Questions
Q1. What do you understand by Hybrid Terrorists and Indigenous resistance groups? How can they shape the state of terrorism in Kashmir? What significant measures are needed by the security forces to tackle such advanced form of pseudo terrorism? Examine (150 words) 10 marks
Q2. Multiplicity of techniques used for money laundering have made tackling its menace a challenging task for security agencies. In this context discuss national and international measures to combat money laundering and challenges to prevent money laundering. (250 words) 15 marks
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Model Solutions
Q1. What do you understand by Hybrid Terrorists and Indigenous resistance groups? How can they shape the state of terrorism in Kashmir? What significant measures are needed by the security forces to tackle such advanced form of pseudo terrorism? Examine (150 words) 10 marks
Model Structure
Introduction:
- Hybrid terrorists are those who are not listed as ultras but persons radicalized enough to carry out a terror strike and then slip back into routine life.
- They are the people brought in by the terrorist groups only to carry out one or two missions. They basically assist the terrorist groups.
- Indigenous resistance groups are the groups of hybrid terrorists that are created in the effected nations through Proxy agencies like SIMI to carry out radicalizing and terrorists activities in the nation.
Main Body
- Shaping terrorism in Kashmir:
- Hybrid terrorists are increasing in Jammu and Kashmir. The terrorist groups are targeting political workers, civilians and people from minority communities to convert them into hybrid terrorist. These hybrid terrorists are radicalized by the terrorist groups and shape the state of terrorism as:
- Change of Aim: Hybrid terrorism aims to spread fear and stop businesses and social activity that “targets terrorists and their ecosystem”.
- Change of targets: They target and silence voices that are speaking against separatism against the perpetrators and instigators of violence.
- No fixed class enemies: Create an ecosystem where only numbers, thus victims may have no particular trait to get killed, just a convenient soft target.
- Use of minor weapons: preference for pistol-based targeting of soft targets.
- Difficult to identify and neutralize: It is highly difficult to trace the location or whereabouts of the hybrid terrorists.
- Also, it is difficult to stop them or arrest them or neutralize them through encounters.
- Significant Measures needed to tackle:
- Curb Youth Disillusionment: through provisions for educational and employment opportunities.
- Mass sensitization drive: sensitization drives are needed to create awareness against new terrorism tactics and also reduce the trust deficit between the government and the citizens.
- Local body Elections: democratic processes that can help in devolving powers towards the people can create a sense of ownership in governance and curb aggressive tactics.
- Intelligence collections: intelligence forms the core of any step to know about the agents and agencies that are part of this entire net.
- Thus, there is a need to have a better intelligence net at the ground level to keep a check on even a minor deviation in behavior.
- Securing the vulnerable: targeted killings of migrants or Kashmiri Pandits in recent times shows a clear pattern to derail the peace process in the valley.
- Hence there is a need to provide security and administrative support to the vulnerable section.
- Use of technology: Cyber patrol and technical gadgets can be the major ways to identify hybrid terrorists.
Conclusion:
- Breaking the chain that connects external agents like ISI and the hybrid terrorists can be a way out to curb the new module of terrorism.
- Further, the long-term solution remains embedded in the conventional wisdom of deepening the democracy and ensuring people centric policies in the region.
Q2. Multiplicity of techniques used for money laundering have made tackling its menace a challenging task for security agencies. In this context discuss national and international measures to combat money laundering and challenges to prevent money laundering. (250 words) 15 marks
Model Structure
Introduction:
- As per INTERPOL money laundering is "any act or attempted act to conceal or disguise the identity of illegally obtained proceeds so that they appear to have originated from legitimate sources".
- According to the IMF, global Money Laundering is estimated between 2 to 5% of World GDP. Money Laundering can take several forms, some of them are - Structuring also called Bulk, Cash Smuggling, Cash intensive Businesses, Trade based Laundering, Shell companies, Round tripping etc.
Main Body
- Various Techniques Used for Money Laundering:
- Structuring Deposits: This is a method of placement whereby cash is broken into smaller deposits of money which is then exchanged by many individuals (known as “smurfs”) to avoid anti-money laundering reporting requirements.
