INTRODUCTION TO INTERNAL SECURITY : CHAPTER-1

Internal And External Security

• At the outset, we shall briefly differentiate between internal and external security of a country before we discuss the various aspects of internal security.
• Internal security is the security of a country within its borders. This implies maintenance of peace and law and order, and upholding the sovereignty of the country within its territory.
• Internal security is different from external security to the extent that external security is security against aggression by a foreign country. External security is solely the responsibility of the armed forces of the country, while internal security comes under the purview of the police, which can be supported by the Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF), if required.
• In India, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) takes care of internal security, while external security comes under the Ministry of Defence. In many countries, MHA is also called the Ministry of Internal Affairs or Ministry of Homeland Security.

Classification of Threat

• Kautilya wrote in Arthashastra that a state can be at risk from threats

1. Internal
2. External
3. Internally-aided external
4. Externally-aided internal

• India’s internal security threat perceptions are a mix of all four threats mentioned above.
• The changing external environment also impacts our internal security. Events in Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal and Myanmar have direct or indirect linkages with our internal security. Therefore, it can be said that in today’s information and digital age, security threats, both internal and external, are inter-related and cannot be seen in isolation from each other.
• After World War II, 39 states disintegrate. Of these, five disintegrate because of external aggression and the other 34 due to failure to manage internal security. This led to either their loss of sovereignty, disintegration, breakdown of constitutional machinery, civil wars, violence leading to regime changes or military coups. These failures were due to complex and varying reasons, but failure of internal security was a common factor among them.
• Over the years, the challenges to our internal security have grown manifold and assumed alarming proportions. Internal security problems have started affecting our county’s growth and development. This is now one of the prime concerns in the top echelons of the centre.
• Therefore, it is no surprise that the UPSC has included internal security as a separate topic in the Civil Services Main Examination since 2013.

Attributes of Internal Security

The main attributes of internal security are:

• Secure territorial integrity and protect internal sovereignty
• Maintain domestics peace
• Prevalence of law and order
• Rule of law and equality before law-law of the land should protect everyone irrespective of status Absence of fear from the feared implying individual freedom for people as guaranteed by the constitution
• Peaceful co-existence and communal harmony

MAJOR CHALLENGES TO INTERNAL SECURITY

• Independence for India came with some inherited problems related to internal security. The issue of the accession of the state of Jammu and Kashmir to India also came with its own set of problems related to our internal security. The division of the pre-independence India into two nations resulted in large scale unforeseen violence that claimed millions of lives. Thus was born the menace of communalism which was visible again and again in various riots thereafter. As an emerging nation, we hoped to overcome these problems and embark upon a path of national reconstruction and consolidation, but progress has been hampered by various challenges to internal security faced by the country. Over the years, India’s internal security problems have multiplied due to linguistic riots, inter-states disputes, and caste and ethnic tensions, etc. in 1956, the country had redefine its inter-state boundaries due to linguistic riots.

MAJOR CHALLENGES

1. Hinterland terrorism- international and domestic
2. J&K militancy and terrorism
3. Insurgency in North east India
4. Left-wing extremism
5. Organized crime and its nexus with terrorism
6. Communalism
7. Caste and ethnic tensions
8. Regionalism and inter state disputes
9. Cyber crime and cyber security
10. Border management
11. Coastal security

