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ORF POLICY BRIEF

JULY฀2006 POLICY฀BRIEF฀#฀4

KEY฀RECOMMENDATIONS
To assure the people that they will be protected the gov-

Mumbai Blasts: ernment should undertake the following measures:

POLICY฀AND฀MECHANISM

Time to Act ● Formulate a National Counter-Terrorism Strategy.

● Create separate Ministry of Internal Security affairs and
institute a Counter Terrorism Centre.

Wilson฀John฀&฀PV฀Ramana ARMED฀AND฀PUNITIVE฀ACTION
● Direct overt and covert actions against terrorists and
terrorist groups.
● Completely root-out the underworld in Mumbai. Si-

T
he Mumbai serial train blasts that killed over 200
lence fugitive underworld leaders and operatives.
persons and left more than 700 injured within a ● Hunt down groups like SIMI. Punish political leaders
span of 11 minutes on July 11, 2006 is the most linked to such groups.
serious attack on the Indian state and its people since the ● Stop terrorist funding through punitive legislation.

attack on Parliament on December 13, 2001.

Like the Parliament attack, the Mumbai blasts should be LEGISLATION
● Introduce a comprehensive, permanent anti-terror law.
treated as an act of war against the nation. These attacks
Take firm action to prevent the abuse of such a law.
were some of the high points in the continuing proxy-war ● Make a provision to declare a person as terrorist.
that Pakistan has launched against India. ● Take action to secure extradition of fugitive terrorists.
The terrorist attack on the suburban trains, another link
in the chain of attacks on mass transit vehicles by inter- INTELLIGENCE฀AND฀SECURITY฀
● Re-invigorate intelligence and police forces in all
national terrorist organisations in the past few years, was
States.
a meticulously planned and well-executed operation mas-
● Strengthen Joint Taskforce on Intelligence, Multi Agen-
terminded by terrorist groups based in Pakistan and other cy Centre and Joint Intelligence Committee.
places. The attack was apparently carried out with the assis- ● Create Counter-Terrorism Fund.
tance of local recruits, trained and indoctrinated by terrorist
groups based in Pakistan, particularly the Lashkar-e-toiba PREVENTION,฀PREPAREDNESS฀AND฀RESPONSE
● Formulate a comprehensive action plan to prevent at-
(LeT), one of the vicious terror groups targeting India.
tacks on mass transit systems.
Nearly a fortnight before the attack, according to a report
● Prepare to face recurring, more lethal terror attacks
of June 29,2006, in Nawa-e-waqt, an Urdu daily published
from Karachi, LeT chief Hafeez Muhammad Saeed told a PAKISTAN
gathering in Muzaffarabad, where his group has several ● Make terrorism an integral part of Composite Dia-

training camps for jihadis, that ``The Hindus have includ- logue.
● Force Pakistan to shut down LeT, JeM and all other ter-
ed blasphemous cartoons in their textbooks. We will take
rorist organizations targeting India.
revenge. We will intensify jihad against the Hindus``. Two
● Launch global diplomatic and media campaign to pres-
days after the blasts, Saeed is quoted as saying in weekly surize Pakistan to act against terrorist groups.
Ghazwa Times, July 13, that “Nobody could stop us from

Observer฀Research฀Foundation฀is฀a฀public฀policy฀think-tank฀that฀aims฀to฀infl฀uence฀formulation฀of฀policies฀for฀building฀a฀strong฀and฀prosperous฀
India.฀ORF฀pursues฀these฀goals฀by฀providing฀informed฀and฀productive฀inputs,฀in-depth฀research฀and฀stimulating฀discussions.฀The฀Foundation฀is฀
supported฀in฀its฀mission฀by฀a฀cross-section฀of฀India’s฀leading฀public฀fi฀gures,฀academics฀and฀business฀leaders.

