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Terror has struck once again and despite the fact that we were
forewarned, we were not forearmed. Not at least to the extent the
situation warranted. It was evident from the near ridiculous ease with
which the terrorists carried out their heinous agenda and made good
their escape after waylaying Siri Lankan cricket team. Keeping the
technology aspect of dealing with terror aside, even the traditional
security measures fell short of the barest minimum. This in the face of
state assurance of providing presidential security to the guest team.
Equally appalling is the indignation at the criticism of match referee Chris
Broad and others regarding the insufficient security measures. It was
sheer luck and the presence of mind of the driver who dodged his way
out of multiple assaults. One shudders at the thought of consequences
had the terrorists been successful in stopping the bus.
Had there been a dozen or so plain clothes men strolling the stretch from
hotel to the stadium, they could have spotted the assailants and raised
alarm. They could even have downed some attackers. The security
personnel accompanying the players themselves were sitting ducks. At
least the guards should have been in armored vehicles. Without worrying
about their own safety, they could have picked the assailants from the
relative safety of their vehicles with better concentration. Once under
attack from unseen attackers, it was only natural for them to panic and
think of their own safety. It is the basic principle of security measures that
the protectors operate from a vantage position and are relatively less
concerned about their own safety. Only then can they concentrate on the
situation at hand. An armored vehicle could provide that vantage position.
We have been urging through these pages for several years that,
alongside traditional measures, the need to employ technology to
counter terrorism is the only recourse. It is not possible to deploy security
personnel at all the places all the time. Also, human mind is prone to
fatigue doing mundane tasks over and over again. It is not humanly
possible to remain in a state of high alert for long. Gradually the vigilance
level goes down. This is the time the terrorists are waiting for. For
precisely this reason, they catch us off guard more often then not.
There are a number of technology solutions to render un-fatigued
vigilance on 24/7 basis. IP-based monitoring is one. In this age of
wireless connectivity, cameras can be discretely installed at strategic
locations and wirelessly connected to a central depository through
Internet, recording everything, missing nothing. The authorized people
can access the information from any location any time. It allows multiple
monitoring units monitoring events in real time and also sifting through
recorded data. An aided advantage is that the persons supposed to be
vigilant also know that their superiors could also be monitoring their
performance any time from anywhere.
In the event of an untoward incident, the recorded data can also yield
useful information about the incident. Many countries including Great
Britain have deployed cameras at public places overriding the privacy
concerns. In Pakistan, the corporate sector, including many IT
companies, would be willing to donate equipment and expertise for this
national cause. In fact a number of IT companies have shown their
willingness to cooperate with the Federal and Provincial Governments in
this area. The government needs to explore the possibilities of such
voluntary cooperation from the private sector. The menace of terrorism
can only be defeated by fighting back and fighting smart and technology
can play a very important role.
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2009
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