Decoding PRAHAAR, India’s new counter-terrorism blueprint

The new policy attempts to knit together decades of operational experience in combating terrorism into a coherent national doctrine.

With PRAHAAR, India has come forth with a formal nationwide counter-terrorism policy and strategy for the first time. It is not that we have not been tackling terrorism. In fact, we have been at the forefront of tackling the menace for decades in multiple regions of the country. India has always had sound strategic momentum to combat terrorists and the scourge of terrorism overall. But what PRAHAAR represents is the first delineation of strategic principles in the Indian context, informed by years of our fight as a nation against those using horrific violence as a tool to reach their ends.

The acronym itself captures the architecture of the policy. PRAHAAR stands for Prevention of terror attacks; Responses that are swift and proportionate; Aggregation of internal capacities; Human-rights-based processes under the rule of law; Attenuating the conditions that enable terrorism; Aligning international cooperation; and Recovery and resilience through a whole-of-society approach.

Taken together, these strands sketch the contours of a system in which multiple arms of the state, from intelligence agencies and police forces to investigative bodies and diplomatic channels, operate as parts of a coordinated machinery. In essence, the framework aims to ensure that India’s anti-terror apparatus functions less as a loose collection of institutions and more as a unified security ecosystem. Such clarity of articulation is important in a country where policing and public order are constitutionally shared between the Centre and the states.

Prevention obviously forms the first area of emphasis when dealing with extremist acts. Prevention is an ‘intelligence-guided’ approach in which the intelligence gathered by various agencies needs to be coherently processed, analysed and disseminated effectively through various levels of the security establishment. Over the years, the Multi Agency Centre (MAC) and the Joint Task Force on Intelligence (JTFI), housed in the Intelligence Bureau (IB), have remained nodal platforms for such functions. Well-coordinated interventions by various agencies working together are of vital importance when it comes to preventing or foiling a terror attack.

If preventive efforts fail due to any reason, a quick response and management of the evolving situation at the actual scene become important. The local police force is almost always among the first responders and specialised response follows quickly thereafter.

This was evident in the 26/11 Mumbai terror attack. In the immediate aftermath, the Mumbai Police secured the initial perimeter at the Taj Hotel. Navy commandos, better prepared and skilled than the civilian police force to tackle such situations, were rushed to the spot, followed by the elite National Security Guard (NSG), which took complete charge of the anti-terror operation and emerged victorious after a few days. The importance of each force here cannot be overstated, and PRAHAAR underlines the importance of such multi-agency coordination.

Here again, the coordination of the Multi Agency Centre (MAC) at the Intelligence Bureau (IB) becomes important. The National Investigation Agency (NIA) coordinates with security forces at the state level and with state police to carry out investigations after a terror attack and aids the process of bringing the perpetrators to justice.

Human Rights

Another important emphasis in PRAHAAR is on human rights and the rule of law, ensuring due process to the accused. India has a robust set of laws to tackle terrorism, and though it may appear counter-intuitive to provide an accused person with legal representation, India, as a signatory to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), takes all measures to prosecute the accused lawfully and even provide an aggrieved party with legal remedies if that indeed is the case.

While tackling terrorism with adequate, strong preventive and prosecutorial measures remains of utmost importance, the long-term approach to fighting the scourge of terrorism requires looking at the root of the problem. PRAHAAR takes note of this. Police forces across India have been keeping a stern eye on youths indoctrinated by terrorist elements via tools like social media. A graded police response is in place to deal with impressionable youths based on their level of radicalisation.

Addressing Vulnerabilities

Then there is the issue of poverty and joblessness. Aimless youths are often targeted by those who want to indoctrinate them. The deradicalisation and rehabilitation aspects become important here. Addressing these vulnerabilities is essential if counter-terrorism efforts are to move beyond merely reacting to attacks and towards preventing them altogether.

When I was ATS chief in Maharashtra between 2016 and 2019, we developed a deradicalisation model of our own. Through a public-private partnership (PPP), we helped previously radicalised youths learn a skill of their choice. A nationalised bank in each district would fund the training, offer capital to start a venture afterwards, and even handhold the person for the initial two years as he or she tried to stabilise earnings through the skills they had acquired.

PRAHAAR emphasises cooperation with international intelligence and police agencies. In 2023 alone, this approach enabled us to extradite a dozen wanted persons from abroad, all of whom had accusations of terrorist activities against them.

In the last decade and a half, particularly after this government has taken over, there has been huge emphasis on technology and upgradation at the state as well as national level. At the national level, we have the National Forensic Science University (NSFSU).

I have seen the Home Minister personally looking into various aspects of technological upgradation even at the state level. At the national level, there is the National Forensic Science University (NSFSU), which has tremendous expertise and capacity. States are encouraged to rope in its expertise as well.

States are strengthening their own machinery too. Agencies in Telangana are at the forefront of the technological fight. They have equipped themselves greatly. Even Maharashtra is acquiring a new tool which will help them contain challenges that have a technological aspect.

Unifying Framework

It may be tempting to form the idea that PRAHAAR talks about things that are already happening at various levels of government and security agencies. But what the government has done through PRAHAAR is formally create a framework connecting various disparate dots in our anti-terror efforts.

The newness of PRAHAAR is that it is a step towards a coherent national response to terrorist activities and terrorism. Through this policy document, available freely to the public on government portals, the government has taken a step to clearly list the direction in which it intends to go. I am glad that the policy document is just nine pages long, as it makes it more accessible to the public. The PRAHAAR strategy is likely to evolve and incorporate new elements in the future. There are some things left unsaid this time. But with anti-terror strategy inherently having a dynamic nature in its evolution, perhaps there is a lot more to come which will make our nation more secure.

(The writer is a retired IPS officer and former special director general of police, (DG) of the National Investigation Agency (NIA). Views personal.)