• The 1950s also saw the North-east going up in flames, when in 1954 Angami Zapu Phizo raised the banner of revolt in Nagaland and the fire spread to Mizoram, Manipur and Tripura.
• The later part of the 1960s saw the rise of Nexalism. At the time of independence, India was an under-developed country and had taken up the task of rebuilding the country. The country adopted the equitable and inclusive growth model for growth and development. But, over the years, it has become evident that we have failed on many counts and poverty, unemployment and under-development prevail in the country. This situation was exploited by various people to pose a very dangerous challenge to the country internal security in the form of Maoism/Naxalism/Left-wing Extremism. In 2006, the then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh even admitted that this was perhaps the biggest the challenge to the country internal security.
• The 1980s witnessed the growth of the terrorist movement in Punjab, aided and abetted by a hostile neighbor. The 1990s saw the beginning of militancy in Kashmir which was slowly become a pan-India phenomena with the onslaught of international terrorism in the hinterland during the past decade. The rise of India Mujahideen (IM) has been another dangerous phenomena in the last decade. This has again been supported by the unfriendly neighbor as became clearly evident during the 26/11 terror attach in Mumbai. As a result, the Centre initiated a number of concrete measures to strengthen its anti-terrorism apparatus.
• Transnational organized criminal/mafias have given further boost to international terrorism by forging linkages between organized crime and terrorism. Their funding and modus operandi has mainly been arms smuggling, drugs trafficking, hawala transactions, money laundering and pumping of fake Indian currency notes (FICN) to different parts of the country.
• Cyber security is the latest challenge. We could be the target of a cyber-war, which could jeopardize our security as most of our vital installations are now based on cyber systems. Any failure to check cyber attacks could be fetal to our economy and security. The snowden revelations (Wikileaks) of 2013 exposed the extent of espionage that is possible through cyber networks. The phenomenal growth of the internet and mobile communication has demonstrated that social media could play a vital role in spreading disinformation and fanning violence. The exodus of North-east students from the southern states in 2012 and the Muzzaffarnagar riots in 2013 are some examples of problems created due to the fast growing communication systems.
• As conventional warfare is not able to give the desired results, the enemy will use other means to achieve its nefarious designs targeting the civil society to create political instability, exploiting social, and economics, religious, sectarian fault lines, mounting perception battles using Psy-wars (Psychologicals wars).
• This could be termed Fourth-Generation Warfare where the battleground would be the civil society with the aim to recruit, destroy and subvert the civil society itself. Now, the concept of conquering land is being replaced by the concept of controlling the minds of the civil society using Psy-Ops (Psychological Operation) and the one who controls the civil society would ultimately rule the world. Another big problem is that these groups are globally networked as opposed to the Indian police, which finds difficulty in even networking at the national level.
• Border management is important for containing threats to our internal security. A weak border management can result in infiltration of terrorists and illegal immigrants from various borders and smuggling of contraband items such as arms, drugs and counterfeit currency. There has been an increase in hostility against illegal migrants in the North-east. We are yet to find a satisfactory solution, be it political, social or economical, to this problem.

FACTORS RESPONSIBLE FOR INTERNAL SECURITY PROBLEMS

There are various reasons, both historical and non-historical, which cause problems for our internal security. These have been discussed in detail in the forthcoming chapters. However, a few root causes are mentioned below:

1. Unfriendly neighbors
2. Poverty
3. Unemployment
4. Inequitable growth
5. Widening gap between haves and have nots
6. Failure on administrative front or governance deficit
7. Increasing communal divide
8. Increasing caste awareness and caste tensions
9. Rise of contentious politics based on sectarian, ethnic, linguistic, or other divisive criteria
10. Porous borders having very tough terrain
11. Poor criminal justice system and large scale corruption leading to nexus between criminals, police and politicians resulting in organized crime going unabated

• We inherited the first three causes at the time of independence, but have failed to resolve them. Unfortunately, we have added more factors which have multiplied our internal security problems. The fourth, fifth and sixth factors in the above list can be termed as administrative failures and the seventh, eight and ninth could be due to the rise of partisan political. The last two can be attributed to a pronounced deficit of governance. Every problem gets highlighted because of these factors and hostile neighbors leave no opportunity to exploit internal condition for the pursuit of their own agenda. The declared policy of Pakistan’s ISI’ to bleed India with a thousand cuts’ proves the point.