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 POLICY฀BRIEF฀●฀MUMBAI฀BLASTS:฀TIME฀TO฀ACT

our mission. We will continue to do what is just according to October 16, 2003, the US Department of State designated
our mission.” While this indicates a continuum in the mind- Dawood Ibrahim as a terrorist for his links to al Qaida, his
set of organisations like the LeT, it also shows the indulgence role in terrorist acts in India and for financing LeT.
of Pakistani authorities towards such organisations. It is, of Despite this, the Dawood Ibrahim syndicate has expand-
course, more likely that the attacks were planned and trial ed its network in Mumbai and adjoining areas since then,
runs carried out much earlier. enabling the ISI and its sponsored terrorist groups like LeT to
Calculated attacks like the Mumbai blasts cause immense recruit youngsters, transfer funds and weapons and provide
damage to the country, its economy and image, besides chal- mobile phones, shelter and escape routes for carrying terror-
lenging its pluralist character. As previous attacks in Delhi, ist operations in India.
Varanasi, Ahmedabad and Ayodhya have shown, one of the The crime syndicates like the one run by Dawood Ibrahim
primary objectives of terrorists has been to trigger communal are also the conduit for hawala transactions that sustains ter-
riots in communally-sensitive areas of the country. It is a war ror groups and their activities in India. Way back in 1988,
of attrition and the aim of the terrorists is that the thread will the Interpol estimated the size of hawala transactions in India
snap one day. to be over $680 billion. This network of hawala exists across
Investigations have established that LeT has been success- the country with hardly any vigilant, systematic crackdown.
ful in co-opting extremist groups like Students Islamic Move- The financial network aiding terrorism in Jammu and Kash-
ment of India (SIMI) which, despite being banned in India mir and other parts of India could be traced to west Asian
since 2000, has been quite active un- hawala networks and religious charity
derground in Uttar Pradesh, Maharash- organisations. It was a chance investiga-
tra, Gujarat, Haryana and Kerala. In the The฀primary฀objective฀ tion of a vegetable vendor in 1997 that
past few years, SIMI activists have been exposed an alarming transaction of one
involved in assisting Pakistan-based ter-
of฀terrorists฀has฀been฀to฀ million rupees that belonged to a senior
rorist groups like LeT and Jaish-e-Mo- trigger฀communal฀riots฀ Hurriyat leader. There is convincing
hammad (JeM) to carry out attacks on evidence of terrorist groups like Hizb-ul
pre-selected targets in India. They have,
in฀communally-sensitive฀ Mujahideen (HuM), JeM and LeT hav-
in fact, been functioning as an extended areas.฀It฀is฀a฀war฀of฀ ing been funded through hawala net-
arm of these groups. works across an arc that stretches from
Besides, this coalition exploits the
attrition฀and฀the฀aim฀of฀ the Persian Gulf to the Bay of Bengal.
presence of organised crime syndicates the฀terrorists฀is฀that฀the฀ There is an urgent need to put an end to
and trans-national arms smuggling this network. Of course, this is not the
networks to procure weapons and ex-
thread฀will฀snap฀one฀day.฀ easiest of tasks in any counter-terrorism
plosives. The ISI’s role in creating and campaign.
controlling such terrorist coalitions and Besides, various charitable and re-
groups has been well documented. In this context, the Law ligious organisations based in west Asia and other parts of
Commission of India noted, in April 2000 in its 173rd Re- the world, too, fund terrorist and extremist groups operating
port on the anti-terrorism Bill, that `34, 262 lives were lost, in India. SIMI, for instance, drew substantial funding from
property worth Rs 20 billion was reportedly damaged, while World Assembly of Muslim Youth, an organisation based in
43,700 kg of explosives, mostly RDX, and 61,900 sophisti- Falls Church, Washington D.C., before the latter was pro-
cated weapons were smuggled into India, even as an estimat- scribed following the 9/11 attacks. The entity, which also
ed Rs 640 billion were spent as security-related expenditure funded the Hamas, was founded by Abdullah bin Laden,
to counter the ISI threat`. brother of Osama bin Laden. There is, therefore, a need for
In Mumbai, and several other parts of India, the under- diplomatic action in this regard, to persuade the countries
world and crime syndicates have been, and are, the ISI’s where these charities are located to halt such funding.
instrument of coordinating, arming and assisting terrorists Despite the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA)
tasked to carry out attacks. These have been allowed to be and the Prevention of Money Laundering (Amendment) Act
entrenched in megapolis’ like Mumbai due to political and of 2005, there has been hardly any consistent and deterrent
commercial reasons. The 1993 serial blasts that killed over action on this front. According to available figures, the En-
270 persons were carried out by newly recruited terrorists forcement Directorate (ED), has investigated only nine cases
with the active support and help of the syndicate run by of terror funding since 1998 –– six involving LeT. A majority
Dawood Ibrahim from Karachi. 10 years after the event, on of these cases related to Pakistan and Dubai.

