RSIS Seminar by Mr. Vappala Balachandran, former Special Secretary, Cabinet Secretariat, India
Keeping India Safe: the Dilemma of Internal Security
Seminar Abstract
India is perhaps the only country which started its constitution-making guided by its colonial masters. It copied certain internal security provisions from the colonial Government of India Act 1935. These provisions were relevant in that era but detrimental to its present internal security as the responsibility is dispersed among the police forces in 29 states. There is no concurrent role by the Central government except in grave emergencies. This responsibility extends to terrorism too. Central Police forces are not empowered to act on their own. This peculiar system does not exist anywhere else in the world. In his latest book Keeping India Safe: the Dilemma of Internal Security, the speaker examines how this system arose leading to serious security situations like the “Dera” riots in August this year, which paralyzed four northern states due to ineffective handling at the state level. The speaker will also present workable solutions recommended in his book.
About the Speaker
Vappala Balachandran is a columnist and author who was Special Secretary, Cabinet Secretariat, Government of India. He is a former IPS officer and a security and intelligence specialist. He was also a member of the two-man high-level committee constituted by the government of the state of Maharashtra to enquire into the police response during the terror attacks in Mumbai on November 26, 2008. He has authored numerous books including Keeping India Safe: The Dilemma of Internal Security, National Security & Intelligence Management: A new Paradigm, and A Life in Shadow: The Secret story of A.C.N. Nambiar- A forgotten anti-Colonial Warrior. He has also written extensively on security and strategic subjects in Indian and foreign journals.