INTERNAL SECURITY DOCTRINE

INTERNAL SECURITY DOCTRINE SHOULD INCLUDE THE FOLLOWING KEY ELEMENTS  

• Political
• Socio-Economic
• Governance
• Police and Security Force
• Center-State Coordination
• Intelligence
• Border Management
• Cyber Security

1. Political : First, we need to know the nature of the challenge to our internal security. It could be secessionist, separatist or even regional in nature. We have to analyse the causative factors of various types of movements and see whether the demands are within the constitutional framework or not. As matter of principle, we have to tackle the secessionist movements with a heavy hand. Separatist elements have to be kept at a distance. We need a clear policy with straingent laws to deal with such elements. On the other hand, regional aspirations and ethnic demands require reasonably softer and sympathetic approach.

2. Socio-Economic : Socio-Economic factors are also at the back of many movements which are big threat to the internal security of the country. Many a times, there are genuine socio-economic grievances of a section of the society arising from acute poverty, unemployment and displacement. In such cases, our approach has to be different. We need to analyse the factors causing the socio-economic grievances and address all the connected issues. Equitable growth and development is the spirit of our constitution. Therefore, we have to ensure that development reaches all sections of the society and there are no regional disparities.

3. Governance : lack of good governance also provides a tool in the hands of anti-establishment elements, who pose a challenge to the internal security of the country. Such elements take advantage of mismanagement and corruption in government schemes, poor implementation of laws and absence of government machinery in the remote areas. Governance on all fronts become an issue whether it civil administration or policing of the area or the whole of criminal justice system. It is the duty of the state to control all the malaise in governance and provide good governance to the remotest of the areas and control corruption. Otherwise, development of remote areas will be nearly impossible.

4. Police and Security Force : It has been seen that, at times allegations of police atrocities and police indifference towards people’s problems, aggravate internal security problems. We have seen many a times the agitations are directed against the police or the security forces. Demand for removal of Armed Forces (Special Powers) Acts or AFSPA is one such example. Police needs to be sensitized so that it becomes people friendly. We need to carry out police reforms so that the police is seen as a neutral, transparent and professional body. Other security forces aiding state police also need to increase their understanding of the local situation and maintain highest order of efficiency. They need to coordinate with the state police and help achieve the overall goal of maintaining internal security.

5. Centre-State coordination : Lack of center-state coordination also leads to many problems related to internal security. This coordination problem exists in all areas from intelligence to operations. We need to develop an institutional framework which resolves all these centre-state coordination problems and ensures synergy at all levels.

6. Intelligence :  Intelligence is a major component of internal security. We need to be alert against external as well as internal enemies posing a threat to the internal security of the country. Most big operation have the back up support of intelligence. We need to have defensive as well as offensive intelligence to forewarn, neutralize the impending threat and take proactive steps wherever required. We also need to have regular institutional framework to compile, collate and act on intelligence received from varoius agencies. Multi Agency Center (MAC) has made a good beginning in this direction.

7. Border Management : The country has land borders with seven countries (Practically six due to PoK issue) stretching nearly 15,000 Km. We have had wars on three sides of our land borders with Chine, Pakistan and East Pakistan (Presently Bangladesh). We also had infiltration problems through Punjab and Kashmir Borders, illegal immigration problems through Bangladesh and smuggling of weapons through the Indo Myanmar border. Kashmir militants have been taking shelter in PoK while North-east extremists are taking shelter in Bangladesh, Bhutan and Myanmar. Therefore, we need to guard our land borders effectively to prevent infiltration by terrorists, illegal immigration, smuggling of weapons and drugs. Etc. Coastal security also needs special attention and we need to ensure that the roles of Navy, Coast Guard and Coastal Police are clearly defined and all them work in harmony with each other.

8. Cyber Security :The snowden revelations (Wikileaks) of 2013 have made it evident that future wars will not be traditional wars which are fought on land, water and air. In fact, it appears that cyber space will be the theatre of warfare in the 21^st Therefore, any solid doctrine on internal security need to cover this front too. India has just made a beginning in this direction. We need to cover a lot of distance before we can say that we have a safe cyber space. In the coming chapters, we shall analyse detail the various challenges to our international security.

