inferior quality and phone interception equipment remains largely rudimentary. Three years after the central government announced the setting up an ambitious National Police Mission to set out the future needs and requirements of the force, nothing has happened. India's commando forces are also not exactly in good shape.

A group of the elite 7,400-strong National Security Guards who were flown in to Mumbai eight hours after the attacks is based near the capital, Delhi. Many of the commandos, say experts, are wasted in giving protection to politicians and other VIPs. The country's best commando force does not have its own aircraft. As a result, on average the commando force has taken six to seven hours to reach and begin their operations and get their act together every time they have been called for and there have been delays.

"The commandos have been trained to rescue small groups of people and have not been trained on multiple location operations of such scale. Things have to begin from scratch to boost internal security in India. Authorities should come clean to the people and tell them how bad the situation is and set time-bound targets to begin improving security infrastructure, willing to act on intelligent gathered and takes full responsibility for the safety of all Indians citizens and visitors within its border . The recent terror attack has revealed the fact that existing security apparatus is unable to detect and prevent terrorists launching attack within India repeatedly. It is quite different from the 9/11 in USA, where intels.about the identities of several terrorists staying in the country a year prior to the attack were known but was not shared among security agencies by CIA. “ says Praveen Swami.