"PRAHAAR marks India's shift from a reactive to a doctrine-driven, proactive counter-terrorism posture." Critically examine this with reference to its seven pillars.

On 23 February 2026 the Ministry of Home Affairs released PRAHAAR, India's first comprehensive National Counter-Terrorism Policy & Strategy [2]. It sets out an intelligence-led, proactive framework built on seven pillars [3]. It is a real shift in doctrine. How proactive it becomes in practice will depend on institutional reform.

Pillars that signal a proactive doctrine

• Prevention & Response: the Multi Agency Centre (MAC) shares intelligence in real time, and a coordinated chain of command links State ATS units to the NSG [3].
• Aggregating internal capacities: a whole-of-government approach [3]. It is to reach the thana level, with an automated response built into every tier [1].
• Attenuating conditions: it tackles radicalisation early. It also targets terror finance by tracing crypto wallets and cutting off dark-web crowdfunding, in line with FATF standards [3].
• Aligning international efforts: a new Extradition Portal. 288 fugitives were brought back from 36 countries between 2019 and 2026 [1].
• Human rights and Recovery: a pillar for Rule of Law-based processes and whole-of-society resilience [3]. The mechanism is planned over a 10-year horizon [1].
• Early results: action against the Shahzad Bhatti network busted 40+ modules and led to 350 arrests across 15 States. The network was also designated under UAPA [1].

Limitations

• Codification, not reinvention: the policy consolidates practices from the previous twelve years [3]. The public material names no new agency, budget or measurable targets.
• Federal gap: police and public order are State subjects (Seventh Schedule, List II), so the Centre can only request action. The DGsP of only 15 States attended the PRAHAAR conference [1]. The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Home Affairs (2016) had flagged low State contributions to MAC [4].
• Command vacuum: no single authority coordinates the NIA, IB, MAC and NSG. The NCTC has been stalled since 2012, and NATGRID was slow to take off [4].
• Rights as one pillar among seven: the UN Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy makes human rights the fundamental basis of all counter-terrorism work [5]. Official releases count arrests, not convictions.
• Phased rollout: the "layered oversight" mechanisms are not specified [3].

PRAHAAR gives India its first shared counter-terrorism rulebook, but it has not yet delivered structural reform. Three steps would make its proactive intent real:

• build a consensus-based nodal body along NCTC lines
• give States incentives to share intelligence through MAC
• publish chargesheet and conviction data

Anchored in Article 21 and aligned with the UN Strategy, PRAHAAR can move India from reacting to attacks to preventing them.