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Nov-28-2008
Author's Home Page
Views expressed here are author"s own and not of this website. Full disclaimer is
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(Freelance journalist and a Media Consultant from Mumbai.)
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Amidst the disastrous terrorist attack that took Mumbai, the commercial hub of India hostage to fear and uncertainty in one of its worst encounters ever, one big question that looms large is have we learnt our lessons yet? After so many past incidents, so many RED Alerts, be it the media, the government, the law and order or the security system, a question we need to ask is, "Do we consider ourselves professionally mature and competent to handle such crisis situations?"
"Media ethics and responsibility in covering sensitive crisis situation has always been a suspect in India", says media consultant, Mandira Menon. "If crisis management is to be taken as a defining feature of contemporary governance, we can only bemoan the state of affairs we are in". According to her the media has not only yet again gone ballistic adding to the confusion, but, in its exuberance to come out on top of other media channels, has acted in a highly irresponsible manner. An Indian correspondent for BBC has even appealed for "international help" at this juncture "which is totally uncalled for".
From a purely strategic point of view, according to an ex commanding officer of the counter terrorist outfit of NSG, who prefers to remain anonymous, "A live telecast of such a critical situation totally undermines a sensitive mission of this kind." It undermines the success of the mission, the safety of the hostages, the safety of the operatives, the safety of the installation and last but not the least the security and prestige of the nation in handling situations like this. "The line of justification that says - I have the right to know, is not acceptable at such times". Random media coverage instead of helping can actually flare up a crisis situation or let it go totally out of hand. "How can the media be allowed to give a minute by minute account of what"s happened all over, who all have been killed, where all the terrorists succeeded, etc. This is just what the terrorists need - information of their successes, information of what is going on and, most of all, a morale booster to their nerves. Surely, the media are on their side!!" according Col PKS Bedi, a retired army officer who has been through military operations in Sri Lanka and Kashmir.
"There is a moral and ethical need for honest reporting and media coverage of violence has left out mass far more alert to the threats we live through everyday", according to Mandira, "however crisis reporting is a specialized area which has to be dealt with utmost seriousness ." The media cameras pick up and show where all the security forces are deployed, what they are doing, what avenues they are blocking, which roof-tops they are manning with sharp-shooters - thanks to the media, they gave all this to the terrorists, who can now plan their next move!
Public leaders play an important role in safeguarding society from the adverse consequences of crisis. According to experts these are well laid out under three stages "the incubation stage, the onset, and the aftermath". "Crisis leadership involves five critical tasks: sense making, decision making, meaning making, terminating, and learning - where "meaning making" refers to crisis management as political communication".
"It is indeed shocking that the Home Minister has been giving full details of the security plans to the world at large: where the commandos were coming from; what time they would leave; by when they would be deployed et all. This is preposterous. Surely, the terrorists in the hotel itself would be smirking at their good fortune to be given on a platter what they would have otherwise not known - all thanks to our immature, selfish and brash media" according to Bedi.
"How can an operation by security forces succeed if their very movements are known to the terrorists?," is the obvious question mooted . "It doesn"t look like the government officials know anything about crisis reporting either" according to Mandira . "On the contrary they are easy pawns to performance mania that puts constant pressure through media to rustle up quick solutions to critical situations", according to the senior NSG Official.
Meanwhile within hours of the attack, 3 top notch officers, Anti-Terrorism Squad chief Hemant Karkare, encounter specialist Vijay Salaskar, and Additional Commissioner (East) Ashok Kamte are all killed in the gun battle. With due respect to the immense sacrifice made by them, the public who had been watching the drama wants to know, why should they be hanging around without protective gears? "Is this professionalism?" asks Sujeet Das.
Senior officials of NSG feel, "The media should not be there at all. There should have been a media blank out by now and jammers used to jam all communication." There is a lack of government will according to them, who are appalled to see that none of the areas have been cordoned yet with ropes or barbed wires, "What if some of these terrorists move out at media representatives. They are all over the place and easiest to impersonate." If at all there has to be a time gap of at least an hour in relaying of live images.
The other glaring lacuna, in this national crisis, is the question of accountability. Be it the NGS or the Commandos, or the Rapid Deployment Force or Police or ATS or whatever, there seems to be little professional coordination. "Who is in control? Who answers to whom? Who takes orders from whom? Do we have any system in place? Any SOP (Standard Operating Procedure)? Surely, there must be ONE single Commander, ONE controlling agency, only then can there be any semblance of an orderly conduct of operation", according to Bedi.
Though there are crisis committees in place on paper, the fact is that they rarely meet, rarely practice and as a result rarely get their act in place when a real crisis takes place. "In a misplaced zeal to guard their own turf the police takes upon themselves tasks that are meant for specialized troops", which can only increase the casualty, as seen in this particular situation.
"We live in the midst of alarms, anxiety beclouds the future; we expect some new disaster with each newspaper we read, President Abraham Lincoln had said establishing the hideous nexus between politics and crisis. The recent blasts in Mumbai that took the entire city hostage to fear and uncertainty "compels one sit up and assess the situation" from this very vantage point that saw security aspects of a nation being compromised due to total unprofessionalism.
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