Internal Security of India

 

National Security

National security is protection of citizens and nation with its tangible and intangible assets with the help of security agencies and guardian mechanism. 

Elements of National Security

Military Elements

• Border
• Coastal
• Internal security

Non Military Elements

• Ethnic
• Environment
• Energy
• Economic
• Cyber
• Health
• Information
• Resources
• Political
• Geostrategic
• Food

Internal Security of India

Internal security implies maintenance of peace, law and order, upholding sovereignty and integrity of India. 

Arthshastra(Kautilya) mentioned 4 kinds of threat to a nation

• Internal
• External
• Internally aided external
• Externally aided internal

Components of internal security

• Citizens protection
• Social harmony
• Domestic peace
• Law & order
• Sovereignty and integrity of India

Reasons for internal security issues

Historical factors

• Poverty
• Unemployment
• Ethnic tension
• Unfriendly neighbors

Partisan politics

• Increasing communal divide
• Caste awareness and inter-caste tension
• Politics based on sectarian, ethnicity, linguistic and other divisive criteria. 

Administrative and Governance deficit

• Inequitable growth
• Porous border and rough terrain
• Corruption, political nexus with criminals

Challanges to internal security

• Hinterland terrorism
• J&K militancy & terrorism
• Insurgency in NE
• Left wing extremism
• Organized crime and it's nexus with terrorism
• Communalism
• Caste and ethnic tension
• Regionalism and interstate dispute
• Cyber crime and cyber security
• Border and costal infiltration

External State Actors vs Internal Security

• Exploitation of volatile situation in North East region
• Collaboration with Left Wing Extremist
• Political backing to adverse groups
• Facilitate border infiltration
• Militants training camp
• Technological training
• Economic, logistics and arm support
• Cyber warfare

Non State Actors vs Internal Security

• Promote communalism(Hindu-Muslim divide) 
• Ethnic support in North East region
• Religious exploitation(Khalistani, Radical Islamist) 
• Naxalism
• Drug trafficking
• Human trafficking
• Counterfeit currency
• Money laundering

Reasons for rise of Non state actors

• Globalisation
• Exploitation of modern technologies
• Increase funding
• Political nexus
• State actor support
• Ideological support by wide population of world

Development and rise of extremist

Right to dignified life is a fundamental right and development play a pivotal role in it. Lack of development create unrest and finally result in extremist activities in the form of insurgency(Left wing extremism- LWE). 

(Religious and Ideological extremist) 

Naxalism had its origins in the town of Naxalbari village of West Bengal as an agrarian movement in 1967.

In 1969, division in CPI led to

• CPI(Marxist) 
• CPI(Marxist-Leninist)- adopted violence as a tool

In 2004 formation of CPI(Maoist) led to rise of violence

Reasons for rise of LWE

• Unemployment
• Lack of education and health services
• Discontent among tribes(forest policy, land alienation, displacement and rehabilitation) 
• Political dispute
• Social oppression
• Shrinking of community property resources
• Lack of administration(weak infrastructure, connectivity and language barrier) 

Measures to handle LWE

Social measures

• Infrastructure and social development schemes(MGNREGA and rural development schemes) 
• Increasing involvement of local in governance(regional councils, PESA, forest right act etc) 
• Forest right act
• Regional language support program
• Fast track court
• Surrender and rehabilitation policy

Security measures

• Specialised force for LWE
• Modernisation of police force
• Strengthening intelligence networks
• Use of modern technologies(Drone, satellite imaging) 
• Ban on extermist group

GoI introduced SAMADHAN to handle LWE insurgency

Past measure failure

2004- Andhrapradesh- Maoist peace talks failure

2009- GoI- Maoist peace talks failure

Terrorism and Organsed crime

Terrorism- use of violence to spread the terror ideology among local community. 

Organised Crime- structural organization to carry out criminal activities. 

Unlawful activities and prevention act(UAPA) 

Types of Terrorism

• Ethno- national terrorism
• Religious terrorism
• LWE terrorism
• Narco terrorism
• Fiscal terrorism

Link between Terrorism and Organised crime

• Terrorist facilitate cross border delivery of illicit drugs and arm to organised crime. 
• Contract killing and violence as per demand of organised crime
• Buy arm and drug from organised crime
• Use of counterfeit currency with the help of organised crime
• Organised crime facilitate fund to terrorist through Hawala
• Use of terrorist outfit for protection by organised crime
• Organised crime facilitate transportation services to terrorist outfits

Militant Outfits threat to Internal security

Student Islamic Movement of India(SIMI)- founded in 1977. Banned by GoI in 2001 because of its terrorist activities. 

