NEW DELHI: Five days after the Nagrota attack, which cost India the lives of seven army personnel, including two officers, the question which everybody is asking is: who will pay for these lapses? The year 2016 began on an ominous note when a handful of terrorists attacked Pathankot air force base and killed seven personnel. Till date no action has been taken against anybody.
Pathankot followed the attacks in Uri, in which the army lost 19 jawans. But the Commander of 12th Uri Brigade was moved out to a plum post.
According to senior officials, lack of accountability is making our military bases vulnerable as terrorists are striking with impunity. Army chief General Dalbir Suhag has made visits to forward locations to review the security citing prevailing situation on border.
This year, 89 security personnel lost their lives in Kashmir, second highest in a decade. India lost 122 personnelin 2007. And after September 29 surgical strikes on terror launchpads located in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, we have lost 27 soldiers.
In fact, no one has been held responsible for lapses that led to the beheading of two soldiers in Machchal sector in one month.“I have seen officers being penalised for mismanagement in an officers’ mess party or not following protocol.
But no one has been penalised for operational failure,” said an officer.
After November 29 attack on Nagrota, when social media was abuzz with anger in the military community on repeated failure to prevent attacks, a senior official posted in the Kashmir valley wrote a message, which became viral, demanding action for those responsible. “Pathankot, Uri and now Nagrota. It’s good to brand the dead as ‘martyrs’. But that does not take away the need to assess why the incident took place.”
An officer said the “military needs professional audit by HR professionals, security experts and third party groups with no stake in the existing narrative. Self-analysis will never reveal the actual fault lines.”
Army’s top hierarchy failed to implement recommendations of the Lt. Gen. Philip Campose-led panel, constituted after the January 2 attack on Pathankot air force to review the security apparatus of military establishments.
It also needs to be investigated how militants could enter 50km inside the border and stay for two days before striking Nagrota army base.
“We can’t get away by putting the blame on intelligence failure. Our military establishment needs to reviewed. Till we fix the responsibility of military hierarchy, the situation won’t change,” said an officer.