A crude bomb blew up the wall of the CRPF School in Rohini area in the national capital on Sunday. While this was not a major incident and there were no casualties, it is obviously sending out a message to the government and security forces. This heightens the need for greater alert. Notably, this would seem to be a season of threats by anti-national elements – with the Pakistani militants on the one side and the Khalistani movement on the other. The Canada-based Sikh rebels, with substantial patronage from the government there, might be getting a fresh lease of life.
The overall security scenario was satisfactory for the past few years. The North-East was breathing free, except for Manipur where things are still on the boil. The rebel movements targeting Delhi were mostly lying low. Kashmir too had peace gaining the upper hand and, as a result, tourism – the mainstay of the local economy has started reviving in a major way. The Pakistanis had mostly stopped the border skirmishes after the surgical strikes and IAF bombings during the fag end of PM Modi’s first term. On the railway front too, the number of accidents came down though the epic disaster in Odisha claimed many lives. Thereafter, some more train mishaps occurred despite the government’s claim ten years ago that safety would be the first priority.
In a nation of nearly a billion and a half, maintaining order and keeping things under control is a huge credit to any government. Narendra Modi as prime minister avoided confrontations and adopted a soft approach – to a point of criminal inaction – in several pressing cases, so that peace prevailed. Exceptions were the CAA-NCR protests, when Muslims felt they were being treated as second-class citizens and hounded out by the BJP-led government at the Centre. The recent disturbances to public life – as in Delhi – are rare but point to danger ahead. Notably, as many as 32 Indian flights received bomb threats on Saturday in coordinated actions, but only one flight was ‘diverted’ while the rest operated normally. A youth in Chhattisgarh sent out 19 of these threats – he says he wanted to take “revenge on his business partner.” The actual reason might be something different – and such action cannot be taken lightly. It must be said to the credit of Home Minister Amit Shah that he handled the law and order and militancy with a heavy hand. Any slackening in the controls and alert would be taken full advantage of by anti-national elements. The intelligence apparatus must remain more alert. Saboteurs plan long-term and act when they deem fit. Peace must prevail.
