A man who cannot face handful of protestors, cannot protect India from China
By abhay mokashi
The breach in the security of Prime Minister (PM) is a serious matter and needs to be probed, without indulging in cheap politics.
That the Prime Minister was stuck on a flyover in Punjab for over 20 minutes, because some farmers were protesting against him and had blocked the road. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was quick to blame the ruling Congress in Punjab for creating a situation that ‘threatened the life of the Prime Minister’. Not many citizens are aware that the security of the Prime Minister is the responsibility of the Union Home Ministry and the office of the Cabinet Secretary. The state police, merely extends support to the Special Protection Group (SPG), which is ultimately responsible for the security on the ground.
In a democracy, it is the right of the citizens to protest against the Prime Minister, as long as they do not mean to harm the person holding the highest elected office. The protestors, who blocked the Prime Minister’s route, were peaceful and unarmed.
The facts of the security breach are yet to be out, but there is already politics being played by the BJP and the Congress. On what basis does the BJP claim that there was a threat to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s life, is not clear. The visuals of the commandos of the PM’s security do not show any threat to his life. There weapons are always drawn, but the fact that the commandos are seen only giving security cover to the PM’s car, without any other action, shows that there was no threat to his life. No rounds were fire, no teargas shells were fired.
A security breach does not always mean a threat to the life of the protectee. When a dog had come on the tarmac, while Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi’s aircraft was preparing for take-off from the Mumbai airport, it was a security breach.
It is a coincidence that Modi was to hold a public rally in Punjab and reports say that there were no crowds at the venue to listen to the leader. The PM’s route was changed at the last minute, for him to go on a route where the farmers were already protesting. After this incidence, the Modi cancelled the meeting and went to the airport to state that he is going back alive!
A true leader should have faced the peaceful protesters, instead of being seated in his car. But that would not have given Modi political mileage as much as he is now getting by making the people believe that his meeting had to be cancelled due to a security threat.
Presuming that there was a threat to his life, it is a major failure of his security team. He was stranded there for 20 minutes, yet no helicopter was sent to evacuate him and no other action was taken to reduce the threat, making the claims of a threat to his life questionable.
It is also a major failure of the Intelligence Bureau (IB), which is also under the Union Home Minister. The IB should have come to know about the protests and that information should have been passed on to the SPG.
Finally, it would be difficult to trust a man with the security of the nation, especially protecting India from China, when he cannot face a handful of protestors and instead fled out of the state.