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By:

Capt. Naveen S. Singhal and Capt. M. M. Saggi

9 August 2025 at 7:09:34 pm

India’s Security Starts at the Shore

From fishermen and coastal businesses to merchant ships, India must turn its maritime economy and communities into a stronger layer of national resilience. India’s security landscape has evolved beyond traditional threats like enemy warships, submarines, missiles, and land forces to encompass hybrid challenges. Now, research vessels, survey ships, fishing fleets, maritime militia, drones, merchant ships, environmental incidents, proxy networks, and local intelligence activities all impact...

India’s Security Starts at the Shore

From fishermen and coastal businesses to merchant ships, India must turn its maritime economy and communities into a stronger layer of national resilience. India’s security landscape has evolved beyond traditional threats like enemy warships, submarines, missiles, and land forces to encompass hybrid challenges. Now, research vessels, survey ships, fishing fleets, maritime militia, drones, merchant ships, environmental incidents, proxy networks, and local intelligence activities all impact national security. This is particularly relevant for India due to increasing threats in the Indian Ocean Region. Since the 26/11 Mumbai attacks, India has strengthened coastal security and recognised the importance of coastal and fishing communities as the ‘eyes and ears’ of the security system. The next step should be to institutionalise this idea through a National Coastal and Border Citizen Security Awareness Programme. The aim is to create an informed public-warning layer that knows what to observe, what to avoid and whom to inform. National Resilience At the same time, India must treat merchant shipping as an instrument of national resilience. In any crisis or war, the Indian Navy will require fuel, stores, ammunition, sealift, repair support, harbour services, evacuation capacity and offshore logistics. India therefore needs a Strategic Merchant Marine Reserve of Indian-flagged vessels that can be mobilised in national emergencies. A small boat, such as a dhow, fishing trawler or tourist craft, may appear harmless, but it can be misused for reconnaissance, the landing of men or material, smuggling, logistics support, illegal communications or sabotage. Similarly, a coastal hotel, resort, warehouse, marina or water-sports operator may unknowingly be useful to hostile actors seeking information or access. A national citizen-awareness programme should therefore cover fishermen, coastal residents, port workers, hotel and resort employees, tourist boat operators, marine service providers, customs brokers, truck drivers, coastal panchayats, schools, colleges and local businesses. The training must be simple, repeated and delivered in Indian languages. Fishermen should be specifically encouraged to report foreign research vessels, unusual survey activity and unexplained fishing or trawler movements close to sensitive maritime zones. It should not expect citizens to perform intelligence work or confront suspicious persons. The Government’s Vibrant Villages Programme, which enhances certain border villages, serves as a valuable model. Its security-awareness approach should be expanded to other regions, including coastal states. When executed properly, this programme can also foster national integration by uniting efforts to protect the country, the Republic of India. Hotels, resorts, marinas, tourist operators, fishing harbours, coastal warehouses and port contractors should be brought under a light but meaningful Coastal Business Security Code. This need not be burdensome. It should require basic staff training, guest verification, emergency contact lists, suspicious-activity reporting procedures and periodic participation in local drills. A trained ecosystem can identify warning signs before they become incidents. Foreign fishing fleets also have strategic significance. Such vessels can provide presence, surveillance, logistics, intimidation and deniability. A ship need not fly a naval ensign to serve naval objectives. India must therefore build a society-wide habit of lawful observation and reporting, even when everything is fine, particularly around sensitive waters, island territories, submarine-cable routes, offshore energy assets, ports and naval approaches. Strategic Reserve India must also look inward. In a major crisis, the Navy cannot operate on combat platforms alone. In protracted operations, the Navy would require a merchant-marine backbone: tankers for fuel, cargo ships for stores and ammunition, offshore vessels for support, tugs for harbour operations, heavy lift repair vessels, hospital or evacuation capacity, coastal transport and sealift. Modern naval power is sustained not only by warships, but also by the commercial maritime system that supports them. The United States, the United Kingdom and other maritime powers have long understood that merchant shipping forms part of national power. In line with India’s Maritime Amrit Kaal Vision 2047 and for strengthening of India’s maritime security, India should create a National Maritime Auxiliary and Strategic Sealift Framework, broadly comparable in purpose, though not necessarily in structure, to the military sealift arrangements used by major maritime powers. This also requires building Indian-flagged ships with dual-use features as well as creating a mechanism to include existing merchant vessels in national emergencies, such as, Product tankers, coastal tankers, container feeders, ro-ro vessels, multipurpose cargo ships, offshore support vessels, dredgers, tugs, heavy-lift vessels, harbour craft and passenger-cum-evacuation vessels since all have crisis value. This does not mean converting merchant ships into warships. It means designing them with features that improve usefulness in emergencies. The Government should incentivise such vessels through tax benefits, priority cargo, viability-gap funding, cargo reservation, lower port dues, green finance, shipbuilding support and defence-readiness grants. They should be maintained to high standards and periodically inspected for auxiliary readiness. US has for years treated parts of its commercial maritime sector as a reserve of strategic capability and China is following their footsteps, thus India cannot afford to ignore this dimension. The Government should create a voluntary Merchant Marine Support Register for Indian flagged vessels. Shipowners could enrol vessels in return for defined incentives. In peacetime, such ships would continue normal trading. In a national emergency, they could be mobilised for fuel carriage, stores transport, evacuation, offshore support, towing, repair assistance, harbour services, pollution response or logistics support to the Navy and Coast Guard. This would also require conducting tabletop drills and exercises regularly to test preparedness. India’s 2047 maritime vision should explicitly recognise merchant shipping as a national-security enabler, not just a trade instrument. A trained citizen layer along the coast and border, combined with a capable strategic merchant marine reserve, would enhance security of India’s extensive 11,098 km of coastline. (Capt. Naveen Singhal is Marine Consultant and Member of the Singapore Shipping Association. He has been extensively involved in the inspection of US Navy’s non-commissioned, Military Sealift Command vessels in Diego Garcia and other naval bases in South East Asia. Capt. MM Saggi is former Nautical Advisor, Government of India. Views personal.)

