Ashok Bhan
In a serious security lapse loaded with dire consequences, Prime Minister Narendra Modi was trapped on a flyover for 20 minutes by protesters in Punjab recently. These protesters were demanding the resignation of a cabinet minister whose son has been accused of the deaths of farmers. While it signified that there has been a lapse at some level, but politicking on the issue and creating a hysteria does not serve any purpose.
Those, who have put guns straight on the Punjab Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi immediately after the incident have not done any service either to the Prime Minister or to the cause. Modi is the prime minister of India, not the executive head of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) alone. His security and well-being concern the whole of India. The security of the Prime Minister is guided by well-established protocols and an act of the Parliament.
After Channi’s assertion that his Government had asked the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) to discontinue the visit due to bad weather and protests, there is a need to wait for the report of the probing team. He further said that his Government had no information about the sudden change of route. Modi arrived at Bhatinda airport on January 5 morning and was supposed to fly to the National Martyrs’ Memorial and later to the rally in a helicopter.
The politicking over the issue represents the lowest phase in Indian politics. It is a clear sign of the desperation of the political parties to use even issues related to national security to browbeat each other.
Supreme Court has said that it would set up a panel headed by its former judge to probe the security breach during Prime Minister’s visit. It also stayed the parallel inquiries by committees of the Centre and the State Government into the lapses.
The personal security of the Prime Minister should have been more tempered and the citizenry has raised the question mark with utmost serious concern on the system and the security agencies responsible for the foolproof security cover to the Prime Minister. The post of Prime Minister is an institution and not a person.
-India lost two PMs and Father of Nation
After all, India in the past has witnessed the assassination of a sitting Prime Minister and a former Prime Minister. The most revered leader and icon of the freedom movement Mahatma Gandhi also fell to the bullets of an assassin. The Special Protection Group (SPG), with an outlay of around Rs 600 crores in 2020, comprising 3,000 personnel has just the only one job – protect one person, the Prime Minister. Any breach is neither countenanced nor pardonable.
Various theories are making rounds involving possibilities of miscommunication, misinformation and misjudgment. Protesters who blocked the route were reportedly unaware of the Prime Minister’s travel. The critical question that is to be probed is who decided that the Prime Minister could, and should, travel by road to cover more than 100 kms, from Bathinda to Ferozepur and what inputs went into making that decision.
Assuming that someone concluded that the Prime Minister should have been on the road for nearly two hours, the process that preceded it must be probed. It was also decided that the Prime Minister should not be using a helicopter as was originally planned. The route was identified in advance as a contingency plan, but the decision to use it was made at the last moment – a version that both the State and Central Governments agree on.
The Supreme Court has directed the State Government to ensure that all records and materials about the Prime Minister’s movements be immediately secured in the custody of the registrar-general of the Punjab and Haryana High Court after the Solicitor General argued the lapse can be categorized as rarest of rare” as it could have unfolded into an “international embarrassment” for India. It also directed the Punjab Police, the Special Protection Group (SPG), and other central and state agencies to provide necessary assistance to the registrar-general, who will be accountable for the safekeeping of the travel records.
Stressing that the apex court was not “undermining the importance of the security of the Prime Minister” and dealing it with “all seriousness”, a bench headed by Chief Justice of India N V Ramana said that the separate inquiries by panels set by the Centre and the state government will be stayed.
The bench, also comprising Justices Surya Kant and Hima Kohli, took note of the submissions of Solicitor General Tushar Mehta about the timeframe within which the court-appointed panel should give the report and said it will keep this aspect in mind.
“We are thinking on these lines… One retired Supreme Court judge will head the committee and the members would be DGP (Director General of Police) of Chandigarh, the inspector general of the NIA (National Investigation Agency), the Registrar General of the Punjab and Haryana High Court and one more person from Punjab… and he can be Additional DGP (Security),” the CJI observed.
While the Centre and the BJP have been pointing to lapses by the Punjab police and the State Government, the Congress has contended that the decision by the SPG – which protects the PM – to not use a helicopter and instead take the road to Ferozepur was made at the last minute, and not communicated to state authorities.
-Punjab Govt preliminary report
In a preliminary status report submitted to the Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) Punjab Government has cited the sequence of events leading up to the security breach. The report termed the gathering of protesters where the prime minister’s convoy was stuck as “spontaneous”, and suggested that enough efforts were made to clear the road leading to the rally venue and other places where the prime minister was to visit.
But Central Government officials are questioning the Punjab Government’s version of events. Setting up a separate inquiry panel, the Centre has claimed that the matter of the Prime Minister’s Road journey was discussed as a contingency plan on January 1 and 2 during an advance security liaison (ASL) meeting with the Punjab police, and a rehearsal was also done.
While Advocate of Punjab informed the court that it was ready to face a “neutral” panel that would hear all sides on the issue, both the Centre and Punjab traded allegations at the neutrality of their respective committees during the hearing.
The top court also took note of the concerns of the Punjab Government that its officials are being condemned by the Central Government panel without any proceedings.
Though the Centre suggested that the Bathinda District Judge could collect and secure the records with the assistance of the NIA, the Bench decided to give the responsibility to the senior official of the Punjab and Haryana High Court.
-Stop scoring political points
Considering the mutual public distrust between the State and the Centre, a Supreme Court-monitored probe could be a good way to get to the bottom of the matter credibly. This episode must also lead to a more efficient protocol for the Prime Minister’s travel, and a repurposing of the SPG, if required.
Also since the factual matrix about the whole breach in the security of the Prime Minister is in the public domain, it calls for an improved protocol for the prime minister’s travel, and a repurposing of the SPG becomes imperative.
Let us wait till the Apex Court adjudicates the whole matter and reaches a definitive conclusion on this sensitive matter concerning the safety and security of the institution. Till then it is prudent for both sides to put a stop to the loose talk and avoid using the issue to score political points when the electioneering process has already begun.
The issue should not be made a political scoring point in a state that is going to the polls. A cold logic must replace hysteria, that has been created over it all over India with many leaders going to mandirs and dargahs to milk the issue politically to meet their ends.
(The author is a Senior Advocate Supreme Court of India)
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