Indian Mujahideen(IM)- born out of SIMI

Hizbul Mujahideen- founded in 1989 by Sayeed Salahudeen. Terrorist outfit centred in Kashmir region

Lasker-e-Taiba(LeT)- founded in 1990 by Hafez Saeed

2001- Indian Parliament attack

2008- Mumbai attack

Jaish-e-Mohammad(JeM)- founded in 2000 by Masood Azhar

Communication network and Internal Security

Methods of attack

• Denial of service
• Packet sniffing
• Password attack
• Malware and virus

Communication network issues

• Data theft
• Fraud
• Denial of service
• Hacking
• Cyber warfare
• Radicalization through social media

These vulnerabilities create economic threat(banking), defense, energy sector, critical infrastructure and social fabrics. 

Policy for Communication network 

• IT act- governing policy regarding intermediaries(social media) 
• Telecom policy- domestic manufacturing of equipments and installation of sophisticated communication network
• CERT- to monitor emergency situations

Media and social media

Role 

• Information dissemination
• Creating public awareness
• Increase connectivity
• Increase participation
• Creating government accountability

 

Issues 

• Cyber terrorism
• Fake news and misinformation
• Fraud
• Manipulation of public opinion
• Radicalization and hate speech
• Leak of sensitive information
• Sensationalism and paid news

Way to handle

• Grievances redressal
• Self regulatory body
• Government regulatory body
• Compliance report
• Fact check
• Tech enabled solutions
• IT act
• Protection of personal data bill

Border Management

Issues 

• Challenging topography
• Border infrastructure
• Ghost village in border region
• Border dispute
• Smuggling and illegal trade
• Infiltration and illegal immigration

These issues can result in security threat in terms of border conflicts, territory loss and economic loss

Way forward

• Border infrastructure(Integrated border management system, BRO, BADP) 
• Border village development(Vibrant village program) 
• Community engagement
• Law enforcement in border region
• Enhanced surveillance
• Better coordination in security agencies
• International cooperation

Security Forces and Agencies

1. Indian Armed Forces(Ministry of Defense) 

1. Army
2. Navy
3. Air force
4. Coast Guard

2. Central Armed Police Force(Ministry of Home Affairs) 

1. Assam Rifle- Established in 1835 as Cachar Levy to protect British tea state. At present it guards Indo-Mayanmar border. 
2. Border Security Forces- Established in 1965 to guard Indo-Pakistan and Indo-Bangla border. 
3. Indo-Tibatan Border Police- Established in 1962 to guard Indo-China Border. It is first responder to natural calamities in Himalayan region. 
4. Sashatra Seema Bal- Established in 1963(after 1962 war) to guard Indo-Nepal and Indo-Bhutan border. 
5. Central Reserve Police Force- Established in 1939 to look political unrest in British India. It help police to fight terrorism and disaster events. 
6. Central Industrial Security Force- Provides security to premises and staffs of Industrial establishment like Airport, port, Dept of space, metro train. Also provides security of X, Y, Z, Z+ category. CISF act 1968
7. National Security Guard- Established in 1984 after Operation Blue Star to deal with anti terrorist activities in the country. 

3. Other Forces

1. Intelligence Bureau(MHA)- founded in 1887 and it is oldest organization in the world for intelligence gathering. 
2. RAW- Established in 1968(from IB) to collect external intelligence. It born out of IB as IB failed to gather external intelligence information in 1962 and 1965 war. 
3. National Investigation Agency- Established in 2008 after 26/11 attack. 
4. FIU- Established in 2004 to gather financial intelligence
5. Enforcement Director- to monitor FEMA, PMLA and Fugitive Economic Offenders Act
6. Railway Protection Force
7. National Disaster Response Force 
8. Narcotic Control Bureau
9. SPG- Security to PM, former PM and their relatives. Established in 1988 as aftermath of Indira Gandhi assassin in 1984

NATGRID(2014)- for security related information sharing

Emerging Technologies

The emerging technologies affects the different elements of national security and has potential to challenge internal security. 

• Smart devices
• IoT
• Quantum computing
• AI and Machine learning
• Extended reality
• 3D printing
• Genomic
• Cyber security
• 6G
• Drone
• Nanotechnology

Cyber Security

Cyber security is the practice of protecting individual devices(computers, mobile devices, electronic systems), servers, networks, and data from malicious attacks.

Types of cyber threats

1. Cyber Crime- Single actors or groups targeting systems for financial gain or to cause disruption.

2. Cyber Attack- Generally Politically motivated information gathering.

3. Cyber Terrorism- undermining electronic systems to create panic or fear.

Ways to attack cyber system

1. Malware- Cyber attacks through malicious software like Viruses, Trojan, Spyware, Ransomware, Botnet, Adware

2. Phishing- Cyber attack through email

3. Man in the middle attack- Data theft when two individuals communicate

4. Denial of service- Overtaking the user permission to use the system. 

5. Zero Day Exploitation- Exploiting the system drawbacks

Cyber system protection

• Network security
• Application security
• Information security
• Operational security(User permission, data location etc) 

Cyber system recovery policy to restore the system post cyber attack.