Terror cases being treated on par with criminal cases: NSA
NEW DELHI: National Security Advisor (NSA) Ajit Doval on Monday said the judiciary was treating terror cases on par with ordinary criminal cases and indicated that it was a challenge for the security agencies.
Addressing a conference of the chiefs of anti-terrorism squads (ATS), he said terrorists’ accessibility to high technology in carrying out attacks made collection of evidence against them difficult and complex.
Talking about Pakistan-sponsored terrorism in India, Doval said the neighbouring country had made terrorism an instrument of state policy, which was a “very great challenge”.
Secondly, he said, the accessibility to high technology made collection of evidence very difficult and complex and thirdly, “the approach of the judiciary to treat terrorists on par with ordinary cases”.
“They (courts) apply the same benchmark and standards. For building up a case, you need eyewitnesses. From where do you bring eyewitnesses in terror cases.? Firstly, there are a few eyewitnesses in such cases. It is very very difficult for an ordinary citizen to depose against a dreaded Jaish-e-mohammed or Lashkar-e-taiba terrorist,” the NSA said. He added that terrorism could be defeated by fighting the terrorists, stopping their funding, taking away their weapons and decreasing their capabilities to fight. “The basic intention of terrorists is to terrorise the civil society,” Doval said.
He said perception management was a key part of fighting terrorism and advocated adoption of a transparent media policy by security agencies.
Without publicity, he added, terrorism could not sustain for long and will meet its end.
“Media is a very important organ to fight terrorism. As Margaret Thatcher (former British prime minister) said, if terrorists take action and the media is quiet, the terrorism will end. Terrorists terrorise people. If media does not write, nobody would come to know. If somebody’s son is kidnapped and killed while going to school and that is not reported by the media, people will not come to know,” he said.