- Shell companies: These are companies without active business operations. They take in dirty money as “payment” for supposed goods or services but actually provide no goods or services.
- Third-Party Cheques: Counter cheques or banker’s drafts drawn on different institutions are utilized and cleared via various third-party accounts.
- Since these are negotiable in many countries, the nexus with the source money is difficult to establish.
- Bulk cash smuggling: This involves physically smuggling cash to another jurisdiction and depositing it in a financial institution, such as an offshore bank, with greater bank secrecy or less rigorous money laundering enforcement.
- Credit Cards: Clearing credit and charge card balances at the counters of different banks. Such cards have a number of uses and can be used across international borders.
- For example, to purchase assets, for payment of services or goods received or in a global network of cash-dispensing machines
- Cryptocurrency: The New Hawala: Cryptocurrency like Bitcoin provides absolute anonymity and facilitates terror financing which was evident in the 2015 Paris terrorist attack.
- There are multiple impacts of money laundering in a country:
- Economic Impacts: Undermines legitimacy of private sector; Undermines integrity of financial markets; Loss of control of economic policy; Economic distortion and instability; Loss of revenue etc.
- Social Impacts: Increased criminality; Decreases human development; Misallocation of resources; Affects trust of local citizens in their domestic financial institutions etc.
- Political Impacts: Initiates political distrust and instability; Criminalisation of politics etc.
- Efforts at the National level:
- Prevention of Money-Laundering Act, 2002 (PMLA): It forms the core of the legal framework put in place by India to combat Money Laundering.
- The Smugglers and Foreign Exchange Manipulators (Forfeiture of Property) Act, 1976: It covers the penalty of illegally acquired properties of smugglers and foreign exchange manipulators.
- Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985: It provides for the penalty of property derived from, or used in illegal traffic in narcotic drugs.
- Financial Intelligence Unit-IND: It is an independent body reporting directly to the Economic Intelligence Council (EIC) headed by the Finance Minister.
- Enforcement Directorate (ED): It is a law enforcement agency and economic intelligence agency responsible for enforcing economic laws and fighting economic crime in India.
- India is a full-fledged member of the FATF and follows the guidelines of the same.
- Efforts at the international level:
- The Vienna Convention: It creates an obligation for signatory states to criminalize the laundering of money from drug trafficking.
- The 1990 Council of Europe Convention: It establishes a common criminal policy on Money Laundering.
- G-10’s Basel Committee statement of principles: It issued a “statement of principles” with which the international banks of member states are expected to comply.
- The International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO): It encourages its members to take necessary steps to combat Money Laundering in securities and futures markets.
- The Financial Action Task Force: It has been set up by the governments of the G-7 countries at their 1989 Economic Summit. The famous Forty Recommendations are given by FATF.
- IMF: It has pressed its 189 member countries to comply with international standards to thwart terrorist financing.
- The United Nations office on Drugs and Crime: It proactively tries to identify and stop Money Laundering.
- Way forward:
- Enlist common offenses: to solve the problem internationally, particularly keeping in mind the trans-national character of the offense of money laundering.
- Awareness and education: To infuse a sense of watchfulness towards the instances of money laundering.
- Proper Coordination between center and States: The more decentralized the law would be the better reach it will have.
- Law in every country: all the countries of the world enact and enforce the same laws dealing with money laundering so the criminals have nowhere to go.
- Special cell dealing with money laundering activities: It should be created on the lines of the Economic Intelligence Council (EIC) exclusively dealing with research and development of anti-money laundering.
- There is a requirement to have a convergence of different enforcement agencies, sharing of information is necessary.
Conclusion:
- The evolving threats of money laundering supported by the emerging technologies need to be addressed with the equally advanced Anti-Money Laundering mechanisms like big data and artificial intelligence.
- Both international and domestic stakeholders need to come together by strengthening data sharing mechanisms amongst them to effectively eliminate the problem of money laundering.