Here is an essay on the ‘Internal Security of India’ for class 11 and 12. Find paragraphs, long and short essays on the ‘Internal Security of India’ especially written for school and colleges.
Essay Contents:
- Essay on the Introduction to Internal Security
- Essay on the Major Challenges to Internal Security
- Essay on the Factors Responsible for Internal Security Problems
- Essay on Internal Security Doctrine
Essay # 1. Introduction to Internal Security:
Internal security is the security of a country within its borders. This basically implies maintenance of peace and law and order, and upholding sovereignty of the country within its territory.
Internal security is different from external security to the extent that external security is security against aggression by a foreign country. External security is solely the responsibility of the armed forces of the country, while internal security comes under the purview of the police, which can be supported by the Central Armed Police Forces, if required.
In India, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) takes care of internal security, while external security comes under the Ministry of Defence. In many countries, MHA is also called the Ministry of Internal Affairs or Ministry of Homeland Security.
Classification of Threat:
Kautilya wrote in Arthashastra that a state can be at risk from four kinds of threats:
i. Internal
ii. External
iii. Internally aided external
iv. Externally aided internal
India’s internal security threat perceptions are a mix of all four shades of threats defined above.
The changing external environment also impacts our internal security. Events in Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal and Myanmar have direct or indirect linkages with our internal security. Therefore, it can be said that in today’s information and digital age, security threats, both internal and external, are inter-related and cannot be seen in isolation from each other.
Over the years, the challenges to our internal security have grown manifold and assumed alarming proportions. Internal security problems have started affecting our country’s growth and development. This is now one of the prime concerns in the top echelons of the Government.
Therefore, it is no surprise that the UPSC has included internal security as a separate topic in the Civil Services Main Examination since 2013.
Attributes of Internal Security:
The main attributes of internal security are:
i. Secure territorial integrity and protect internal sovereignty
ii. Maintain domestic peace
iii. Prevalence of law and order
iv. Rule of law and equality before law—law of the land should protect everyone irrespective of status
v. Absence of fear from the feared implying individual freedom for people as guaranteed by the Constitution
vi. Peaceful co-existence and communal harmony
Essay # 2. Major Challenges to Internal Security:
Independence for India came with some inherited problems related to internal security. The issue of the accession of the state of Jammu and Kashmir to India also came with its own set of problems related to our internal security. The division of the pre-independence India into two nations resulted in large scale unforeseen violence that claimed millions of lives. Thus was born the menace of communalism which was visible again and again in various riots thereafter.
As an emerging nation, we hoped to overcome these problems and embark upon a path of national reconstruction and consolidation, but progress has been hampered by various challenges to internal security faced by the country.
Over the years, India’s internal security problems have multiplied due to linguistic riots, inter-state disputes, caste and ethnic tensions, etc. In 1956, the country was forced to redefine its inter-state boundaries due to linguistic riots.
The 1950s also saw the North-east going up in flames, when in 1954 Phizo raised the banner of revolt in Nagaland and the fire spread to Mizoram, Manipur and Tripura.
The later part of the sixties saw the rise of Naxalism. At the time of independence, India was an under-developed country and had taken up the task of rebuilding the country. The country adopted the equitable and inclusive growth model for growth and development. But, over the years, it has become evident that we have failed on many counts and poverty, unemployment and under-development prevail in the interior regions of the country.
This situation was exploited by various people to pose a very dangerous challenge to the country’s internal security in the form of Maoism/Naxalism /Left-Wing Extremism. In 2006, the then Prime Minister even admitted that this was perhaps the biggest challenge to the country’s internal security.
The eighties witnessed the growth of the terrorist movement in Punjab, aided and abetted by a hostile neighbour. The nineties saw the beginning of militancy in Kashmir which has slowly become a pan-India phenomena with the onslaught of international terrorism in the hinterland during the past decade.
The rise of Indian Mujahideen (IM) has been another dangerous phenomena in the last decade. This has again been supported by the unfriendly neighbour as became clearly evident during the 26/11 terror attack in Mumbai. As a result, the Centre initiated a number of concrete measures to strengthen its anti-terrorism apparatus.
Transnational organised criminals/mafias have given further boost to international terrorism by forging linkages between organised crime and terrorism. Their funding and modus operandi has mainly been arms smuggling, drugs trafficking, hawala transactions, money laundering and pumping of fake Indian currency notes (FICN) to different parts of the country.
Cyber security is the latest challenge. We could be the target of a cyber-war which could jeopardise our security as most of our vital installations are now based on cyber systems. Any failure to check cyber-attacks could be fatal to our economy and security. The Snowden revelations (Wikileaks) of 2013 have exposed the extent of espionage that is possible through cyber networks.
The phenomenal growth of the internet and mobile communication has demonstrated that social media could play a vital role in spreading disinformation and fanning violence. The exodus of Northeast students from the southern states in 2012 and the Muzaffarnagar riots in 2013 are some examples of the problems being created due to the fast growing communication systems.
Border management is important for containing threats to our internal security. A weak border management can result in infiltration of terrorists and illegal immigrants from various borders and smuggling of contraband items like arms, drugs and counterfeit currency. There has been an increase in hostility against illegal migrants in the North-east. We are yet to find a satisfactory solution, be it political, social or economical, to this problem.
There are also some non-traditional, non-military threats to our security. These include climatic security, diseases and epidemics, energy and water, food issues, resource wars, poverty and economic disparity, etc.
