Editor,
Now that the bluster and bombast of our worthy leaders has somewhat abated ( has it ?) after last Sunday’s dastardly attack on the unit headquarters at Uri, Jammu& Kashmir, it may be possible to take stock of what exactly transpired that fateful morning. This as well as the earlier attack at Pathankot is a natural corollary to the directionless, dithering and confused Pakistan policy we have right from the very top. Add to it the massive intelligence and security failure that permitted an army camp close to the hostile border, to be infiltrated by a group of terrorists, who not only gets across the border, breaches the camp’s perimeter fence, and comes so close ( a maximum of 25 yards or so) as to be able to throw dozens of hand grenades at our men before the soldiers even realise it. The sad lament of the mother of one slain soldier- ‘”I wish my son had a gun in his hand,” says it all !
Leaving aside the monumental lapses at the higher or better, the highest , level what worries one is the total failure of security at the unit level . Were there no sentries posted, or a perimeter patrolling of the camp? And what about the “Stand To” drill – where a unit located in a vulnerable area mans its pickets with arms at the ready at ‘first light ‘ and ‘last light’ ( dawn and dusk), these being the time of the day when the light is changing and it is easy to spring a surprise on the defenders?
These and many other commonsense questions will be asked and have to be accounted for in terms of responsibility. Unless this is done and a few heads made to roll these sort of tragedies will keep recurring,
Yours etc.,
Anjan Datta (Col Retired)
Via email
SBI mend your ways!
Editor,
Through your esteemed daily I would like to draw the attention of the SBI authorities about the bizarre manner in which SBI, Rongjeng in East Garo Hills is functioning. I visited the SBI office for withdrawing money on September 21, 2016 at around 2:30 pm only to find that work in the office had come to a halt due to power failure. On further enquiries I was told that there is an order from the higher authorities telling them not to run their generator when there is no current because the bill for diesel consumption is far too high. The staff was only obeying orders, apparently. So there is a long queue of people waiting for the current to arrive so that the bank can start its transactions. If this is how SBI runs its establishment it would pose a great problem for the villagers who come from long distances for their transactions (withdraw or deposit money). If they miss that rare public transport which runs to fixed timings they are unable to return home. Can the SBI authorities address this pernicious issue that inconveniences the very customers whose deposits pay their salaries? Someday the public will revolt against this sort of attitude and it may create a law and order problem. What is the point of having a generator if it is not used during power cuts?
Yours etc.,
K S Sangma
Rongjeng,
East Garo Hills Meghalaya
Who is accountable for the Uri massacre?
Editor,
The repeated attacks on the vulnerable military bases of India along the Line of Control adjoining Pakistan is the tipping point of India’s security concerns. Unless the Indian government and the Indian armed forces take strong action to restrain their terrorist infested neighbour, the nation will continue to bleed and the loss of precious lives and properties will continue unabated. Chest thumping, lip services, appearing on TV debates, giving long and scripted media interviews and hyped vocal messages to Pakistan by the Indian government, top politicians and bureaucrats will not resolve the issue. India has to do way more than that; else the nation stands to lose much in terms of potential foreign investments as it will be viewed by big multi-nationals and overseas investors as an unsafe investment destination. This will deeply harm the booming Indian economy and the morale of the nation. India has to engage directly and actively counteract and block Pakistan in every international and regional platform for political, strategic and diplomatic isolation of that country. The world currently will stand by India since a huge part of the globe is impacted by terrorism and this should be taken as an opportunity to push Pakistan to the edge internationally. India needs to continue voicing concerns for Baluchistan, Sindh and Pak Occupied Kashmir (predominantly Gilgit-Baltistan) in every possible forum to humiliate and embarrass Pakistan as well as seriously think of conducting surgical strikes at strategic points along the LoC and other hot areas to eliminate terrorist outfits. Enhanced fire power along the border along with superior intelligence and predator drone based precision strikes will be necessary to contain Pakistan. Naval threats delivered to Pakistan as well as pushing Pakistan both on her eastern and western fronts diplomatically, strategically, economically and politically will be important to keep the nation engaged in high conflicts.
This is the time for India to sit with the permanent security members excluding China to hit Pakistan in every front to reduce the security threats. India has to adopt Israel model partly to counter Pakistan in defense terms to enhance security for the nation. Last but not the least, the Chief of Army Staff should be held accountable as to how the security breaches are hampering precious lives and national property. Sitting in his office with all the comforts of life and a huge salary and secure fat pension after retirement, the Army Chief must answer to the nation how these Pakistan based terrorists are regularly infiltrating Indian borders and targeting army and air force bases and civilians in spite of spending billions of dollars of Indian tax payers money to security installations and buying sophisticated arms. What is the Army Intelligence doing? Are they sucking lollipops? The Chief of Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) also stands exposed for failing to provide vital security tips for national security. Unless these top officials are pushed beyond their comfort zones, India will continue to bleed.
Yours etc.,
Saikat Kumar Basu
Lethbridge AB Canada T1J 4B3