Sarjen29
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Nothing More Pressing than Defence
Published August 2, 2015 | By admin
SOURCE: EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE
Whenever there is a major terror incident, there are lessons to be learnt. But do we learn them adequately? The answer, unfortunately, is ‘no’. We are very good at theorising, but when it comes to implementing decisions, we fall woefully short.
It is common knowledge that had it not been for two outstanding police officers, KPS Gill and Julio Ribeiro, Punjab would still have been reeling under the onslaught of Khalistani terror aided and abetted by the tremendous mischief potential of the Pakistani army, of the notorious ISI and of foreign funding agencies which connived in perpetuating terrorist activities.
The recent infiltration by three armed terrorists swimming across a rivulet from the Pakistani side and engaging in a battle with Punjab Police personnel a few kilometres away at a police station is a grim reminder that despite the wellthought-out fencing of the border, there still are avoidable chinks in our armour.
That at the point the terrorists sneaked in, there was telltale evidence of smuggling with drugs and syringes lying strewn all over is a pointer to the fact that the corrupters of Indian border youths have been hard at work. The abettors in India, who invariably have political patronage, are getting away with betraying the nation.
Strangely, our Central and state governments are looking the other way even though Prime Minister Modi had acknowledged in a Mann Ki Baat address that this was a very serious issue. The politics of drugs has the potential to derail the Akali-BJP government and that is a price that the current leaders are not prepared to pay.
The clarion call by Gill in a newspaper article that the counter-terrorism capacities of the Punjab Police must be restored ought to be heeded. All police stations along the international border must be strengthened. As he has pointed out, dozens of police officers and men who fought terror at its peak during the 1980s and 1990s but are languishing in jails for ‘excesses’ must be released.
A shocking official statistic reveals that as much as 96 per cent of the total annual outlay for the Punjab Police goes into payment of salaries. Evidently, virtually nothing is left for buying sophisticated equipment and for modernisation. It is small wonder that we were caught off-guard when Pakistani infiltrators attacked a police station in Gurdaspur.
The Central and state governments must find the resources just as they did when the border needed to be fenced and barbed wires electrified. There cannot be anything more pressing than national defence. Training police personnel must also be accorded high priority.
With the deadly ISIS joining Pakistan and the Taliban in posing a threat of terror attacks, we need to step up our preparedness on a war footing. The armed forces and border police cannot be left to the whims of indifferent and insensitive babus, who have played havoc with defence preparedness as with much else.
Our laws too need to be much tougher in dealing with terrorists and with those who aid and abet their activities. Recently, many in Punjab observed the death anniversary of Khalistani militant leader Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale and the 2015 Republic Day as ‘black day’. The law enforcement agencies need to come down hard on such people.
Published August 2, 2015 | By admin
SOURCE: EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE
Whenever there is a major terror incident, there are lessons to be learnt. But do we learn them adequately? The answer, unfortunately, is ‘no’. We are very good at theorising, but when it comes to implementing decisions, we fall woefully short.
It is common knowledge that had it not been for two outstanding police officers, KPS Gill and Julio Ribeiro, Punjab would still have been reeling under the onslaught of Khalistani terror aided and abetted by the tremendous mischief potential of the Pakistani army, of the notorious ISI and of foreign funding agencies which connived in perpetuating terrorist activities.
The recent infiltration by three armed terrorists swimming across a rivulet from the Pakistani side and engaging in a battle with Punjab Police personnel a few kilometres away at a police station is a grim reminder that despite the wellthought-out fencing of the border, there still are avoidable chinks in our armour.
That at the point the terrorists sneaked in, there was telltale evidence of smuggling with drugs and syringes lying strewn all over is a pointer to the fact that the corrupters of Indian border youths have been hard at work. The abettors in India, who invariably have political patronage, are getting away with betraying the nation.
Strangely, our Central and state governments are looking the other way even though Prime Minister Modi had acknowledged in a Mann Ki Baat address that this was a very serious issue. The politics of drugs has the potential to derail the Akali-BJP government and that is a price that the current leaders are not prepared to pay.
The clarion call by Gill in a newspaper article that the counter-terrorism capacities of the Punjab Police must be restored ought to be heeded. All police stations along the international border must be strengthened. As he has pointed out, dozens of police officers and men who fought terror at its peak during the 1980s and 1990s but are languishing in jails for ‘excesses’ must be released.
A shocking official statistic reveals that as much as 96 per cent of the total annual outlay for the Punjab Police goes into payment of salaries. Evidently, virtually nothing is left for buying sophisticated equipment and for modernisation. It is small wonder that we were caught off-guard when Pakistani infiltrators attacked a police station in Gurdaspur.
The Central and state governments must find the resources just as they did when the border needed to be fenced and barbed wires electrified. There cannot be anything more pressing than national defence. Training police personnel must also be accorded high priority.
With the deadly ISIS joining Pakistan and the Taliban in posing a threat of terror attacks, we need to step up our preparedness on a war footing. The armed forces and border police cannot be left to the whims of indifferent and insensitive babus, who have played havoc with defence preparedness as with much else.
Our laws too need to be much tougher in dealing with terrorists and with those who aid and abet their activities. Recently, many in Punjab observed the death anniversary of Khalistani militant leader Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale and the 2015 Republic Day as ‘black day’. The law enforcement agencies need to come down hard on such people.
