Reports say that the Mumbai police were just out-equipped and prepared by the November attackers. The attackers were in the 21st century, plus their willingness to be extremely aggressive, completely indiscriminate in who they killed, and in the end, to die. The Mumbai police and even India’s special forces are stuck somewhere in the 20th century. The police appear to have little or no experience with modern technologies such as GPS, e-mail or even mobile phones. They are at bottom, very poorly funded and can’t afford the training or the technology. Very ironic for a country that sees itself as being an IT power, if not already or right on track to be the world’s leading IT power.
Could India’s IT industry help fund and equip the police with state-of-the-art technology? The UK has offered -help to India on better preparing it counter-terrorism efforts. A lot of people in India have hangups about their former colonial master, they may find it humiliating to take such aid. But couldn’t the Indian IT companies, that provide cybersecurity services (and hold or manage much of the West’s sensitive corporate data) help out themselves and along with some external consulting?
