Advani makes case for pruning VIP security list

Advani’s argument is that the NSG was constituted primarily to tackle “terrorist strikes” and, therefore, it should not be used for extending mere security cover to individuals. Evenwhen the VIPs are on terrorists’ hit lists, NSG guards could be replaced by the state police.

Those who have been given NSG security include Jayalalitha and Subramaniam Swamy (from Tamil Nadu), Rajinder Kaur Bhattal, Buta Singh and M S Bitta (Punjab), Farooq Abdullah and Mufti Mohammed Sayeed (Jammu & Kashmir), Bhajan Lal (Haryana), Praful Kumar Mahanta and Matang Singh (Assam), Mulayam Singh Yadav and Mayawati (Uttar Pradesh), Arjun Singh (Madhya Pradesh), Rajesh Pilot, H K L Bhagat, Sajjan Kumar and Jagdish Tytler (Delhi) and Ashwini Kumar Minna (owner of Punjab Kesri group of newspapers).

Not all of them, such as Mayawati, Arjun Singh and Bhajan Lal, are seen as potential terrorist targets, argues the Home Ministry.

Said an official: “These people may have been the soft targets five years ago, but not anymore. The threat perception never remains constant. In the changed scenario, many of them do not really require the NSG protection.”In fact, it is pointed out, the terrorist threat is most potentonly in Jammu & Kashmir, Punjab, Tamil Nadu, Delhi, Assam and some North-East states. Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh are relatively terrorism-free and therefore there is no point in extending the NSG umbrella to the VIPs associated with these states, it is stressed.

But the larger, and ticklish, question of finding a viable replacement for the NSG has remained unresolved. The state police alternative may not find many takers.

For one, the state police, given its lack of expertise in handling terrorist strikes, may themselve oppose the idea. By the same logic, not many NSG-protected VIPs would accept the withdrawal of NSG quietly, more so in view of the new political equations the BJP Government has formed with them recently.