Revision summary
Terrorism is political violence meant to frighten civilians and coerce a state. India has faced it in Kashmir, in city bombings such as 26/11, in small hinterland modules, and online. Some Northeast and Khalistani violence uses the same methods. Counters include UAPA and the NIA, intelligence fusion, NSG, border and coastal security, and terror-finance rules. Politics and deradicalisation lag force; rights costs of broad laws remain a live issue.
Model answer
Introduction
Terrorism is the deliberate use of fear against civilians to bend a politics. It is a global scourge because the same methods — bomb, gun, propaganda — travel, even when the cause is local. India has met it as cross-border jihad, as insurgent bombs, and as lone modules on a phone. The State’s reply has been force, law, and, unevenly, politics.
Body
How it has shown itself in India
Jammu and Kashmir has been the longest wound: militant groups, some with Pakistan-based backing, targeting security forces and civilians, with Pahalgam 2025-type shocks still in living memory as a reminder that a quieter map is not a finished peace. The 2008 Mumbai attacks remain the textbook of urban, sea-borne terror. Hinterland modules (Indian Mujahideen and later small cells) hit cities with IEDs. Khalistani violence has a diaspora shadow. The Northeast has mixed insurgency and terror tactics; some groups have talked, some still extort. Maoist violence is often classed as LWE (the next question), but the civilian massacre is a terror method. Online radicalisation now recruits without a training camp.
Contemporary examples change by the year; the pattern is asymmetric violence plus a camera.
Counter-measures
- Law: UAPA, NIA, amendments after Mumbai, and State laws. Intelligence: Multi-Agency Centre, NATGRID-type data, state ATS. Force: NSG, CAPFs, theatre commands in slow motion. Money: FATF-driven terror-finance rules, NIA probes. Borders: fencing, riverine and maritime police after 26/11. Politics: talks, development packages, and, in Kashmir, a changed constitutional status whose security effect is still argued. Community: deradicalisation is weaker than it should be.
Effectiveness is mixed. Capacity is far above 2001. Rights can be bruised by a broad UAPA net. A scourge is managed, not magically ended, while sanctuaries and phones remain.
Flow diagram
flowchart TD G[Global method] --> IN[India] IN --> JK[J and K cross-border] IN --> C[City modules] IN --> O[Online] ST[NIA UAPA intel NSG FATF] --> IN
Conclusion
Terrorism in India has been cross-border, urban-modular, and insurgent. The State has built law, intelligence, force and finance tools since Mumbai. Those tools reduce space. They do not delete ideology or a hostile sanctuary by themselves.
Quick related
Students also ask
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Explain how narco-terrorism has emerged as a serious threat across the country. Suggest suitable measures to counter narco-terrorism.
Next question on this syllabus topic (2024 · Q9). View answer →
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Is every insurgency terrorism?
Insurgency can target the state. Terrorism as a method is the choice to kill civilians for effect. The overlap is real; the words are not identical.
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Can a democracy end terrorism only with talks?
Talks matter for political causes. They do not replace intelligence against a cell that wants a camera, not a table.
PYQ trend
When UPSC asked this
Related PYQs from other years, newest first. Open a question to read it.
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2024 · Q9 · GS III · 10 marks
Explain how narco-terrorism has emerged as a serious threat across the country. Suggest suitable measures to counter narco-terrorism. -
2024 · Q19 · GS III · 15 marks
India has a long and troubled border with China and Pakistan, fraught with contentious issues. Examine the conflicting issues and security challenges along the border. Also give out the development being undertaken in these areas under the Border Area Development Programme (BADP) and Border Infrastructure andManagement (BIM) Scheme. -
2023 · Q9 · GS III · 10 marks
Winning of 'Hearts and Minds' in terrorism affected areas is an essential step in restoring the trust of the population. Discuss the measures adopted by the Government in this respect as part of the conflict resolution in Jammu and Kashmir. -
2023 · Q10 · GS III · 10 marks
The use of unmanned aerial vehicles(UAVs) by our adversaries across the borders to ferry arms/ammunitions, drugs, etc., is a serious threat to the internal security. Comment on the measures being taken to tackle this threat. -
2022 · Q9 · GS III · 10 marks
Discuss the types of organised crimes. Describe the linkages between terrorists and organised crime that exist at the national and transnational levels. -
2021 · Q20 · GS III · 15 marks
Analyse the complexity and intensity of terrorism, its causes, linkages and obnoxious nexus. Also suggest measures required to be taken to eradicate the menace of terrorism. -
2020 · Q10 · GS III · 10 marks
For effective border area management, discuss the steps required to be taken to deny local support to militants and also suggest ways to manage favourable perception among locals. -
2020 · Q20 · GS III · 15 marks
Analyse internal security threats and transborder crimes along Myanmar, Bangladesh and Pakistan borders including Line of Control (LoC). Also discuss the role played by various security forces in this regard.
More from this topic
Q19 · UPSC Mains 2024 · GS III · 15 marks
India has a long and troubled border with China and Pakistan, fraught with contentious issues. Examine the conflicting issues and security challenges along the border. Also give out the development being undertaken in these areas under the Border Area Development Programme (BADP) and Border Infrastructure andManagement (BIM) Scheme.
Border Security and Organised Crime
With Pakistan the live issues are the LoC, PoK, Sir Creek, Siachen, infiltration and drone-aided terror or narcotics. With China the issues are an undelimited LAC, Aksai Chin, Arunachal, patrol face-offs and a roads-and-villages race after Galwan 2020. A two-front stress is the strategic envelope. BADP funds border-block development so hamlets do not empty. BIM funds fencing, lighting, BOPs, roads and surveillance; it must not reduce the border resident to a cleared field of fire.
Q9 · UPSC Mains 2024 · GS III · 10 marks
Explain how narco-terrorism has emerged as a serious threat across the country. Suggest suitable measures to counter narco-terrorism.
Border Security and Organised Crime
Narco-terrorism is drug profit and drug routes used to fund terror and organised violence. India is exposed on the Pakistan–Afghanistan side and the Myanmar–Northeast side, now including drone drops and synthetic drugs. Punjab, J&K and the Northeast are the hardest-hit belts; highways and parcels move the inland trade. Measures: border and drone defence, NCB–ED–NIA money trails, precursor control, de-addiction, and UNODC-style cooperation. Rights-compliant seizures and a clear line between addict and financier keep the strategy legitimate.
Q10 · UPSC Mains 2023 · GS III · 10 marks
The use of unmanned aerial vehicles(UAVs) by our adversaries across the borders to ferry arms/ammunitions, drugs, etc., is a serious threat to the internal security. Comment on the measures being taken to tackle this threat.
Border Security and Organised Crime
Small UAVs drop arms, ammunition and narcotics across foggy and riverine borders, especially Punjab and Jammu. The operator can remain across the fence, which makes attribution hard. BSF has specialised drone response and works with police and the Narcotics Control Bureau. CIBMS adds sensors and cameras to high-risk fence stretches. Anti-drone radars, jammers and DRDO-type systems must sit with criminal cases against handlers.
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