EXTERNAL SECURITY OF INDIA: MAJOR ISSUES

• Though this book is about internal security, with many issues being interdependent, the candidates must have an idea about the major issues concerning external security front too. The nature of trans-boundry issues such as organized crime and terrorism, the challenge of uncontrolled migration and fundamental changes in the way societies are organized, have blurred the boundries of the internal/external security divide.
• On the external security front, India faces two major challenges: one on the Pakistan border and the second along the China border. In 2018 the Army Chief of India said that India faces challenges on “Two and Half Fronts”. He was referring to is the fronts of terrorism, internal security and proxy war.

 Challenges to external security of India-

1. Challenges from the neighbourhood
2. Development in the Middle-East
3. Maritime Security
4. Militarization of space
5. Threats from cyber space
6. Intensification of competition for scarce resources such as energy and strategic minerals

Challenges from Neighbourhood

• India is a vast geographical nation sharing borders, both land and maritime, with several countries. This neighbour are not consistently disposed to maintaining friendly relations with India. Policy and utility directs the nature of interactions with these countries.
•  The Achilles heel of India’s foreign policy has always been the country troubled relationship with its neighbours-ranging from an adversarial relationship with its two biggest neighbours, China and Pakistan, to non-adversal but complicated ties with Sri Lanka (and increasingly the Maldives) or to the nuanced relationships with Bangladesh, Myanmar or Nepal and the delicate equation with Bhutan.
• Since bifurcation of territory which demarcated India and Pakistan in 1947, the two nations have had strained relations due to disagreements over a number of key issues, control of Kashmir, terrorism and infiltration thrugh the porous border. China carries on with its policy of provocatively aggressive expansion. Form both Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, India has faced, from time to time, the problem of the spillover to its territory of refugees fleeing scene of ethnic violence, often due to the oppression of minorities in these countries. For example, India has harbour Chakma and Tamil refugees fleeing Bangladesh Sri Lanka respectively.
• Myanmar is important to India as it looks to counter Chinese presence in South East Asia by creating its own sphere of economic zone.
• India and Nepal share unique relationship of friendship and cooperation characterized by open borders and deep-rooted people to people contacts of kingship and culture. But recently Nepal bought out the issue of Lipulekh-Kalapani by redefining its map and extra deployment of force neat the Lipulekha trijunction. The government of India has expressed grave concerns regarding the ongoing developments and urged the government of Nepal to resolve all issues through a credible mutual dialogue.

The Middle-East

• Cultural, diplomatic, and economic exchange has proliferated between India and the Middle-East since ancient times. This engagement has continued into the modern era. India has maintained a stron relationship with Egypt, particularly since both countries became the founders of the Non-Aligned Movement during the cold war. India also maintains bilateral relations with Iraq, Iran, Syria, and the Gulf states, dating back to when the Arab spice trade dominated the region.
• Presently the security and political scenario of the Middle East is highly volatile. With that as caveat, one can visualize five short to medium term challenges.
• Even after five years, the Arab spring and the Arab yearing for change can’t be written off. While lacking an overarching roadmap, individual Arab countries will have to evolve a model that reflect and suits their social and demographic specificity. No country can influence or determine an appropriate model for another.
• The declining American influence in the region will continue with no other country or group of country or group of countries being in a position to provide an alternate leadership. Some external powers will try to carve out spheres of influence without dominating the entire region.
• ISIS, religious extremism and sectarian tensions are here to stay and political violence would continue to undermine the stability, territorial integrity and in some cases even viability of the state.
• The Israeli-Palestinian conflict is important but an immediate resolution is unlikely because both sides lack wisdom, foresight and political will. Moreover, it is not the core problem facing the region, and Arab and non-Arab countries have many more serious problems to worry about apart from the statelessness of the Palestinians.
• Oil prices will continue to be low and this will affect both the big and smaller energy players. The entry of Iran post-sections, will further exert pressure on prices. The low oil price will also affect the search for non-hydrocarbon energy alternatives like solar energy.