Essay # 3. Factors Responsible for Internal Security Problems:
There are various reasons, both historical and non-historical, which cause problems for our internal security.
However, a few root causes are mentioned below:
i. Unfriendly neighbours
ii. Poverty
iii. Unemployment
iv. Inequitable growth
v. Widening gap between haves and have nots
vi. Failure on administrative front or Governance deficit
vii. Increasing communal divide
viii.. Increasing caste awareness and caste tensions
ix. Rise of contentious politics based on sectarian, ethnic, linguistic or other divisive criteria
x. Porous borders having very tough terrain
xi. Poor criminal justice system and large scale corruption leading to nexus between criminals, police and politicians with the result that organised crime goes on unabated.
We inherited the first three factors at the time of independence. We have failed to resolve all the three issues. Unfortunately, we have added more factors which have multiplied our internal security problems. The fourth, fifth and sixth factors in the above list can be termed as administrative failures and the seventh, eighth and ninth could be due to the rise of partisan politics.
The last two can be attributed to a pronounced deficit of governance. Every problem gets highlighted because of these factors and hostile neighbours leave no opportunity to exploit internal conditions for the pursuit of their own agenda. The declared policy of Pakistan’s ISI ‘to bleed India through a thousand cuts’ proves the point.
Essay # 4. Internal Security Doctrine:
Internal security doctrine should include the following key elements:
1. Political
2. Socio-economic
3. Governance
4. Police & Security Forces
5. Centre-State Coordination
6. Intelligence
7. Border Management
8. Cyber Security
1. Political:
First, we need to know the nature of the challenge to our internal security. It could be secessionist, separatist or even regional in nature. We have to analyse the causative factors of various types of movements and see whether the demands are within the constitutional framework or not.
As a matter of principle, we have to deal the secessionist movements with a heavy hand. Separatist elements have to be kept at a distance. We need a clear policy with stringent laws to deal with such elements. On the other hand, regional aspirations and ethnic demands require reasonably softer and sympathetic approach.
2. Socio Economic:
Socio-economic factors are also at the back of many movements which are big threats to the internal security of the country. Many a times, there are genuine socio-economic grievances of a section of the society arising from acute poverty, unemployment and displacement. In such cases, our approach has to be different.
We need to analyse the factors causing the socio-economic grievances and address all the connected issues. Equitable growth and development is the spirit of our Constitution. Therefore, we have to ensure that development reaches all sections of the society and there are no regional disparities.
3. Governance:
Lack of good governance also provides a tool in the hands of anti-establishment elements, who pose a challenge to the internal security of the country. Such elements take advantage of mismanagement and corruption in government schemes, poor implementation of laws and absence of government machinery in the remote areas.
Governance on all fronts becomes an issue whether it is civil administration or policing of the area or the whole of criminal justice system. It is the duty of the state to control all the malaise in governance and provide good governance to the remotest of the areas and control corruption. Otherwise, development of remote areas will be nearly impossible.
4. Police and Security Forces:
It has been seen that, at times allegations of police atrocities and police indifference towards people’s problems, aggravate internal security problems. We have seen many a times that agitations are directed against the police or the security forces. Demand for removal of AFSPA is one such example. Police needs to be sensitized so that it becomes people friendly.
We need to carry out police reforms so that the police is seen as a neutral, transparent and professional body. Other security forces aiding state police also need to increase their understanding of the local situation and maintain highest order of efficiency. They need to coordinate with the state police and help achieve overall goal of maintaining the internal security.
5. Centre-State Coordination:
Lack of center-state coordination also leads to many problems related to internal security. This coordination problem exists in all areas from intelligence to operations. We need to develop an institutional framework which resolves all these center-state coordination problems and ensures synergy at all levels.
6. Intelligence:
Intelligence is a major component of Internal Security. We need to be alert against external as well as internal enemies posing a threat to the internal security of the country. Most of the big operations have the back up support of intelligence.
We need to have defensive as well as offensive intelligence to forewarn, neutralize the impending threats and take proactive steps wherever required. We also need to have regular institutional framework to compile, collate and act on intelligence received from various agencies. Multi-Agency Centre (MAC) has made a good beginning in this direction.
7. Border Management:
The country has land borders with seven countries (practically six due to PoK issue) stretching nearly 15,000 kms. We have had wars on three sides of our land borders with China, Pakistan and East Pakistan (presently Bangladesh). We also had infiltration problems through Punjab and Kashmir borders, illegal immigration problems through Bangladesh and smuggling of weapons through Indo-Myanmar border.
Kashmiri militants have been taking shelter in PoK while North-East extremists are taking shelter in Bangladesh, Bhutan and Myanmar. Therefore, we need to guard our land borders effectively to prevent infiltration by terrorists, illegal immigration, smuggling of weapons and drugs etc. Coastal security also needs special attention and we need to ensure that the roles of Navy, Coast Guard and Coastal Police are clearly defined and all of them work in harmony with each other.
8. Cyber Security:
The Snowden revelations (WikiLeaks) of 2013 have made it evident that future wars will not be traditional wars which are fought on land, water and air. In fact, it appears that cyber space will be the theatre of warfare in the 21st Century.
Therefore, any solid doctrine on internal security needs to cover this front also. India has just made a beginning in this direction. We need to cover a lot of distance before we could say that we have a safe cyber space.