Tech alone can’t fight terror: Natgrid chief

National Intelligence Grid chief Raghu Raman sought to dispel the myth that technological tools and increased security were the panacea for terrorism, saying society would have to play a critical role to end this scourge.

National Intelligence Grid chief Raghu Raman sought to dispel the myth that technological tools and increased security were the panacea for terrorism, saying society would have to play a critical role to end this scourge.

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Raman was delivering a talk on terrorism at a TEDx event devoted to “ideas worth spreading.” He said each time more security personnel were assigned to carry out counter-terrorism duties, they were removed from an economic production function.

Explaining his point by equating terrorism with a disease that cannot be cured by surgery, he said, “A patient may have the best physiotherapist, but ultimately it is the patient who has to do the running. Society is the patient here,” he said.

The Natgrid chief added that zero tolerance to terrorism was an unrealistic concept.

He explained, “Zero tolerance to terrorism is not possible till we become intolerant to all crimes… You can’t have an enclave of clean water in the midst of a polluted river,” Raman said. “We pay for terrorism on a daily basis in the form of a surcharge at the airport or a hotel due to heightened security,” he added.