Panic is irrational

We seem to have whipped ourselves into a frenzy about an unknown aircraft reportedly suspected of dropping 8216;something8217; into a pond...

We seem to have whipped ourselves into a frenzy about an unknown aircraft reportedly suspected of dropping 8216;something8217; into a pond in West Bengal which changed the colour of water. Some of the media reporting appeared to generate panic rather than information. There was more speculation than factual basis for the conclusions being drawn, apparently triggered by unconfirmed reports of an event that did not make sense in the first instance. In other cases, the imagination was allowed to run wild. There were more versions than those telling the story. Senior police officers displayed their ignorance of aspects that are routine in modern day living; and anything that flies, or comes down un-naturally, has come to be associated with MiGs! This was a classical case of a self-generated crisis that ill befits a nation that sees itself as a rising great power.

Those worried about a 8216;Purulia-type8217; action seem not to know that the location was just about 4 km from the India-Bangladesh border. One wonders whether this reflects gross ignorance or is simply a case of siege mentality. Someone has to be crazy to use an aircraft to drop weapons or other 8216;mysterious8217; things from across a border which is long, winding and porous to the extent that millions of people seem to have trekked through it into India over the years. We also need to reflect upon our penchant to look for enemies anywhere and everywhere; and Purulia8217;s ghost has neither been exorcised nor fully understood. The Purulia drop was unique, but something that clever criminals could get away with. It was only the vigilance of the IAF that at least forced the aircraft down in Mumbai after it brashly re-entered Indian airspace.

Instant conclusions about the failure of the air force to detect the air violation ignored the obvious. Any short distance air violation from Bangladesh is more likely to be more inadvertent than planned, although we must always remain vigilant. Much was made of the fact that the place was 40 km from the nearest IAF base; but few were willing to state that the village was only 4 km from the international border. A shallow air violation would be extremely difficult to detect, leave alone intercept, without extensive low-level radar coverage across borders running into thousands of kilometres at a cost which would simply drag the country down into bankruptcy. Small light aircraft flying very low can get through most air defence systems in the world undetected. The classical case of a West German teenager flying a light aircraft all the way from his country across the Soviet Union from the sensitive western borders to land in Moscow8217;s Red Square in the late 1980s, penetrating the world8217;s most dense and effective air defence system, was proof enough if one was needed.