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 POLICY฀BRIEF฀●฀MUMBAI฀BLASTS:฀TIME฀TO฀ACT

The attack on Mumbai trains reconfirms that Islamist ter- ship has repeatedly failed to face the challenge of terrorism
rorism is no longer confined to Jammu and Kashmir, as has squarely, capitulating in the face of crises like hijackings and
been the case since the early 1990s. It is likely to be a major hostage-taking incidents.
internal security challenge in different parts of the country, India is, therefore, increasingly being seen as a soft and in-
particularly west and south India; the north and north-east dolent state which is bending over backwards for vote bank
are already afflicted. In all likelihood, the north-east, espe- politics. This impression has to be corrected forthright. If this
cially Assam, will increasingly come under an additional is not done, ordinary citizens, including minorities, will lose
threat from Islamist terrorists operating out of Bangladesh, faith in the government and the terrorists will take advan-
and aided in considerable measure by the ISI and Bangla- tage, as they seem to be doing.
desh’s Directorate General of Field Intelligence (DGFI). The There is a general lack of public awareness or a reluctance
West, Maharashtra and Gujarat included, is likely to face the to help or volunteer information lest it rebound on the in-
terrorist onslaught from extremist groups and individuals former. There is a lack of public confidence in the law and or-
working on behalf of LeT and JeM. der machinery and also a genuine lack of general awareness
Another important aspect is the profile of the fresh recruits about what to look for and what to do. There is, at the same
to terrorism. A considerable number of them are well-edu- time, an over dependence on the state with an unwillingness
cated, even doctors and engineers, and adept in exploiting to help in the normal course.
latest communication technologies like the Internet, e-mail
and satellite phones. The indoctrination POLICY฀ACTIONS
of these recruits relies heavily on hate ASSURE PEOPLE
literature and propaganda material gen- Western฀India,฀ ● The government must firmly and
erated from communal incidents in the solemnly reassure the people that
country. They are sent out for training
Maharashtra฀and฀Gujarat฀ they will be protected. The top lead-
in the use of weapons and fabricating included,฀is฀likely฀to฀face฀ ership of the country should make it
explosive devices in camps set up by clear that those responsible for ter-
LeT and other terrorist groups in Paki-
the฀terrorist฀onslaught฀ rorist attacks and those who assist
stan –– PoK, Punjab and Balochistan, from฀extremist฀groups฀ them will be hunted down and dealt
and training infrastructure in Bangla- with sternly.
desh –– particularly in the Chittagong
and฀individuals฀working฀
Hill Tracts (CHT) where Harkat-ul Ji- on฀behalf฀of฀LeT,฀HuJI฀ POLICY AND MECHANISM
had al Islami (HuJI) and its associate, ● There is an urgent and imperative
Jamaatul Mujahideen Bangladesh have
and฀JeM. need to have in place a National
set up complexes for training and in- Counter-Terrorism Strategy in deal-
doctrination. ing with all acts of terrorism, includ
State response to such terrorist incidents has been grossly -ing nuclear, biological and chemical. The policy should
inadequate. On occasions, there has been a complete break- lead to the formulation of a well-defined, comprehensive
down of the law and order machinery. Poor intelligence gath- and multidimensional action plan to deal with all types of
ering and lack of will and resources to follow-up on informa- terrorism.
tion provided by Central and or State intelligence agencies ● For the formulation of this plan, its implementation and
have often allowed terrorist groups to carry out their opera- oversight, the government should constitute a small and
tions without much difficulty. Police have often failed to de- compact group of professionals, on the lines of a strategic
ter terrorists. This malaise is caused by a growing lack of pro- group, from different professional backgrounds and ex-
fessionalism in intelligence agencies and police forces, phe- pertise to deal with terrorism.
nomenal increase of political interference and government’s ● This should form the core group for a Counter Terror-
indifference to carry out reforms in the police. ism Centre within a separate Ministry for Internal Security
The political response to terrorism has been equally dis- with an independent Minister responsible.
mal. At the initial stages and even much later, the State gov-
ernments are reluctant to describe terrorist acts as ‘terrorist ARMED AND PUNITIVE ACTION
acts’ and prefer to deal with them as law and order problems ● The government should be pro-active and direct overt
until it is too late. Political parties have often neutralized and covert actions against terrorists and terrorist groups,
anti-terrorism laws for narrow political interests. The leader- within the country and those based in foreign countries,

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 POLICY฀BRIEF฀●฀MUMBAI฀BLASTS:฀TIME฀TO฀ACT

in order to vastly reduce their capabilities. ● In the wake of our past experience, it is equally impor-
● The government should immediately take all measures to tant that a serous inquiry is made into the efficacy of our
completely root-out the underworld in Mumbai. Fugitive earlier anti-terrorism laws in bringing to justice those de-
underworld leaders and operatives should be silenced and tained for acts of terrorism and necessary corrective mea-
their operations halted on foreign soils. All criminal link- sures need to be initiated and, ultimately, ensure that the
ages should be investigated and those found guilty should perpetrators of terrorist acts do not go unpunished.
be brought to book. ● There is an urgent need to introduce a provision either in
● Groups like SIMI that provide a crucial support base for the existing laws or in new anti-terrorism laws, to declare
terrorist activities should be hunted down, their networks a person as terrorist. Provisions relating to declaring an
should be smashed, and support structures and bases de- organization as terrorist alone are not sufficient.
stroyed completely. A mere ban is not sufficient. Irrespec- ● Immediately, we need to review the procedures being fol-
tive of their political affiliation and status, leaders found to lowed hitherto to secure the extradition of fugitive terror-
be involved with, or linked to, such anti-national groups ists.
should be brought to justice. ● The government must make suitable amendments to Sec-
● Concerted effort should be made to tackle terrorist fund- tion 3 of Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA) to
ing. Long-term measures including snapping of financial equate hawala transactions used for terrorism with acts
networks of terrorist groups are required. This would in- of terror. Similarly, immediate action should be taken to
volve curbing charity organisations, bring in the Unlawful Activities (Pre-
both within Indian and outside, vention) Amendment Act, 2004 into
from supporting terrorist activities Political฀parties฀in฀ the schedule of the Prevention of Money
and tracking down hawala transac- Laundering (Amendment) Act of 2005.
tions, as well as money laundering.
government฀must฀
desist฀from฀using฀the฀ INTELLIGENCE AND SECURITY
LEGISLATION AGENCIES
● Terrorism is an act of war and, dur-
intelligence฀agencies฀for฀ ● The law enforcement agencies across
ing such circumstances, nations narrow,฀partisan฀ends฀ the country, without exception, are
suspend their normal laws. Since in a state of utter disrepair. Imme-
normal criminal laws are inadequate
and฀should฀allow฀the฀ diately, these have to be re-invigo-
and cumbersome in dealing with intelligence฀agencies฀to฀ rated, energized and revived, failing
acts of terrorism, we need to intro- which our fight against terrorism
duce a permanent anti-terror law
be฀professional.฀ would not yield the desired results.
which is not subjected to dilution The government must immediately
for political reasons. This should be implement the recommendations of
a comprehensive law enabling intelligence agencies to the National Police Reforms Commission of 1979.
track down suspected terrorists, block channels of fund- ● Political parties in government
ing and weapons smuggling and help the prosecution must desist from using the intelligence agencies for nar-
of the guilty quickly and severely. It would be useful to row, partisan ends and should allow and encourage the
recollect that the United States and the United Kingdom intelligence agencies to be professional. At the same time,
have provisions in their anti-terrorism laws that are much the government should fix responsibility for intelligence
tougher than India’s earlier anti-terrorism laws. Adequate failure leading to terrorist attacks, including in the July
care should, of course, be taken to prevent the abuse of 11-Mumbai blasts.
such a law. ● Revive the Joint Taskforce on Intelligence and Multi Agen-
● Amendments should be made to the Indian Evidence Act, cy Centre. These two units provide a platform for Army,
the Arms Act, the Telegraph Act, the Prevention of Money Navy, Air Force, R&AW and IB to synergise their capabili-
Laundering Act, the Criminal Procedure Code, etc to plug ties and facilitate sharing of information and assets.
possible legal loopholes to prevent acquittal on technical ● The Joint Intelligence Committee should be strengthened
grounds and introduce the concept of imposing cumula- and given the right resources to carry out its task of co-
tive sentences in terrorism cases. A comprehensive wit- ordinating intelligence and policy decisions in matters of
ness protection programme should be put in place and national security.
should be extended to all cases relating to terrorist acts. ● The Central government should create a Counter-Terror-

