Key Concepts

Here we are considering the response to major and widespread Riots and major Terror incidents that play out over a prolonged time, and not that to the more common localized riots or disturbances or terror incidents.

Who should we blame when appropriate action to curb such sudden major Riots / Terror Strikes is not taken immediately?

• When there are no contingency plans and laid down procedures for such situations,
• When there are no trained and experienced officials to sieve intelligence from the sudden increase in the clamour and cacophony of noise.
• When no one around really knows what is happening beyond their limited circle of perception, but is ever ready to advise others on what needs to be done.
• When too many calls for help come from too many directions, they only create confusion of where to direct the meagre forces available, what orders to give them about how to react to what situation, with what force.

If at all possible, act to contain/limit the riot. If that is not immediately possible then do not act without understanding what is required to be done and the consequences of any action. Sometimes doing nothing, at that time, is the best reaction – meaning that getting provoked into overreacting or hasty action at that time, without considering its consequences, may be counterproductive or worse than not acting then.

Can we then really blame someone, at whatever level of authority, for being human, for being, even with the best of intentions, confused and unable to make sense of what was going on and hence, be unable to decide on what to do, or what information or order to pass, on about reacting to the situation, to those above or below, respectively, in the hierarchy of command. Most just freeze till the picture becomes a bit more settled and they can see what to do. Hindsight is great in telling us what should have been done and how – but that is the characteristic of hindsight – it makes everyone an expert after the event.

So, is it Shri Rajiv Gandhi to blame for 1984?

Or, Shri P.V. Narasimha Rao or Shri Kalyan Singh– for 1992/93? Or,

Shri A.B Vajpayee or Shri Narendra Modi – for 2002?

Or, Dr. Manmohan Singh or Shri Vilasrao Deshmukh to blame for 26/11/2008?

Or is it you and I all also, responsible for not insisting that the Government undertake proper planning for all such contingencies and be prepared to act immediately and appropriately when the need arises, and the media also, responsible for not voicing our demands and keeping track of the Government’s actions thereon?

RIOTS could be isolated incidents breaking out as an expression of rage of groups of individuals against their perception of injustice of some Authority, or isolated short-lived incidents of Communal violence. These are not what we are considering here.

Terror attacks could be strikes using improvised explosive devices, suicide bombers, or hit and run operations against specific targets, or acts of insurgent groups such as in J&K, Assam and in the North East. These too are not what we are considering here. Though, it is important that procedures for reaction are laid down and practiced for such incidents too. We are looking at a single trigger (the assassination of Smt. Indira Gandhi, or the demolition of the Babri Masjid, or the burning of the ‘Karsevaks’/ Volunteer Workers, in the train at Godhra etc.) acting like a ‘dam burst’ of a long festering anger against rightly or wrongly perceived injustices, causing a flash flood of rioting, death and damage across extensive areas of a City / State.

The riots in such circumstances could be involving many isolated groups of people, who are reacting with extreme violence, by themselves or in concert with others, against their perception of injustice against some peoples’ who they hold, either rightly or wrongly, as the cause for such injustice. Mostly such riots are spontaneous acts of violence by groups of people who till then seem to have been uninvolved, or at worst involved, only in peaceful protests. Such riots could of course be triggered by ‘miscreants / rabble rousers’ acting in a pre-planned / coordinated manner at the instigation of various vested interests I parties, and would therefore call for strong and massive anti-riot and even, at many times, armed response from the Authorities.

Examples of such riots: –

1984 -Anti Sikh Riots in Delhi
1993 – Riots in Mumbai
2002- Riots in Gujarat
2008 – Nandigram in West Bengal
2024-25 – Riots in West Bengal and Manipur etc.

We are also, looking at Terrorist attacks of a prolonged nature such as had taken place on the 13th of December 2002 at the Parliament at Delhi and between 26/11 and 29/11/08 at Mumbai.

These were not Terror strikes but were preplanned, coordinated and prolonged Terror operations requiring precision armed anti-terror response of a high order as well as hostage rescue operations.

Our Authorities, in all such cases, have proved woefully unprepared and at many times even lacking in leadership. We have seen this in the response to the 1984 riots in Delhi, where it took days to begin to grasp the nature and extent of the situation and react to bring it under control. Though even till this date most of the rioters have not been brought to justice – and this was in our National Capital with all its extra police and security, and all the highest Political Leaders. The initial reaction seems to have only understood the happenings as petty isolated incidents, like that which “occur when a big tree falls” and were not grasped in their entirety till much later as a multitudinous flame that fed on itself.

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