The Pathankot attack betrays once again our problem in handling crisis. We either tend to overreact, overly hypothesise or refuse to appreciate difficulties of men in action. It is argued that coordination among agencies was poor, the air base was not guarded despite advance intelligence, BSF troops on the border failed or deliberately ignored to neutralise terrorists and, the intelligence, Punjab Police and patrolling parties went blind when terrorists were moving in the area for over two days. It is legitimate to demand accountability of those who botched up, but let’s take a pause here.
No one wants to fail or lose lives. The border is long, running through wicked terrain. You do have fencing but there are gaps, created by rivers, rivulets and undulated grounds. The fencing is not a Berlin Wall—even that used to be constantly breached despite East German troops watching every inch of leak. We have come a long way in securing the fencing, but still a lot has to be done to make it breach-proof. Surely government will look at it with a sense of urgency. But don’t forget that fencing in Poland, Hungary and Slovenia have not been able to stop Syrian refugees from infiltrating nor has the US succeeded in preventing Mexicans from sneaking in. The task becomes much more difficult if infiltrators are fidayeen.
Speaking of how terrorists could penetrate Pathankot air base, it is important to appreciate that it extends over 120 sq km and to secure every inch of it will require 10 times more of security personnel than what is deployed. In such cases, the depth in security is graded keeping in view the relative criticality of assets and then troops are deployed. That’s the reason, all strategic assets at the base remained unharmed. Ideally, terrorists should have been gunned down within hours, but battle attrition does take a toll on the effectiveness of even the best of trained troops. The recent incidents of terrorists attacks in Australia, France and US illustrate this handicap.
As usual, the post-attack probe has been announced. The men on job would hopefully not hide weaknesses, and would also be careful before passing judgements. NIA must not spare collaborators and also avoid creating one. That will be suicidal. Even before the report is ready, a former BSF chief has declared that the BSF has been corrupted, alluding to the fact that they probably helped terrorists to enter for a price. Such statements demoralise the rank and file.
We should also be careful in assessing the role of Salwinder Singh, SP Gurdaspur. It has been an old malaise with Punjab Police officers to spend their spare time in enjoying unauthorised pursuits of life. Looks like, he was on one of his dubious errands with his friend, cook and followers and got caught by terrorists. The nature of his mission must be such that he is unable to explain his encounter with terrorists but it is unlikely that he’d be an accomplice.
Meanwhile, the reaction in India to the attack has been repetitive. The outbursts are vitriolic and guided by partisan interests. Helped majorly by the media, the reaction on Twitter and Facebook is largely ill-informed, almost everyone baying for blood and demanding suspension of interactions with Pakistan’s civilian leaders. They find PM Modi to be a disappointment, ill-advised and quixotic in his handling of Pakistan.
This is unfortunate when you look at how Pakistan has reacted. A country that has consistently refused to act on our evidences against Hafiz Saeed and Dawood, never accepted Kasab or terrorists involved in the July 15 attack in Gurdaspur as Pak nationals, is at least showing interest in perusing evidence. Nawaz Sharif has taken the Army on board for ordering a probe. He may not eventually be able to hand over the perpetrators, but if he is able to prosecute them, India should look at him condescendingly. It would be foolish to scrap the January 15 meeting of Foreign Secretaries on supercilious grounds. It is easy to freeze the ties, but so difficult to win peace. Modi must not fritter this opportunity for fear of domestic criticism. As a leader of the largest democracy, he has a responsibility to strengthen Sharif’s hands and help him take his Army and people along in making peace with India a reality.
amarbhushan@hotmail.com
Bhushan is a former special secretary, R&AW