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 POLICY฀BRIEF฀●฀MUMBAI฀BLASTS:฀TIME฀TO฀ACT

ism Fund to strengthen the anti-terrorist intelligence and Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) to deal with the fall-
operational capabilities at State level. out of a terrorist attack and provide immediate relief to
victims –– the people –– in all our cities and towns.
PREVENTION, PREPAREDNESS AND RESPONSE ● Quick Response Teams comprising police, medical, civ-
● A comprehensive action plan must be prepared to prevent il-defence, fire service and local administration should
attacks on mass transit systems like trains and metros. be created and equipped with state-of-the art dedicated
This plan should include both law enforcement activities equipment to tackle similar situations that will arise in
(policing), and physical security. Policing would include metropolitan cities. These teams should be tasked to act
beat patrol, positioning of police control room (PCR) vans in accordance with the SOP so that response to such
at strategic locations and coordination with fire services, emergencies is quick, effective and visible.
para-medical and civil-defence organisations. ● Special programmes are needed to create public aware-
● The physical aspect of the plan should include CCTVs, ness and confidence in the state machinery.
vehicle barriers, proper lighting at stations and in the
trains and under vehicle surveillances. PAKISTAN
● Random anti-terrorist measures can include routine ● The issue of terrorism should become an integral part of
checking of passengers and luggage and removal of lug- the Composite Dialogue. It should be impressed upon
gage carriers and other potential places for hiding explo- Pakistan that, if it failed to root out the problem of terror-
sives and weapons. ism, the peace process is likely to be in jeopardy.
● It is extremely important for the state and its agencies to ● Pakistan must be forced to shut down Lashkar-e-Toiba,
immediately reach out to the people in the aftermath of a Jaish-e-Mohammad and all other terrorist organizations
terror attack in order that the people would be convinced targeting India, besides proscribing jihadi publications
that they are cared for. They would then come forward as and websites.
willing partners in future in the counter-terrorism efforts ● India has a list of 4000 persons involved with various ter-
of the government. The response of the state on July 11 rorist groups based in Pakistan. Action Taken Notes on
was too slow. It is of paramount importance that the state these persons should form part of the progress report on
authority should be visible immediately to prevent chaos the Composite Dialogue.
and to provide succour and assistance, and to keep the ● A global campaign, both diplomatic and in the media,
people’s morale high. should be launched to intensify pressure on Pakistan to
● All agencies of the government should be thoroughly take action against terrorist groups. Others may or may
prepared to face recurring, more lethal attacks involving not help but will certainly be more willing to help if
a large number of casualties and the use of lethal forms they understand that we are serious in handling this
of attacks such as chemical weapons. If one does not al- menace. Diplomatic, offensive should be part of this
ready exist, we need to immediately put in place a robust campaign.

