Control the Mob

Palak Gupta

The Shaheen Bagh protest and riots in Northeast Delhi were a nightmare for not just the people but also the country’s intelligence agencies, policing establishment and political leadership. One of the aspects of internal security, crowd management, went totally out of control, thereby risking the lives of thousands. India’s internal security was threatened, reminding us how important it is for the peace of a nation.

The elements of internal security can be broadly divided into perimeter and border management (of both land and sea); the different surveillance mechanisms in the hinterland such as CCTVs; threat of tactical UAVs, rogue drones (detection and disablement) and the collection, sharing, analysis of intelligence leading to effective threat assessment, forensics and investigation technology, communications and cyber security.

Today, India faces many different types of threats ranging from violent non-state actors, organised transnational criminal groups, espionage actions of other states, cyber threats and proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. While conventional counterintelligence, counterinsurgency and counter-terrorism methods have stood the test of time, there is no denying that technology has facilitated a massive transformation of the national security setup – proving both a boon and bane simultaneously.

India’s National Security Adviser Ajit Doval has talked about the role of technology in the policing domain, acknowledging that technology is an enabler. “When you induct technology, you are adding to your enablement,” he said at the two-day long 3rd Young Superintendents of Police Conference and Police Expo-2020, organised by Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) in partnership with Haryana Police and Bureau of Police Research and Development (BPR&D), which concluded on 6 March 2020. His views were endorsed by Chief Minister of Haryana Manohar Lal Khattar who was the chief guest at the plenary session on day two of the expo. Pitching for SMART policing, the Haryana CM said, “Technology in policing can be more apparent and transparent than human interface. We are in the age of Artificial Intelligence (AI) where challenges related to cybercrimes are increasing manifold and need to be addressed and countered.”

Border Security

To maintain secure maritime, land and air borders is extremely challenging. Effective border security is key to the effective implementation of counter-terrorism measures. It is the first line of defence against the movement of terrorists across borders and the illegal cross-border movement of goods and cargo. India shares 15,106.7 km of its boundary with seven nations — Pakistan, China, Nepal, Bhutan, Myanmar, Bangladesh and Afghanistan, running via distinct terrains.

Additionally, India has a coastal boundary of 7,516.6 km, which includes 5,422.6 km of coastline in the mainland and 2,094 km of coastline bordering islands. The coastline touches nine states and two Union territories. In the case of our coastal border line, our territorial boundary is defined up to 12 nautical miles.

Competent border management, which is multi-faceted, requires several agencies such as customs, immigration, armed forces and intelligence agencies, to work in lockstep and assimilate sources of external information which are both technology-driven and intelligence-based (human inputs, satellite images), in order to frame a single or a common operating manoeuvrability picture within and beyond our borders followed by establishing a secure communication line to dispatch the collated information.

Construction of roads, fencing, installation of ground radars, floodlighting, modernisation of equipment and weapons, vehicles, logistics, air defence control & reporting system (ADC&RS), sensors, manual patrolling, setting up of command and control centres which act as the position for informed decision-making are a f