Relevance: GS III (Internal Security) | Source: Ministry of Home Affairs / The Hindu

1. The Big News

Recently, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) released PRAHAAR. It is India’s first-ever official national policy to fight terrorism.

• The Master Rulebook: While our brave forces have always fought terror, India did not have one single, written “master plan” that clearly defined how all government agencies should work together. PRAHAAR fills this major gap.

2. Why do we need this now?

The nature of terrorism is changing very fast. The policy highlights three massive modern dangers:

• Gangsters + Terrorists: Terrorists are now taking active help from local criminal gangs, drug smugglers, and gun runners for money and logistics. This dangerous friendship is called the Crime-Terror Nexus.
• High-Tech Threats: Enemies operating from foreign soil are now misusing modern technology like drones, the dark web, and crypto money to fund and plan attacks secretly.
• All-Round Danger: India faces security risks from all three sides—land borders, sea routes, and the air. We needed a unified plan to secure all of them.

3. Key Rules of the PRAHAAR Policy

• Terror has no Religion: The policy makes a very clear and secular statement: India does not link terrorism to any specific religion, community, or nationality.
• Protecting Big Assets: A major focus is on protecting India’s “critical infrastructure”. This means our atomic power plants, space centers, railway networks, and large dams will get highly specialized security to prevent any sabotage.
• Catching the ‘Sleeper Cells’: The plan strongly focuses on identifying hidden terror sympathizers (sleeper cells) who live normal lives but secretly try to brainwash and radicalize the local youth.
• Smart Intelligence: Instead of just reacting after an attack, the focus is on stopping it before it happens. All security agencies will now share secret information much faster using central platforms.

UPSC Value Box

With reference to India’s internal security and the ‘PRAHAAR’ policy, consider the following statements:

1. PRAHAAR is India’s first comprehensive National Counter-Terrorism Policy designed to tackle threats across land, water, and air.
2. The policy explicitly links the origin of terrorism to specific religious ideologies to better run its deradicalization programs.
3. The policy emphasizes the protection of critical economic infrastructure, such as atomic energy centers and space assets, from terror attacks.

Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

(a) 1 and 2 only

(b) 1 and 3 only

(c) 3 only

(d) 1, 2 and 3

Correct Answer: (b)