These฀findings฀and฀recommendations฀are฀drawn฀largely฀from฀ Analysis฀Wing,฀Major฀General฀Afsir฀Karim,฀former฀member฀of฀
the฀discussion฀which฀the฀Observer฀Research฀Foundation฀had฀ the฀National฀Security฀Advisory฀Board,฀Prof.฀SD฀Muni,฀renowned฀
hosted฀on฀July฀13,฀2006,฀two฀days฀after฀the฀blasts,฀with฀a฀view฀to฀ expert฀on฀south฀Asian฀security฀affairs,฀Mr฀Prakash฀Singh,฀former฀
make฀an฀assessment฀of฀the฀incident฀and฀its฀fall-out฀with฀the฀ob- Director฀General,฀Uttar฀Pradesh฀Police,฀Mr฀Saeed฀Naqvi,฀televi-
jective฀of฀making฀recommendations฀and฀suggestions฀on฀tack- sion฀personality,฀Mr฀Ashok฀Singh,฀Senior฀Fellow,฀ORF,฀Mr฀Nandan฀
ling฀this฀menace฀which฀is฀a฀challenge฀to฀India’s฀peaceful,฀demo- Unnikrishnan,฀Senior฀Fellow,฀ORF,฀Mr฀Wilson฀John,฀Senior฀Fellow฀
cratic฀and฀secular฀tradition฀and฀way฀of฀living.฀Some฀well-known฀ and฀Dr฀PV฀Ramana,฀Research฀Fellow.฀General฀VP฀Malik’s฀note฀on฀
thinkers,฀academics฀and฀police฀and฀intelligence฀officials฀took฀ the฀subject฀was฀read฀in฀absentia.฀Dr฀R฀Swaminathan,฀Senior฀Fel-
part฀in฀the฀discussion.฀The฀participants฀included฀Mr฀RK฀Mishra,฀ low,฀ORF฀Mumbai,฀presented฀a฀situation฀report฀on฀the฀incident.฀
Chairman,฀ORF,฀Mr฀Vikram฀Sood,฀former฀chief,฀Research฀and฀

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 POLICY฀BRIEF฀●฀MUMBAI฀BLASTS:฀TIME฀TO฀ACT

ABOUT฀THE฀AUTHORS
Wilson฀John฀is฀a฀Senior฀Fellow฀with฀Observer฀Research฀Foundation.
PV฀Ramana฀is฀a฀Research฀Fellow฀with฀ Observer฀Research฀Foundation.

ORF฀publications฀on฀terrorism

● Terrorism in Southeast Asia: Implications for South Asia, Ed by Wilson John and Swati Parashar
(ORF-Pearson-Longman, 2005)
● ORF Policy Brief: Terrorist Strikes in Ayodhya and London: Lessons for the future
● ORF Issue Brief - The Jihadi Factor in India-Pakistan Peace Process, Wilson John, (June 2006)
● Maoist Insurgency in Nepal, SD Muni, (ORF-Rupa, 2003)
● Karachi: A terror capital in the making, Wilson John, (ORF-Rupa, 2003)
● Maritime Terrorism (forthcoming)
● Naxal Violence, Ed by PV Ramana (forthcoming)

Recent฀ORF฀publications:

● Sri Lanka : Peace without process, Ed by B Raman , N.Sathiya Moorthy , Kalpana Chittaranjan, (ORF-Samskriti
2006)
● Revolution and Creativity: A survey of Iranian literature, films and art in the post revolutionary era, by Azarmi
Dukht Safawi & AW Azhar Dehlvi, (ORF-Rupa, 2006)
● The Second Bush Presidency: Global perspectives, Ed by Amit Gupta & Cherian Samuel, (ORF-Pearson-
Longman, 2006)
● Pakistan’s Nuclear Disorder: Weapons, proliferation and safety, Garima Singh, (ORF-Lancer, 2006)
● Documenting Reforms: Case studies from India, Ed by S Narayan, (ORF-Macmillan, 2006)
● Defence Planning: Problems and prospects, Gen VP Malik, Brig Vinod Anand, (ORF-Manas, 2006)
● ORF Occasional Paper - The Dynamics of LTTE’s Commercial Maritime Infrastructure, Vijay Sakhuja, (April
2006)

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