Daily Times

In UK society, there are several ways to view things evolving. Some sociologists view things with scientific glasses while others take an intellectual approach in perceiving the dynamics of social transformation. When one talks about security and terrorism in the UK, he comes across many ideas, hypothesis and reports about the government and its agencies’ failure in tackling violent extremism and international terrorism. There are thousands of research papers, essays, speeches and lectures available on the websites of think tanks, newspapers, journals and libraries that address the crisis of national security with different approaches, but the lack of professional approach and coordination in these research materials makes the case worse. In this small article, my main focus will be on the weak approach of the government towards law enforcement and its counter terrorism mechanism. As we have already tested the arrival of new surveillance technologies and their controversial use in our society, these weapons have badly failed to intercept jihadists joining the ranks of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) and other groups in the Middle East and South Asia.

We also understand that with the introduction of modern communication systems, surveillance and espionage networks have become a global phenomenon. The capturing, tracing and processing of the personal data of citizens has become a controversial issue worldwide. Every state has promulgated its own communication and surveillance law that allows interception of communication, stops e-mail trafficking and monitors Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. While we discuss these law enforcement related issues, many new things come to mind that force us to think that surveillance is not the only solution to our social problems. Yes, we know that modern state machinery in the UK ultimately depends on surveillance data but the way surveillance is used against the privacy of citizens has prompted deep frustration and social alienation.

The UK’s citizens are well aware of their privacy rights protected by international law but the law in the UK has a weak and fractured approach towards privacy. Communities complain that the current legal and regulatory system is not providing adequate protection for personal information. At present, in the UK, the multi-faceted surveillance strategy has become flawed and needs to be reformed to ensure that the right of privacy in the European Convention on Human Rights is honoured. Article eight of the European Convention on Human Rights provides everyone with the right of respect for his private and family life, his home and his correspondence, and that there shall be no interference by a public authority with the exercise of this right except such as is in accordance with the law. In our society, in the presence of the Interception Communication Law and Regulation of Investigatory Power Act 2000 (RIPA), privacy has become a joke while the Data Protection Act and RIPA have never explained to the citizens what happens to their personal information.

This approach is very weak and the trust between the state’s security apparatus, law enforcement agencies and the citizens has been undermined. The process of citizens’ alienation from the state continues as the attitude of the police and borough councils changed. On November 6, 2014, The Guardian reported that Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe, commissioner of the Metropolitan police in London, told a conference of senior US police chiefs that law enforcement agencies in the UK had lost the public’s trust after the disclosures on government surveillance made by Mr Edward Snowden. “We need to ensure that where law enforcement accesses private communications there is a process of authorisation, oversight and governance that gets the balance right between the individual’s right to privacy and their right to be protected from serious crime,” said the police chief.

The government and its agencies are deeply frustrated due to the looming security crisis and widening sphere of extremism and foreign espionage around us. The intelligence war is another quagmire we have been entrapped in. Our agencies are fighting in different directions against this abruptly imposed war. We know UK intelligence gained professional experience in countering terrorism and foreign espionage during the last 100 years but this time they face the most professionally trained and technologically adorned networks. The increasing number of dangers transcending national boundaries is reflected in the government’s weak approach to law enforcement and counterterrorism. An evolving Asian, African and European intelligence policy towards the UK raises several questions, including the recent attitude of France, China, Russia and Germany. Germany cancelled a Cold War era pact with the UK in response to the revelations of Mr Snowden about electronic surveillance operations.

On September 1, 2014, David Cameron said that his government was considering introducing some national security measures. These included confiscating the passports of UK extremists, excluding them from the country and placing them on no-fly list arrangements on a statutory footing but the prime minister could not implement these security measures. Social scientists and independent experts confirm that the UK’s counterterrorism strategy is failing to tackle the danger of violent extremism and international terrorism. These experts attribute this failure to the controversial approach to counterterrorism and domestic extremism strategy. As the national security environment for the UK has changed, the country perceives its national security threat emanates from the terrorist and jihadist groups of the Middle East and South Asia.

The arrival of hundreds of criminal gangs and serious organised networks from Asia, Africa and European Union states has caused deep frustration and vulnerability in the government and private sectors. Business communities are under threat from these criminal mafia groups that use modern technologies in smashing the doors of offices, shops and houses. The arrival of these illiterate and unskilled individuals has forced the government to introduce new laws, new restrictions, new internet and privacy strategies, new watchdog programmes and online policing. To tackle all the above-mentioned threats, the government and its agencies need to adopt policies based on the principles of UK culture. We need laws based on our culture and social principles. We do not need to follow the US or European way of countering terrorism.

The writer is the author of Punjabi Taliban and can be reached at zai.musakhan222@gmail.com