Operation Octopus - An effective Indian state response

"The only thing that we learn from history is that we learn nothing from history," said German philosopher Georg Hegel.  

England -an island of four million of the population in 1600 AD, mostly shepherds by profession, created and dominated the largest empire in world history which can only be compared with Genghis khan, the brute.  

Both empires in history are separated by several centuries. These two empires had nothing in common except their ability to change and their genius of policymaking and innovation. Both these empires were successful in their respective timeline in history because both worked on twin doctrines that if anything goes wrong, something must change and for the change to be real it must reach the edge which is cutting the system (internally or externally). 

The USA suffered from one lethal strike on 9/11. Everything changed overnight. - their laws, instrumentality to fight terrorism - brand new Department of Homeland Security surfacing from nowhere, their foreign policy, immigration processes and access control, and intelligence transformation just to name a few. Not that their system is perfect, but it shows their capacity to change fast and take the changes to the operating levels. No wonder September 11 was not repeated. The secret of success lies in lowering State’s tolerance threshold for extremist elements, changing fast and constantly, and taking the changes to the last government officer of functioning State Machinery. 

After the September 11, 2001, terror attack in the United States of America (USA), GoI banned SIMI and the ban continues to date. The ban destroyed SIMI’s presence on the ground. All the known associates, addresses, locations, units, bank accounts, and offices were sealed and seized. It dealt a body blow to SIMI, and it was never able to resurrect.
If the experience of the SIMI ban is anything to go by, then a ban on PFI will have its fair share of the desired effect. 

Last month, the union home ministry effectively banned the Popular Front of India (PFI) for five years and most of its top leadership was arrested following pan India crackdown by the investigative agencies for terror link. 

Along with the PFI, the ban is also imposed on its fronts, including Rehab India Foundation (RIF), Campus Front of India (CFI), All India Imams Council (AIIC), National Confederation of Human Rights Organization (NCHRO), National Women's Front, Junior Front, Empower India Foundation and Rehab Foundation, Kerala as an unlawful association and terror link. These organisations with different names under the same umbrella of PFI, used to portray themselves as organisations associated with social development and human rights.

A loud and clear message to those who would like to pursue the strategy of thousand cuts to bleed India, for furthering their politico-military and religious objectives, is given by GoI through ‘Operation Octopus’. 

National will is the most vital ingredient of state power that erodes when leadership responses are weak, and systems lose their strength. In this case of PFI, the chosen weapon to break the national will from within was religious fault line for luring Muslims and caste fault lines for luring SC/ST/OBC- as per their recovered confidential pieces of literature. 

These fault lines are often explored by the adversaries to demoralise and confuse the Indian State. In their confidential literature, it is clearly articulated how to take the shield of the national flag, Constitution and Dr Ambedkar to fulfil their final mission of Islamic India by 2047. 

The aim of such organisations such as PFI, SDPI etc. was to manipulate the minds of the co-religionists, decision-makers and the people, subject to any kind of deprivation by any divisive fault line, at large, whom they could pressurise to think and behave in a manner that will serve their interests. Involvement in igniting the Hijab controversy in Karnataka is one of the examples of such psychological warfare in order to exploit fault lines (in this case religious dress code in schools, which got support and appreciation even from Al-Qaida) to serve their mission objective. 

Like metals, states have a melting point. The state-building process involves raising this melting point to a level where it is impervious to the heat generated by our enemies within or without. The enemy tries to get to know this metaphorical melting point as well as design its strategy to generate the heat required to reach it. If India wilts under the pressure of such terrorist organisations in disguise as a democratic party or waves of violent demonstrations funded from abroad, it will only show how low its meltdown point is. A nation aspiring to be a major player in global power dynamics can ill-afford to be a victim of such a psyche and malicious efforts. Once a precedent of this kind is formed and becomes successful, all hostile groups, across the length and breadth of the country, supported by enemies within and outside, will start competing to reach that melting point at the earliest. This will create total anarchy in the country. 

Unfortunately, many of the opposition leaders of the Centre and States were wrong in trying to give it a political colour and advance absurd theories regarding the constitutional authority of the Centre. There is no ambiguity whatsoever about the role and responsibility of the Centre and the States. Article 355 of the Constitution unequivocally affirms that “It shall be the duty of the Union to protect every State against external aggression and internal disturbance”. Also, in the judgement in Ram Manohar Lohia vs. State of Bihar (1965), the Supreme Court asserted that when a threat transcends limits of public order and threatens internal security, the overriding responsibility lies with the Union government. 

The political crossfire between the Centre and the States only gladdens these terrorists’ hearts. There was an urgent need to make the message to these extremists loud and clear that the state will use all its power to protect its sovereign rights and constitutional values. 

The front organisations, masquerading as NGOs and think tanks, who skillfully assist the extremists in exploiting discontent and subvert them to take recourse to their ill motive must be held accountable. Those who provide them intellectual and ideological space by projecting them as social revolutionaries are as guilty as the gullible people who incite violence and take to arms. 

The first requirement for designing an effective response is to accept the realities as they are and to make a hard assessment of the enemy – his mindset, doctrines, capabilities and goals. One cannot win unless one fights, and one cannot fight till one is able to define the enemy – boldly and bluntly. One major reason why we, as a state, have often gone wrong in our responses and not derived full value out of our efforts and sacrifices is our fear to face the hard realities as they exist. 

(Disclaimer: The views of the writer do not represent the views of WION or ZMCL. Nor does WION or ZMCL endorse the views of the writer.) 

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