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The continuous flip-flop over whether to have the Indian Premier League (IPL) 20-20 cricket tournament during April-May may have provided some boost to the television news channels, especially in the wake of a less-than-exciting elections, but it has exposed the vulnerability of the Indian state. Here is a country of a billion people, hoping to be the next global superpower, being forced to choose between two of its national obsessions: politics and cricket. The reason? We fear it may not be possible to provide ample security to both these national events: the general elections and IPL.

Harsh it may sound, but finally, the terrorists have succeeded. They have put a permanent fear factor into our collective psyche. Yes, we are worried about our security; we are worried about the security of our cricketers. And no matter how much we may hate them, we are worried about the security of our politicians. We may throw them out of power every two years given a chance, but we do not want to lose them to militants bullets. The average Indian is truly democratic.

Security has emerged as the biggest national challenge before us. With numerous blasts and attacks that culminated in Mumbai 26/11, the terrorists had played their moves. With the fear setting in in our minds, those moves seem to have succeeded.

So, is there a solution?
I have asked this question to many people in the last few days. With my job, it is a no-brainer than many of them are from the IT industry. Their answers make me both hopeful and sad at the same time. Hopeful because I am more convinced than I was say two months back, that ICT can play a definite role to minimize the impact of terrorism, if not terrorism itself. And sad because, with a few exceptions, in most cases, my question has been enthusiastically answered by people to jump into what is the opportunity that comes with it. National security is, hence, not more than another great business proposition for them. And that includes some companies which truly possess technologies that can go a long way in solving the problem.

Now, contrast that with what I heard from a final year mechanical engineering student when I was traveling in a train. He and his friends were trying to create a device that would minimize the impact of any blast on physical structures if it is fitted to those structures. I am not too sure what they were trying to do. But selling the idea to become a millionaire was not in their mind; he was genuinely worried about the lives lost in blasts. This was after the Bangalore blasts. I am happy India still has many such young people.

Security of its citizens is todays biggest national challenge. More people die in terrorist acts in India than in any other country in the world except Iraq.

When you have such a situation, what is needed, above all, is will and sincerity. We have enough capability and I am sure this country has many young engineers who can come forward to create real solutions that can use ICT to effectively ensure security. But are we thinking about it?

Today, we are more worried about the slowdown. While not discounting it, I feel the Indian version of the slowdown is more in our minds than on the ground. Yes, we are not isolated from the global business and the recession that America, Japan, and Europe are going through has its impact on us. But our economy is still fundamentally strong, consumer spend in essential goods and services (which have huge potential still in a country like India) is still rising. A look at car sales, mobile phone subscriptions, and railways ticket sales would give enough indication of that.

On the other hand, national security is something that is a real challenge. I am sure ICT can play a great role to solve the issue and the industry can help doing that while doing good business. But I will still feel a little uncomfortable hearing that the attacks on the Indian state is actually a great business opportunity!

Shyamanuja Das
The author is Editor of Dataquest.
shyamanujad@cybermedia.co.in

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