Editor,
I was a little troubled by the article, “Spying and killings by intelligence agencies in foreign countries: What’s the big deal?” by Nitya Chakraborty (ST, Oct 22, 2024) because the reasoning in this piece seems to me to be more strategic than moral. The title itself is troubling. Extra-judicial killings should be a big deal. I would say the same of a lot of the Indian anger against Canada right now. One sign of a mature nation is its ability to reflect on its own actions with objectivity. Blind nationalistic patriotism is dangerous, as is absence of patriotism. Yes of course, no nation in the west or elsewhere should indulge diaspora who threaten the integrity of their nations of origin. Moreover, America should not engage in extra-judicial killings in the Global South or elsewhere. But the point is that two wrongs do not make a right. Just because they do it, should we?
Extra-judicial killings are not just legally wrong. They are morally wrong, regardless of who engages in them. They are wrong first and foremost because to kill is wrong — even when the person killed is unsavoury and dangerous. Such killings are wrong also because they are cowardly unilateral murders — not duels. They are wrong because they commit violence without any trial or court proceedings. They are wrong because they commit violence on foreign soil. Finally, they are wrong because they involve large-scale deception.
I understand that realpolitik being what it is, ethical niceties are not always feasible. But these days I find even erstwhile ethical people have become cynical in their support of violence. A Christian friend recently justified war against Gaza, citing realpolitik.
In situations of extreme danger, where it is a choice between killing and being killed — as in war, or police cross-fire, or domestic violence — violence can be unavoidable. Clearly, Gandhian methods are not feasible in all contexts. In fact, Gandhiji himself endorsed violence under certain circumstances. But the Sikh activists killed and threatened in Canada and USA respectively, are not on par with terrorists threatening lives. Laws exist for a reason — to foster ethics and discourage lawless violence.
Should Canada and the US allow Indian diaspora members to engage in dangerous actions and rhetoric that threaten the integrity of the Indian nation? Of course not. But their leaders have to follow the laws already in place. Mere speech cannot be curtailed, no matter how obnoxious it may be. Free speech laws have to be followed. The greater question for western civilization to debate is the difference between freedom and licentiousness. When does free speech become licentious and dangerous? Free speech laws in the west will not change until such debates happen in all earnestness.
Yours etc.,
Deepa Majumdar,
Via email
Air threats and the tourism industry
Editor,
Frequent bomb threats on air routes across India are a matter of grave concern and should be tackled professionally to avoid frequent harassment of passengers. This has exposed significant gaps between cyber-security and intelligence gathering. If the threat becomes known when flights are mid-air, the crew will find it extremely difficult to take instant decisions on whether to take the flight back or request for emergency landing at the nearest airport, if available. Safety protocols to be taken after landing are a complex procedure. This cannot happen repeatedly. To address these concerns, the DGCA and Civil Aviation Ministry must take proactive measures to enhance passenger safety and prevent future disruptions. Thorough investigation is necessary to identify the conspirators and motives behind these bomb threats as there is a surge in terrorists activities in Kashmir and also in Delhi. This should be taken seriously as it could be an international conspiracy. Time has come to take up the challenge with seriousness that also warrants passing of new laws against such hoax callers with stringent punishment. As per media reports, government is working in this direction.
Reports show that in the three-year period from 2014-17, the Indian airline industry had received about 120 bomb threats. To understand the severity of the current problem, let us consider the week from October 14-20. There were bomb threats on around 100 flights in this period. That works out to an average of 14 threats per day!
The chaos this has led to at airports and on planes can be well imagined. A flight that faces a bomb threat has to find a landing slot immediately at a nearby airport. On the ground, heavy-duty bandobast has to be made at short notice, with police, ambulances, bomb squad experts and others ready to take over as soon as the plane lands. Flying protocols across the world are very strict, and a bomb threat can mean not just irate passengers on board, but also real financial losses for the airline.
A flight that receives a bomb threat will have to dump fuel before it reaches the requisite weight for it to make an emergency landing. Then there are the passengers. Their holiday plans or work schedules get inevitably upended more so for those with connecting flights, Imagine the nightmarish ordeal of having to rework their travel plans! There is a huge loss to the tourism industry where there is maximum generation of jobs.
Matters have come to such a head in the past week that the Union Civil Aviation Minister, Ram Mohan Naidu, addressed the press on the issue. He spoke about how all the threats had proved to be hoaxes, but nonetheless, each one had to be assessed with equal gravity. His department has held meetings with airlines to get their assessment of the situation and to find ways to address the issues. The Aviation Ministry is working with the Ministry of Home Affairs and state law enforcement agencies to speed up investigations into the threats. Naidu stressed that hoax bomb threats would be made into a cognisable offence with fines and punishment. People found guilty of making such threats would be put on a no-fly list.
While that sounds good on paper, it is actually quite tricky to pinpoint a threat caller. Some of the threats are traced to foreign IP addresses. Last week, a 17-year-old school drop-out was arrested over issuing hoax bomb threats from a social media account. But often, threats come in as hoax calls, emails or posts on unknown social media accounts. The very nature of digital media allows camouflage and it is difficult to pinpoint the person/s involved, or their motives. For instance, the 17-year-old apparently had a tiff with his friend, and decided to create a fake social media account in his friend’s name to issue the threats. His plan was to get his friend into trouble. Investigations revealed that over one-third of the threats were made from anonymous and unverified accounts on X. The account was active till Saturday afternoon, but X has since suspended it. The police are trying to track the origins of some of the other threats, but the job at hand is not easy. Even as threats multiply, unexpected problems are cropping up. A Vistara flight en-route to Frankfurt was refused permission to land in Afghanistan, forcing the plane to return to India. In another incident, Singapore sent fighter jets to escort an Indian flight that had received a bomb threat.
Its time for government to deploy all the agencies to find the exact cause of all this nuisance otherwise the Indian economy will suffer great loss with negative impacts to the tourism industry. Chances are that foreign tourists may refrain from visiting India due to uncertainties and cancel their booking.
Due to fresh extremist activities in Kashmir tourism will be adversely impacted and due to hoax bomb threats tourism will be seriously impacted. Immediate remedial measures must be taken by the central government.
Yours etc.,
Yash Pal Ralhan,
Via email