Ten Years of Mumbai Terror Attack

• 27 Nov 2018

26/11 Mumbai terror attack constituted multiple terrorist attacks that occurred on November 26, 2008, in Mumbai, Maharashtra, India.

• The most audacious terror attack till the 26/11 Mumbai terror incident was the attack on the Indian Parliament in 2001 by the Pakistan-based terror outfits, Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM).

Government Initiatives

• In the wake of the terror attack, several steps were initiated to streamline the security set-up.
• Coastal security was given high priority, and it is with the Navy/Coast Guard/marine police.
• A specialised agency to deal with terrorist offences, the National Investigation Agency, was set up and has been functioning from January 2009.
• The National Intelligence Grid (NATGRID) has been constituted to create an appropriate database of security-related information.
• Four new operational hubs for the National Security Guard have been created to ensure rapid response to terror attacks.
• The Multi-Agency Centre, which functions under the Intelligence Bureau, was further strengthened and its activities expanded.
• The Navy constituted a Joint Operations Centre to keep vigil over India’s extended coastline.

Way Forward

• Terrorism remains a major threat, and with modern refinements, new terrorist methodologies and terrorism mutating into a global franchise, the threat potential has become greater.
• Speeding up the fitting of automatic identification systems in fishing boats.
• All coastal states should beef up their marine police sufficiently.
• Air and coastal sea patrols should be conducted regularly.
• The sea has no checkpoints or perimeter fencing. Sanitizing it is very difficult, so the unity of command and control is essential.
• Whether raids like that of ten years ago can happen again is debatable but to think that they can be ruled out will be premature. So, India needs to further tighten its preparedness to cope with such situations.