By MM Special Correspondent,
New Delhi: Opposition Congress asked the government to make its public what ‘actionable proofs and evidences’ have been given to Pakistan as questions on Pathankot terror attack still remain unanswered, while the four days remained for the scheduled foreign secretary level talk between Indian and Pakistan.
In a statement on Monday, Senior Spokesperson of the Congress Abhishek Manu Singhvi said 10 days after the embarrassing mumbling of Senior Ministers and high optics Arial survey by the Prime Minister, the nation is yet not clear on the happenings in Pathankot and the direction thereafter.
He said extremely serious issues of National Security and Diplomatic Strategy have come to denials by Senior Strategic Functionaries of the Government and Counter claims by media.
None less than the National Security Advisor (NSA) Ajit Doval has further compounded and confounded the confusion that seems to have become this Government’s hall mark as far as dealing with extremely serious and sensitive issues of National Security are concerned.
The NSA is reported to have said in an interview that “No peace talks now till Pakistan takes action against #Pathankot terrorists and India is satisfied with Pakistan’s efforts” and then denied the entire interview to a publication. This self-contradictory statement was in reference to the scheduled Foreign Secretary level talks scheduled on January 15.
He asked the NSA and the Prime Minister tell the Nation as to
1. What are the ‘actionable proofs and evidences’ that they have given to Pakistan?
2. Has the Government of Pakistan acted on these evidences and to what extent?
3. Is the government of India satisfied by Pakistan’s actions on the actionable evidences?
4. Are these actions sufficient enough to surmount the earlier stand of Shri Modi and Smt. Sushma Swaraj that entails “talks and terror can’t go ahead simultaneously?
5. Can the nation expect a clear statement by the External Affairs Minister or its spokesperson on this issue? Whether the Foreign Secretary level talks scheduled for January 15, 2016 are happening or not?
Besides these there are certain glaring questions that remain unanswered and are floating around in public domain in the absence of any substantive response on part of the Government. The PM will do well to the Nation if he or his colleagues clarify on the following:
1) Why wasn’t a lead agency earmarked and no unified command and control mechanism specified, when the Government had specific actionable intelligence inputs following the carjacking of the SP of the Punjab police?
2) Is it true that the command and control of this multi-agency operation was resolved when the inspector general (IG), NSG, and Army had a tussle over the issue? It was decided by the army headquarters/ NSA that the IG, NSG, would coordinate the operations. At the end there was an ad hoc command post but without proper staff and communications.
3) Was there no effort to place additional troops on the perimeter, which at least one infantry battalion should have secured and patrolled? This was a glaring lapse. At 3.30 am on January 2, the terrorists struck at the DSC mess, where unarmed soldiers — despite the alert — were preparing breakfast.
4) For counter-terrorist operations, a lead agency and a commander for single-point command and control must be earmarked. But was there any?
5) Punjab is a cesspit of corruption and drug smuggling, ruled by a venal family and party that have brought India’s most dynamic province to its knees. India cannot afford such mismanagement of a strategic border state. What were the steps taken by the Centre in past 19 months to break the nexus of drug trafficking and terrorism in a border state, after the Gurdaspur and the Udhampur attack?