05 August 2023

MAINS DAILY QUESTIONS & MODEL ANSWERS

Q1. Discuss the factors that led to the growth of communalism in India. What efforts must be taken to address the communalism problem in India?

GS I – Communalism-related issues

• The concept of communalism is founded on the belief that the most important distinction is religious distinction, which trumps all other distinctions. It is a political ideology that makes use of religious and cultural differences to achieve political objectives. It is the result of contemporary Indian politics, which originated with the British Empire. Communialism has been a major source of tension and violence between religious groups in India.

The following elements aided the development of communalism in India:

• The British Divide and Rule Policy: During the pre-independence period, the British used the Divide and Rule policy to repress nationalist aspirations. By promoting one community over the other in terms of services and opportunities, Britishers aimed to split Hindus and Muslims. It sowed discord between the two factions. The British used the Partition of Bengal, the establishment of the Muslim League, the Morley-Minto reforms of 1909, and other strategies to separate and dominate.
• The Hindu and Muslim revivalist movements of the nineteenth century were focused with eradicating harmful practises and reforming one’s own faith. However, revivalist groups such as the Shuddhi movement of the Arya Samaj and the Wahhabi movement attempted to claim that one religion was superior to another.
• Methods and means of nationalists: Indian nationalists such as Bal Gangadhar Tilak used festivals such as the Ganpati festival and Shivaji Jayanti to mobilise the masses. Such practises, however, had a Hinduistic taste to them that did not relate to other communities.
• A communal and erroneous view of Indian history, particularly during the ancient and mediaeval times, was also critical to its spread. In this regard, British historian James Mill pioneered in the early nineteenth century by designating the ancient period of Indian history as the Hindu period and the mediaeval period as the Muslim period.
• Temperament of Partition: The country’s religious partition and the riots, deaths, and rapes that followed were awful, and communalism was at its peak at the time.
• Vote bank politics: After independence, political parties employed appeasement techniques to satisfy diverse ethnic, religious, and cultural groups in exchange for votes. Appeasement methods such as providing amenities and opportunities to certain parts of the population at the expense of others strongly affected this vote bank politics. This has encouraged communalism even more in India.

The following are measures to address India’s communalism problem:   

• Value-oriented education: Emphasising ideals like as secularism, humanism, peace, nonviolence, and cultivating a scientific temperament can serve to deter community attitudes.
• Reducing socioeconomic disparities: Poverty and the resulting socioeconomic inequalities are major causes to communal violence. Poverty alleviation programmes, addressing the issue of unemployment, and reducing the socioeconomic backwardness of minorities can all help to alleviate ethnic tensions.
• Using civil society to assist: The government can employ civil society and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) to run activities that promote communal awareness, develop community bonds, and implant communal togetherness principles in the next generation.
• Reforming administration: Codified administrative rules, specialised training for police officers to deal with communal riots, and the development of specific investigative and prosecutorial agencies can all help to quell major communal anger.
• Monitoring by the media: The media has the potential to play a key role in minimising misinformation and facilitating healthy conversations and debates about such issues.
• Adopting international practises: The government may learn from Malaysia, which has developed early-warning signs to prevent racial clashes.
• Communalism has been and continues to be one of our country’s greatest impediments to democracy. To solve the problem of communalism in India, focused activities focusing on forging unity within the multiethnic fabric, cultural exchange programmes, and encouraging peace and harmony are required.

Q2. Ransomware has emerged as the most prevalent sort of malicious attack. In this context, discuss the concerns highlighted by ransomware attacks on India’s critical infrastructure. In India, what precautions are in place to combat cyber security threats?

GS III – Science and Technology

• Ransomware is a type of cyberattack in which malicious software threatens to publish or restrict access to data or a computer system unless the victim pays the attacker a ransom. According to the Computer Emergency Response Team’s (CERT-In) India Ransomware Report 2022, ransomware attacks grew by 53%. Critical infrastructure is the new frontier in cybersecurity. Today, transportation, oil and gas, power, healthcare, dams, ports, and other industries are all attractive targets for cyber-attacks.

Ransomware attacks on India’s critical infrastructure have raised the following issues:

• Threats to Healthcare Infrastructure: Healthcare is one of the most vulnerable industries to cyber-attacks. Last year’s ransomware attack on AIIMs Delhi, for example, severely affected outpatient and inpatient digital hospital services such as smart lab, billing, report writing, and appointment scheduling. Similarly, attackers based in Hong Kong attempted to infiltrate the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) website.
• Ransomware attacks constitute a national security risk because they can cause extensive economic damage, disrupt essential national security and public safety services, and steal national secrets. A ransomware cyberattack, for example, compromised Goa’s Water Resources Department’s flood monitoring system. Similarly, the ransomware Petya attacked India’s largest container facility, the Jawaharlal Nehru facility (JNPT).
• Ransomware attacks are getting increasingly common: up to 78% of Indian businesses were victims of computer attacks in 2021. Hackers demanded an average ransom of $1.2 million from Indian firms in order to release their data. Because of their reliance on technology and interconnection, almost every individual and organisation is vulnerable to cyberattacks.
• Threats to the financial sector: The Banking, Finance, and Insurance (BFSI) industry is the most profitable for hackers and cybercriminals. Banking, for example, was one of the top three businesses targeted by ransomware in 2021. Furthermore, the Central Depository Services Limited (CDSL), India’s second-largest depository, discovered a malware intrusion on two of its systems.
• The global WannaCry ransomware attack had an impact in India, damaging systems belonging to the Andhra Pradesh police and the West Bengal state utilities.

To fight cybersecurity threats, the following steps are already in place in India:

• National Cyber Security Policy 2013: The policy aims to assist the development of a safe computer environment, to enable sufficient trust and confidence in electronic transactions, and to direct stakeholder efforts for cyberspace protection.
• The Cyber Swachhta Kendra (Botnet Cleaning and Malware Analysis Centre) was formed to detect hazardous applications and provide free removal tools.
• The Cyber Surakshit Bharat Initiative was established to increase awareness about cybercrime and train Chief Information Security Officers (CISOs) and frontline IT personnel from all government ministries in order to provide proper safety measures and combat the growing threat of cyberattacks.
• The National Cyber Coordination Centre (NCCC) was created to generate the situational awareness needed for current and potential cyber security threats. It allows individuals and organisations to share timely information for preventative, preventive, and protective activities.
• The Information Technology Act of 2000 was enacted, among other things, to provide legal recognition for electronic communication, internet trade, and cybercrime. The IT Act incorporates deterrent features to cope with cyber dangers and cyber-attacks.
• The Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In) issues periodical alerts and advisories about the most recent cyber threats and countermeasures.
• To protect the country’s essential information infrastructure, the National essential Information Infrastructure Protection Centre (NCIIPC) was established.
• As the world becomes increasingly interconnected as a result of technological breakthroughs such as smart and connected devices, the Internet of Things (IoT), 5G, and real-time communications, cyber security dangers such as ransomware will only increase in critical infrastructure industries. This demands not just enhanced user understanding on a local level, but also global collective cyber security mechanisms.