The Ministry of Home Affairs has unveiled ‘PRAHAAR’, India’s new National Counter-Terrorism Policy and Strategy.
- It is driven by a principled policy of ‘zero tolerance’ against terrorism.
Counter-Terrorism Strategy (The PRAHAAR Framework)
- Prevention of Terror Attacks: Employs proactive, intelligence-guided approach via Multi Agency Centre (MAC) and Joint Task Force on Intelligence (JTFI) for real-time sharing.
- Response: Local police as first responders, backed by state/central anti-terror forces and NSG (nodal counter-terror force under MHA).
- NIA and state agencies ensure rigorous investigations and high prosecution rates for deterrence.
- Aggregating Capacities: Includes the modernization of law enforcement agencies and the standardization of uniform anti-terrorism structures across states, supported by specialized training from the Bureau of Police Research & Development (BPR&D).
- Human Rights and Rule of Law Based Processes: The strategy emphasizes that all anti-terrorism laws must protect fundamental human rights and provide multiple levels of legal redressal from district courts up to the Supreme Court.
- Attenuating the conditions conducive to Terrorism: Graded police response for vulnerable youth, engaging community leaders/NGOs/moderate preachers against radicalization.
- Aligning and Shaping the International Efforts: Strengthening multilateral cooperation through Mutual Legal Assistance Treaties (MLATs) and Extradition Treaties; deny safe havens and restrict terror funding globally.
- Recovery and Resilience through a whole-of-society approach: Advocates for public-private partnerships to ensure rapid recovery post-incident.
| Evolving Terrorism Challenges Faced by IndiaState-Sponsored & Global Terrorism: India faces cross-border state-sponsored threats, plus global groups like Al-Qaeda and ISIS establishing sleeper cells. Crime-Terror Nexus: Growing convergence between terrorists and organized crime/illegal arms syndicates for logistics, funding, and recruitment. Technological Warfare & Cyber Threats: Extremists use the internet, messaging, dark web for propaganda, radicalization, crypto-financing. CBRNED Vulnerabilities: Critical challenge in intercepting access to Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear, Explosive, and Digital (CBRNED) materials. |