Maritime Security Challenges

•  India is a maritime nation, not just by historical tradition but also because it’s geographical configuration and geo-political circumstances make it as dependent on the seas as any island nation. With 13 maritime states and island territories, India probably has more seafaring people than the population of most European countries.
• India’s maritime security challenges cover the entire range from low intensity conflict and piracy, all the way to major power strategic contests. Given its distinctive geography and the shift of global maritime focus from the Atlantic-Pacific combine to the Indo-Pacific continuum, the importance of the Indian Ocean region due to expanding regional and global trade in goods, ideas, people, and resources has realised a new set of maritime security challenges. Among these are growing risks from non-state actors, including piracy, terrorism, and trafficking; the impact of environmental degradation, resource depletion, climate change, and natural disasters; and weak states and failing institutions. These diverse challenges confront an equally diverse set of nations bordering this region.
• The energy-deficient nations such as China, India and other developing countries have no choice but to important large quantities of energy resources from around the world especially, West Asia. The dependence on the seas to get energy products to sustain their economic is growing progressively. This also brings in the threat of these vessels and products being target by both pirates and non-state actors.

 Militarization of Space

• During the Cold War era, space became an essential adjunct for war-fighting on the ground, without becoming another theatre of combat. While militarization of space proceeded rapidly, the weaponisation of space was avoided. While the weaponisation of space was avoided during the Cold War, it does not necessarily follow that weponisation will continue to be avoided in a new era of asymmetric warfare. We can improve protection of satellites against some threats, but satellites will remain easy targets for space weapons designed to kill on impact.
•  India’s space programme has very strong civil roots: it began as a means to assist India in its development and has mainly focused on improving the daily lives of its citizens. More recently, India has made a dramatic shift in the tone of its space efforts. Lately, the country has adopted a more militarized attitude, as exemplified by increased efforts by India to create an indigenous ballistic missile defence programme. India’s space efforts could very well affect the long-term sustainability of space and merits further attention.
•  Successful demonstration of Shakti missile in March 2019, makes India the fourth country in the world to have the capability of destroying a satellite in Low Orbit Airspace (LOA) after USA, Russia and China.

Cyber Security

• This topic will be discussed in detail in Chapter 9.

Intensification of Competition for Scarce Resources

• In 2003, the EU’s European Security strategy identified “competition for natural resources” as a global challenge. According to the 2004 report of the high level panel on threats, challenges and change, appointed by former UN secretary general Kofi Annan, “Shortage of natural resources can contribute to unrest and civil violence”. The UNEP expert advisory group on environment, conflict and peace building noted in 2009 that “as the global population continues to rise and demands for resources continues to grow, there is significant potential to conflict over natural resources to intensify in the coming decades.” Resource scarcity is increasingly perceived as one of the greatest security risk in the 21^st century.
• In the Indian perspective the external manifestations of links between India’s resource woes and security are discernible in ties with Pakistan and China. Some security analysts have depicted the Bay of Bengal and its significant deposits of natural gas as a future source of Sino-India conflict. China has secured a major natural gas deal with Burma and may conclude one with Sri Lanka soon.
• Water, meanwhile, is a key factor in border tensions between India and China. These tensions centre around one of the region’s rare water-rich areas, particularly Arunachal Pradesh. The strategic significance of Arunachal Pradesh, therefore, goes beyond the issue of territory. Finally, India is alarmed by Chinese dam building on Tibetan Plateau Rivers, including the Brahmaputra, which flows downstream into lower riparian India.

 PROBABLE QUESTIONS BASED ON THIS CHAPTER

1.  What are the attributes of internal security? How is it different from external security? Discuss the major challenges to internal security faced by the Indian state after independence.
2. What are the key element of a comprehensive internal security doctrine? There are various inter-linkage between internal security threats and external security threats faced by India. substantial.
3. Recently, the Indian Army Chief had made a statement that India is ready to fight a war on two & a half fronts’ which security challenges are being described as two & half fronts’ and describe India’s current security preparedness to tackle them.