Counterterrorism Blog

India’s Intelligence Bureau (IB) has placed a concept paper on counter terror doctrine before the elite Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) for approval. The doctrine keeping the high-level of threats in view, reportedly have come heavily against hostage-terrorist swaps with host of other pressing issues including the role of state police forces, intelligence sharing between security agencies and last but not the least, coordination between government agencies involved in combating terror. The proposed doctrine reportedly says that if negotiations with terrorist outfits should be aimed at engaging them for a period within which appropriate action against them can be taken.

This is important for India to have such kind of stringent guidelines especially in the face of recent hijack threats and of course for not repeating the past experience. In the last couple of months at least three times intelligence agencies have alerted Civil Aviation authority about a possible plane hijack or suicide attacks. On Dec. 9, intelligence sources indicated that a Pakistan-based terrorist outfit could hijack an civilian aircraft to neighboring Bangladesh to seek the release of Mohammed Afzal Guru, who has been sentenced to death in the Dec. 13, 2001 Parliament attack case and presently waiting for clemency. Exactly one month before, in November, security was beefed up at many South Indian airports after a purported threat from the al-Qaeda cadres received by the Trichy airport authority. After some days security stepped up at airports following a possible hijack alert from US’ Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). FBI told Indian intelligence agencies about the e-mail which plans to hijack a plane flying to the United States or Europe. As a result of this, flights out of metropolis like New Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai and Bangalore were put under extra security checks.

Islamic militants have been resorting to various techniques such as threat letters, emails and phone calls which created a sense of panic within the security establishment as well as common populace. It is feared that if at all a hijack takes place, terrorists will seek the release of Afzal Guru and Abdul Madhani, an accused in the 1999 Coimbatore bomb blast case. While many, recalling 1999 infamous IC-814 Kandahar hijack case, believe that an actual hijack could be a culmination of all those so called threats, some believe that this is the more of gimmick to put pressure on Government (and President) to take a decision on Afzal Guru’s fate. Nevertheless, the doctrine which weighs heavily against hostage-terrorist swaps would be timely and give teeth to government to adopt tough options against any unforeseen eventualities to avoid a repeat of the IC-814 hijack case.