Govt betrays nervousness in Pathankot bulletins

Patriotism was the emotion of the moment as our soldiers battled foreign intruders on the premises of a premium defence establishment in Pathankot over the weekend. The national mood was entirely in keeping with the developments. In hindsight, however, one can discern instances where those at the helm of steering the security operation too seemed to get carried away by the need to respond to the heightened emotions. Both the government and the media did well to give out as few operational details as possible; a lesson from Mumbai, perhaps. But the government made a few attempts to sound as if they were on top of the situation when in reality the various agencies were themselves perhaps not sure of what was happening.Because of the very nature of such operations, clarity on the exact ground situation cannot be expected till all is over. Union ministers in their tweets and senior officers of the security establishment (a few in bullet-proof jackets at a press briefing) made statements that later proved premature. All of this unnecessary confusion caused by ham-handed communication made the security forces seem inept, when that may not have been the case. The electronic media was equally caught up in the patriotic fervour, repeatedly broadcasting long clips of mourning of bereaved families of soldiers. All of this affects the national mood, which is quickly reflected in social media. And the present government is acutely sensitive to what goes on in the virtual world.The Defence Minister has referred to certain “gaps” in the security response to the attack. The government now needs to show confidence in being able to acknowledge wherever the lapses were so that appropriate remedy may be applied. The NDA government has the advantage of nationalistic credentials and the security of numbers in Parliament. That should give it the confidence to remain silent when there is nothing to be said and only give facts when it does speak. The media management of the government has been shown lacking once again. Hope the decisions it takes are not in response to the gallery.

IAF BASE ATTACKED

Army, NSG may see joint training

Vijay Mohan,Tribune News Service,Pathankot, January 6

While the rationale of employing the National Security Guard (NSG) on a military installation to deal with a terrorist attack is a topic of intense debate in the security circles, the first-ever joint operation could possibly see the armed forces and the NSG working together in the future.Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar said during his visit to the Pathankot air base that he has asked the Army and the NSG to conduct regular training together. Joint training, according to an officer, translates into joint operations being undertaken further down the road.The armed forces, all branches of which have their own Special Forces to undertake extraordinary missions, function under the purview of the Ministry of Defence, while the NSG comes under the administrative control of the Ministry of Home Affairs.While the Army and to some extent the Navy’s Marine Commando Force have been undertaking anti-terrorist operations, they have never jointly engaged the same adversary. The last time the armed forces and the NSG operated simultaneously was during the terror strike in Mumbai in 2008, but they were deployed at different sites.Parrikar had claimed that the NSG was deployed at Pathankot because it was “better trained” to deal with terrorist situations, a remark that has not gone down well in the Army fraternity, considering that the Army has been involved in counter-insurgency and counter-terrorist operations for decades and its Special Forces and well trained and highly experienced in this arena.The NSG has two functional groups: the Special Action Group (SAG) and the Special Operations Group (SOG).‘Terror activities up in BJP rule’Raising these questions, ex-Home Minister and senior Congress leader Sushil Kumar Shinde alleged that terror activities escalated whenever there was a BJP government at the Centre.

Cong’s 5 posers to govt

• Why it took Pakistan PM Nawaz Sharif five days to call up PM Narendra Modi and condemn the Pathankot attack?
• Why India failed to immediately summon Pakistan High Commissioner after the terror strike?
• Why India did not attempt to isolate Pakistan internationally on the issue?
• India’s anti-terror stand and policy have both been compromised with and serious lapses have occurred in Pathankot. Why even today India is not calling these terrorists Pakistanis?
• What is the connection between these Pakistani terrorists and Punjab drug cartels?