Opinion Layers of insecurity
Why cannot security drills be undertaken efficiently yet humanely?
There can be no doubt at all about Prime Minister Manmohan Singhs agony over the avoidable death of a critically ill patient unable to enter Chandigarhs Post-Graduate Institute of Medical Research because of the utter insensitivity and incompetence of the PMs security detail. On the other hand,there can be no two opinions on the imperative of protecting the prime minister and other leaders most diligently and effectively. It should not be necessary to say this after what happened to Indira Gandhi in 1984 and Rajiv Gandhi seven years later.
The key question,however,is why cannot this essential task
be undertaken efficiently yet humanely? Only in the worlds largest democracy does the security establishment treat the people as dumb,driven cattle and get away with it. What drives me to despair is that the more the government talks about reforming and streamlining the security set-up,the worse it becomes. It is the nature of the beast. As the Urdu poet said: Marz barhta gaya,joon joon dwa ki (the more the medication,the worse became the ailment).
During the recent talkathon on Indira Gandhis life,times and legacy,Arun Nehru made the startling revelation that on October 31,1984,when he and some other members of the family mournfully returned from the AIIMS to the prime ministers house there was total confusion: not a single securityperson could be found on the premises. (Whether anybody took any action against the absentees no one knows.) It can perhaps be argued that circumstances on that egregiously black day had unhinged almost everyone. But did things improve even two years later?
Just please try to recall what happened on October 2,1986 when Rajiv Gandhi went to Rajghat to pay homage to the Mahatma. As it later transpired,the intelligence agencies had an inkling of a possible terrorist attack on the prime minister on this occasion. The horror is that nothing was done about this dire danger. So much so that the assailant,who did shoot at Rajiv twice,had been able to merrily spend the previous night at Rajghat. Worse,when he fired the first shot (luckily he was a poor marksman),the prime ministers protectors blandly assured him that someones motorcycle had backfired! When the second bullet followed,Rajiv was the only one to realise what was afoot. The security stalwarts were still clueless and complacent.
Characteristically,the government never disclosed why the intelligence warning was not taken seriously and acted upon promptly. Years later I learned that the joint secretary in the Union home ministry got the warning and his comment typed out and dispatched to Delhis police commissioner by the fastest means at his disposal a motorcycle dispatch rider. The communication reached the police headquarters after the commissioner had left for the day. Since it was an eyes only document nobody else dared open it. When I got the opportunity I asked the then home secretary how on earth could such a casual,clumsy and tardy procedure be adopted when there was grave risk to the prime ministers life? His reply: What did you expect me to do when I used to get four such IB warnings on every working day?
It is time to rewind and go back to 1980 when there was no visible risk to Indira Gandhis life at home but the Anand Margis in Australia were threatening to kill her whenever she arrived in Melbourne to attend the conference of Commonwealth heads of government. On the second day of the conference,the Australian officer in charge of Indira Gandhis personal security asked to see a senior member of the prime ministers entourage,and was taken to Ramji Nath Kao,her most trusted security adviser and the legendary founder of RAW,the external intelligence agency.
The Australian said to Kao that the Indian prime minister was not only a great leader but also a gracious lady. I would lay down my life to ensure that no harm comes to her. But I have a problem. The greatest danger to her is while getting into or getting out of the car. That is when I must have my both hands totally free. But that is precisely the moment when,presumably in continuation of the practice back home,the prime minister hands her purse over to me. Kao Sahib acted quietly and quickly.
Fast forward to the year 2000. One of the ministries in Delhi had invited a distinguished foreign scholar,whose name escapes me at the moment,to deliver a lecture at Vigyan Bhavan. No problem with that. But all hell broke loose when,at the last minute,President K.R. Narayanan,aware of the guests eminence,decided to join the audience. Security reinforcements were rushed to the venue,and all concerned ran helter-skelter.
When,after long introductory speeches,the honoured guest was asked to speak,he got up to confess that he was speechless. The hysterical SPG had confiscated the text he had brought in a briefcase. Amidst the embarrassed flurry that followed a sheepish security office eventually brought in the black briefcase and the proceedings began. The Chandigarh infamy is the latest chapter in this shameful saga of stupidities but by no means the last.
All of us have stories of infuriating encounters with security. Let me narrate mine. In the days when P.V. Narasimha Rao was prime minister,I was walking from the India International Centre to Khan Market. Suddenly a police inspector stopped to say that I couldnt go any further until the prime ministers carcade had driven by. I said that was fine with me. But it was not enough for him. You stand and turn your back to the road, he ordered. I testily replied that this I would never do,whatever the consequences. I would rather go back to where I came from. But before leaving I asked him: Officer,please tell me: is it the prime minister in his Ambassador car or Lady Godiva on horseback? Unable to get it,he left me alone.
The writer is a Delhi-based commentator
express@expressindia.com
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