The Aryavarth Express
New Delhi: Retired Indian Army officer Lieutenant General Devendra Pratap Pandey on Friday stressed the need to confront threats emerging from within the country, stating that the danger posed by “internal enemies” has long been underestimated. He was speaking at National Security Summit.
Lt Gen Pandey (Retd) said that India’s strategic mindset has traditionally been focused on external adversaries and military preparedness, while internal threats—often more complex and insidious—have not received the same level of attention.
“Even when we have been attacked from the West or anywhere else, we have been able to hold back. But darwaze hamesha andar se khule—the doors have always opened from inside,” he said. “Identifying the internal enemy is far more difficult. Our national DNA focuses on external threats, but we ignore the growing danger within our borders. We avoid calling out those who may become tomorrow’s enemies, and when the threat erupts, our response becomes episodic.”
The Army veteran added that it has become a trend to blame the government or institutions, without acknowledging that the deeper issue often lies within the internal ecosystem that facilitates such threats.
Referring to the November 10 Red Fort suicide car blast—which killed at least 15 people and injured several—Pandey said that the perpetrators had been groomed and radicalised over many years.
“Those doctors involved in the attack were not created in five years after the 2019 abrogation in J&K. They were cultivated since 2010. Terrorism in Kashmir did not suddenly begin 30 years ago—the seeds were sown long before. Over the years, funds were provided in the hope of controlling these elements, but those very resources were used to strengthen networks that now target our institutions and nation,” he said.
In the ongoing investigation into the Red Fort attack, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) has arrested a Faridabad resident accused of sheltering suicide bomber Dr. Umar Un Nabi shortly before the explosion.
Earlier, on November 20, the Special NIA Court at Patiala House granted 10-day custody of four individuals—Dr Muzammil Shakeel Ganai of Pulwama, Dr Adeel Ahmed Rather of Anantnag, Mufti Irfan Ahmad Wagay of Shopian (all from J&K), and Dr Shaheen Saeed of Lucknow—in connection with the case.
The investigation continues as agencies work to unravel the broader network behind the attack.
