TERROR IN
Recent terrorist strike on Mumbai has laid bare all that is good as also all which is venal in our country. In normal times it is usual for the good to keep quite in such times, the good depend on common sense of the people to shift chafe from the cheese. However these are not normal times. Our a period of time our country and its systems have been captured by the self-serving, who is past acted like humanists of Albert Camus’s novel The Plague refuse to see evil in form of rats who are attempting to overrun the city and when plague breaks out attempt to shift blame for the crisis on to those who are trying to save India. To advance their selfish agendas these people have no qualms in running down every good man or institution through a deluge of calumny and disinformation.
Two set of people who today seem to be totally smug and satisfied with their performances are the bureaucrats and certain honchos from media. I am sure every one remembers a press conference by a smug looking Special Secretary Internal Security, IMHA, where the gentleman claimed full marks for the crisis management committee consisting of Cabinet Secretary and himself. And, what as their achievement – it was to have dispatched NSG. Do not ask why it took nine hours for the NSG to be effective at target end. Just go by certificate issued by Ms Barkha Dutt to Special Secretary for complimenting the media. Read her in `Don’t shoot the messenger, HT, Chandigarh Edition,
Three influential media personalities have been running a campaign against services in general and Navy and their CNS in particular, during recent past. Mr Shekhar Gupta of Indian Express, who has been running the services down for asking for restoration of extant parties unilaterally and illegally altered by a Committee of Secretaries. Second is Mr Vir Sangvi of HT, who had recently advocated secession of J&K from
To understand the underlying causes of this animosity we have to travel in past a little. Since 1947 the Armed Forces have been done-in and defanged by successive regimes with very little or nil resistance from senior military leaders. The facts are too well documented and need no repetition. We all know that no one from political or bureaucratic establishment was punished for 1962 Debacle. Even the civil servant involved in Tehlka expose have gone scot free. Hence when the services under the leadership of Admiral Sureesh Mehta stood up for their rights after implementation of unfair 6th CPC award, the politician-bureaucratic nexus was jolted. They wanted to get even with this man who had shown the temerity to stand up for his command. If allowed to have justice he would provide a precedent for other right thinking citizen to demand the same. So they called on the friends in media to pay what Justice Sachar has tellingly described as `Debts to repay’. Likes of Shekhar Gupta, Sangvi and Ms Dutt are only repaying a part of their IOUs when they malign the CNS and services.
The public gaze is being sought to be diverted from flaws of Intelligence Establishment, Central Crisis Management Committee, Customs, Mumbai and Maharashtra Police, and being laid at the door of services in general and Navy in particular. Some pertinent questions which have not being asked, but need to be asked are:-
As documented by Mr Arun Shourie, http://www.indianexpress.com/news/surprised/392625/ both the HM and PM of
1. 1. What action did the Government and particularly Ministries of Defence and Home take to meet such a threat during last four years?
2. Why a system of National Identity Cards not been implemented so far?
3. As recorded by Ms Dutt, key recommendations of task forces set up after Kargil 1999 have yet not been implemented. Who is responsible for delay? http://www.hindustantimes.com/StoryPage/FullcoverageStoryPage.aspx?id=d8afd42f-7ec7-4640-a690-c61d8c168b63Mumbaiunderattack_Special&&Headline=Don%e2%80%99t+shoot+the+messenger
4. Navy has been asking for streamlining port security management. Why have its recommendations been stalled?
5. Why attempts to identify illegal migrants thwarted time and again?
Coming to events of 26/11 itself, certain questions not being asked by media are. Since R&AW and IB claim that they knew exact location of terrorist ship on 19 November.
1. Why did they not know the type, size and registration of the ship?
2. Why did they not track the movement of ship over next few days?
3. Did they share this information with the coastal states and customs?
4. If yes, what steps did the police of coastal states and customs took to thwart projected landing?
5. What action did Central Crisis Management Committee take?
6. As claimed by Special secretary Internal Security, the crisis was handled by him and Cabinet Secretary. Question arises as o where was the NSA during crucial first few hours?
7. Why did it take nine hours for the NSG to reach the site of incident?
8. Sad loss of lives of 14 ATS personnel without any harm to terrorists need to be investigated. How did this well trained and forewarned group fall so easily?
9. Why were the sites of terror strike not cordoned and sanitized by local police?
10. Within an hour of start of terror strike the Chief Secretary,
11. Why was local police or civil administration not able to provide maps and building plans of Taj – Trident, Nariman House and Oberoi?
Coming to role of media in general and MS Dutt in particular, questions which emerge are:-
1. Why did she broadcast room number and location of Ms Sabina and thereby expose her to terrorists who were in touch with their minders on phone.
2. Why did she give live coverage to slithering operations of NSG and there by forewarn terrorists inside Nariman House?
Ms Dutt takes a morally reprehensible position while trying to explain her conduct. She says, `cordon was decided by officials. Had any one asked us to retreat or switch off our cameras, we would have done so’. How childish! Was she a little girl lost in bad big world and needed to be told what was wrong or right?
But wait, some would say, she does admit to media (not herself) making `some unwitting mistakes’. Why can the CNS not overlook these minor aberrations, even if they may have contributed to loss of innocent lives. After all the deaths did serve the purpose of raising TRPs! And finally all she has been thanked by NSG and Special Secretary for excellent job done and after this certificate, the CNS should have kept quite. Right Ms Dutt? Service Chiefs must remain true to tradition of past military leaders who crawled when asked to bend.
Ladies and Gentlemen, this is the time when past favours are being recalled and payments demanded from TRP/ advertisement hungry and self-obsessed media by their masters. So be ready to be blamed for all that you did or did not do. Present witch hunt of Services reminds me of a story in which a Lion wants to eat a Lamb who is drinking water down stream of the Lion. Lion accuses him of polluting the water, when the Lamb points out that the water is flowing down from Lion to him, the Lion retorts that well in that case his (Lamb’s) father had earlier polluted the water and proceeds to eat it. So services have sinned by demanding justice and have to be put in their place! Period!!
We must know that each man who died while eliminating the terrorists in Taj Hotel and Nariman House was a soldier from Indian Army, he was led by Indian Army Officers in an operation overseen by Maj Gen-in-charge Operations. But the public face of NSG was an IPS. Services belong to a group called Common-men of
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