I feel privileged to have been asked to deliver the First Air Cmde Jasjit Singh Memorial Lecture to remember Jasjit Singh who, after a long and distinguished tenure as Director General, Institute of Defence Studies and Analyses, served as the Director of the Centre for Air Power Studies from the day it was established till he passed away last year.

It would be useful, at the very outset, to state that, in simple language, the term ‘national security’ could be defined to comprise external security, which relates to safeguarding the country against war and external aggression, and internal security which relates to the maintenance of public order and normalcy within the country. However, such a segregated approach is no longer feasible, particularly after the advent of terrorism which has introduced extremely frightening dimensions to the internal security environment. I would go further to say that issues of internal and external security management have been inextricably intertwined ever since Pakistan launched a proxy war in Jammu and Kashmir in early 1990 and Pakistan-based jihadi terrorists started establishing networks in our country.

Our national security interests have continued to be influenced and affected by geopolitical developments in our region and far beyond. While it would not be feasible to recount the varied security challenges which India has faced in the decades gone by, it could be stated that the more serious problems in the recent years have emanated from Pakistan’s continuing proxy war in Jammu and Kashmir; jihadi terrorism, which has been progressively spreading its reach; the destructive activities which the left-wing extremist groups have been carrying out for decades now; the serious unrest created by the still active insurgencies in the North East region; and incidents of serious communal violence which have been erupting in the various states from time to time. Mention must also be made of the steadily growing activities of the Indian Mujahideen (IM), a terror group which has its roots in Pakistan. Another phenomenon, relatively more recent, relates to the emergence of certain radical countergroups which have been organised with the primary objective of countering the jihadi terror networks.

The Pakistan Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) has also been striving to resurrect Sikh militancy in Punjab by supporting the establishment of terror modules from among militants in the Sikh diaspora. The activities of the left-wing extremist groups, which have been continuing their armed struggle for the past several decades to capture political power, are posing an extremely serious internal security challenge.

India’s hinterland continues to remain the prime focus of Pakistan-based terror groups, particularly Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and IM. In the recent past, indigenous groups comprising elements of the Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI) and Al Ummah have perpetrated serious violent incidents in the country and, not withstanding its frequent denials, Pakistan remains steadfastly committed to harbouring anti-India terror groups on its soil.

Another factor which has adversely affected internal security management relates to the progressive erosion of the professionalism of the state police forces. This regrettable decline has taken place because of the day to day political interference in the functioning of the constabularies.

It is important that the Central Government takes the most urgent steps for finalising the National Security Policy and the machinery for its administration, in suitable consultations with the states. For the past nearly two decades now, there have been repeated pronouncements that the Central Government is promulgating a law for dealing with identified federal offences and establishing a central agency which would have the authority of taking cognisance and investigating crimes which have serious inter-state or nationwide ramifications for national security. In this context, the proposal of setting up the National Counter Terrorism Centre (NCTC) has continued to be debated for the past several years.

For progressively enhancing meaningful Centre-states relations in regard to national security management it would be useful for the Central Government to also consider various possible initiatives for promoting trust and mutual understandings between New Delhi and the state capitals. The Central Government could also consider setting up an Empowered Committee of Home Ministers of States to discuss and arrive at pragmatic solutions to various important security related issues, including the long pending proposal to set up the NCTC.

If national security is to be satisfactorily managed, the states must effectively maintain internal security within their territories. Most states have also not taken the required steps to implement the Supreme Court’s orders regarding the establishment of Police Complaint Authorities and State Security Commissions; segregation of law and order and investigation functions; setting up of separate Intelligence and antiterrorist units and taking varied other required actions for establishing modern and accountable police forces which would enable the effective functioning of the security management apparatus.

It is also necessary to recognise that national security cannot be safeguarded unless the entire apparatus of the criminal justice system discharges its duties with competence, speed, fairness and complete honesty. Last year, nearly two crore criminal cases under the Indian Penal Code and Special Laws were awaiting trial.

It is necessary to weed out all obsolete laws and update and amend other statutes, many of which were enacted during the colonial era or in the early years after Independence, to ensure their relevance in the contemporary context. For instance, the Indian Evidence Act needs to be urgently reviewed to, inter alia, provide for the permissibility of electronic evidence.

It would be incorrect to assume that serious threats to national security emanate only from the activities of Naxalites, terror groups and the mafia networks. Corruption at various levels, with which the entire governance apparatus is permeated, is another factor which adversely impacts our national security interests.

The Government of India had set up a committee to ascertain how Dawood Ibrahim and other mafia elements had been able to establish such powerful networks. The report of this committee had concluded that, in several parts of the country where crime syndicates/mafia groups have developed significant muscle and money power and established linkages with government functionaries, political leaders and others, the unlawful elements have been able to carry out their criminal activities with ease and impunity.

The security environment, in India’s neighbourhood and far beyond, has been progressively deteriorating. It would be enormously beneficial if the Central Government takes the bold step of establishing a National Security Administrative Service whose members, selected from among the best available in the country, are imparted intensive training in specialised areas before being deployed to run the security management institutions all over the country.

I would like to conclude by briefly reiterating that:

• India is facing progressively increasing security threats from across its frontiers, as well as from within.
• The absence of a bipartisan approach has led to several states questioning the Central Government’s leadership role in national security management.
• As a general practice, which is now long continuing, instead of progressively improving the capability of their police and security maintenance apparatus for effectively dealing with arising disturbances, the states have been perennially seeking assistance from Union Home Ministry, whenever a problem is arising in their territories.
• While the Central Government has been, without any exception, providing assistance to the states by deploying Central Police Forces, and even the Army, for restoring normalcy in the disturbed areas, the states have never been questioned about the reasons for their failure to maintain internal security, nor about their failures to deal with the root causes of the recurring disturbances in their territories.
• The Constitution of India prescribes that the states shall be responsible for the maintenance of public order and that the Union Government has the duty to protect the states against internal disturbances. A holistic National Security Policy and the mechanisms for its administration must be urgently finalised in suitable consultation with the states. The Central Government must not lose any more time in evolving the required Centre-states understandings for effective national security management.
• Besides finalising the National Security Policy, the Central Government shall also need to take time bound steps for:

–   Establishing appropriate institutions/agencies for effective security management across the length and breadth of the country.

–   Enacting laws and establishing all required processes and procedures for the prompt investigation and trial of federal offences.

–   Establishing a National Security Administrative Service for manning and operating the security management apparatus in the entire country.

To conclude, I shall yet again reiterate that if the security, unity and integrity of India is to be preserved and protected then there is no more time to be lost. The Central and the State Governments must immediately forge all required understandings and take every necessary step for ensuring that there is not the slightest chink in the enforcement of national security.

The writer is Governor of Jammu and Kashmir. He was formerly Defence Production Secretary, Defence Secretary, Home Secretary and Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister.