Need pan-India number for intelligence gathering: Kiran Bedi

Former IPS officer and Puducherry Lieutenant Governor Kiran Bedi

Former IPS officer and Puducherry Lieutenant Governor Kiran Bedi today pitched for a pan-India toll-free number to gather intelligence on crime and security. Speaking at a seminar on national security here, Bedi said she had set up such a number in Puducherry and it was working effectively. "We should have a dedicated pan-India toll free number for criminal intelligence gathering to tackle the issue of internal security. We need to make everybody a stakeholder in order to augment internal as well as external security," said the former IPS officer. On the toll-free number, she said confidentiality of those who call in must be maintained and it could even have a reward system for such people. She said that radicalization was one of the main challenges to internal security and that "we as a system" were falling short of tools to handle it. "Outfits (extremist groups) establishing links with local political parties is becoming a law and order issue for the administration and police," Bedi said. Speaking on the occasion, former High Commissioner to Pakistan, TCA Raghavan, said national security could not be confined to a couple of cities.

 "Our external environment and the regional environment is evolving all the time and we should not leave national security to a few people, a small fraternity of foreign policy experts or strategic thinkers. It is something which every citizen has to be engaged in on a regular basis," he said. On the subject of 'The Pakistan Afghanistan Factor', Raghavan said India needed to develop a strong narrative on it as it was more of a tactical war than an actual one. "All the ground operations, incursions etc are on a tactical level rather than strategic," he said. Lieutenant General (retd) Syed Ata Hasnain, former General officer Commanding of the 15 Corps based in Srinagar, said: "no war is going to happen with China". "China, Pakistan's collusive threat, if at all, is going to be (in the form) of hybrid or cyberwar rather than a conventional one," the retired general said. While Air Marshal (retd) Bhushan Gokhale spoke about aerospace, Vice Admiral (retd) Anup Singh explained how India could play a strategic role in the Indian Ocean Region. They were participating in a seminar titled "National Security-Opportunities and Challenges" organized by the Centre for Advanced Strategic Studies, Pune and Shashwat group of hospitals.