Caste-based Census Sparks Nationwide Debate

Writer: Darshan Solanki
Darshan Solanki
Oct 2, 2024
3 min read

Updated: Oct 22, 2024

Caste-based Census

Caste-based identities continue to dominate rural India, directly or indirectly shaping electoral outcomes. Many major elections are influenced by specific caste groups. After the Bihar government released the first phase of its caste-based socio-economic survey, the caste census became a hot topic. The results, backed by evidence, showed improvements in the living standards and social status of marginalised communities, both in cities and villages. With parties like the JDU and NCP backing a caste census, there is growing momentum for the government to conduct one. However, every story has two sides—joy and sorrow. Even Mahatma Gandhi, the Father of the Nation, raised concerns about the caste census.

Rahul Gandhi accused the BJP of being “anti-Bahujan.” The clear meaning is that his father and forefather refused to execute a caste-based census, which might have far-reaching effects and even permanently fracture India’s social fabric. This may be negative for caste-based beneficiaries. The last caste census in India was conducted in 1931 by the British government. Those times were different from the present scenario. The data was made public and became the basis for the Mandal Commission Reports and reservation policies for Other Backward Classes. Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) has clarified that the caste-based population count data will not be used for core politics. But the agenda for politics is always twisted and expanded.

The Central Government also joined the legal debate by filing an affidavit with the Supreme Court, leaving the matter unresolved. India’s partition, rooted in the divide-and-rule strategy, is frequently cited as a cautionary tale. Including caste in official census data could further deepen social divides. This issue has become a political pressure point, with various states pushing the Centre for action. Although the Constitution uses the term “class” instead of “caste,” the Supreme Court has consistently ruled that caste is a relevant, and at times, sole or dominant criterion for defining a backward class.

After the release of caste-based census data in Bihar, discussions around conducting similar censuses have gained momentum in states like Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, and Jharkhand. Karnataka, which has already conducted its own caste census, may release its data soon as well.

Notably, all these states are governed by anti-BJP parties. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi also announced that Congress-ruled states have committed to carrying out caste censuses. Meanwhile, the BJP has remained silent on the matter, creating a significant roadblock.

Caste-based censuses focus on proportional representation in areas like jobs and education, with the argument that this will aid in targeted planning for the disadvantaged. However, the situation remains unclear, much like a foggy winter morning. The BJP’s stance on caste-based censuses and reservations seems different, as they fear the caste-based calculations could fragment their traditional Hindu voter base—an underlying concern for the party.

Professor Sanjay Kumar from The Centre for the Study of Developing Societies, says, “Let alone the BJP; no party can openly oppose it; it is not free from danger. BJP gets a large number of votes from the OBC community, their population across the country would be around 52%. Another downside is that the caste-based censuses could disrupt the balance of socio-economic zones. Data theft is a common issue in government systems, and people may feel disconnected from their actual rights.

The moot question is that if the financial status of an ST/SC/OBC or Dalit citizen moves up by a few notches, will his social status change automatically? The lifestyle of any class will only change when the income of a particular class is changed. The actual source of income is employment. The reality is that only metro cities have enough place and space for workers. Aside from the GIDC and IT sectors, less than 30% of industries have their own designated vacancy periods. After a decade, the Jamnagar and Rajkot Corporations have opened their doors to newcomers alongside experienced staff. However, age and caste bias often operate behind the scenes. It’s important to recognise that poverty is also widespread among many upper-caste individuals, and their needs cannot be overlooked. In the overall interests of the nation, terms like SC/ST/OBC, Dalits, etc. must be deleted from the nation’s vocabulary. Every citizen should have only one classification, that of being an ‘Indian’, in the spirit of the constitution.

Last year, when the Bihar government decided to conduct a caste survey in the state, the BJP was also Nitish Kumar’s partner in the state government, and it supported it. Political expert and former professor of Tata Institute of Social Science, Pushpendra Kumar, says, “It is not that the BJP does not talk about caste. It tries to reveal the caste of the Prime Minister as well. For caste politics, the BJP also tried hard to raise the issue of Pasmanda Muslims.”

(The writer is a management professional based in Ahmedabad. Views personal.)

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