8/14/2019 WEAPONS DO NOT MAKE THE MAN
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Weapons do not make the man; man makes the weapons. The truth of
this saying waschillingly brought out during the Mumbai terror
attacks on 26/11.
A lot has been made in the Indian media to the humiliating fact
that the Mumbaipolice had to confront terrorists armed with AK-47s,
with nothing more lethal thanWorld War II rifles. Consequently, the
political establishment in India went onthe defensive, passing the
buck to different agencies and promising fast trackprocurement of
modern weapons in the near future. They are all missing the
point.
The British Lee-Enfield .303 rifle used by the police, although
antiquated, can bea formidable weapon. The Lee-Enfield is an
accurate and reliable battle rifle thatshoots a powerful cartridge,
the .303 British. The .303 bullet is a man stopperand is deadly out
to long ranges. The kinetic energy produced by such cartridgeswill
penetrate heavy body armour and will often even cause considerable
shocktrauma damage to people protected by body armor even the
modern bullet-proofvests worn by the terrorists.
This rifle has killed a lot of people, not to mention lions and
tigers, in thepast century. Even as late as the 1980s, Afghan
sharpshooters used the Lee-Enfieldwith great success against the
Soviets; and Taliban are still using it againstcoalition forces in
Afghanistan and inflicting considerable casualties in the
process. In essence, the World War II rifle, in capable hands,
can be a deadlyweapon. In the case of the Mumbai police, the main
problem was that the personnelcarrying the rifles had little or no
training in their use. In addition, theirmarksmanship was pathetic.
Even at the close range of 20 to 30 metres, many of thebullets
failed to hit their targets. Under such circumstances, the police
werevirtually defenceless against the terrorists. That some of them
displayedextraordinary bravery in adverse conditions is another
matter. In the end, theattackers outclassed the Indian police with
their marksmanship far more than theyoutclassed them with their
armaments.
It is a fact that U.S. and European police officers are better
marksmen than theirIndian counterparts. The difference lies in the
training. U.S. and Europeanofficers must regularly go to the
shooting range for marksmanship re-qualification
to maintain those skills. In contrast, the Mumbai police showed
little or noenthusiasm for shooting practice (there is no profit in
it) and even those whobothered to go out to the shooting range were
limited to a ludicrous five bulletseach, because there was not
enough ammunition.
The reason for this pathetic and inexcusable state of affairs
was not shortage offunds. In fact, a fairly generous provision had
been provided in the policebudget. But, true to form, almost
three-quarters of this amount was squandered on,among other things,
in constructing luxury flats for senior officers. Even afterthe
shock of 26/11 has apparently shaken the establishment out of its
customarylethargy; and a slew of improvements have been announced,
it is to be seen howmany of these are actually implemented and how
soon.
(Parts of this article are sourced from the Stratfor report
Mitigating Mumbaipublished on www.stratfor.com)
