On January 2 2016, The Pathankot Air Base in Punjab got attacked by trained militants of Pakistan. While we were busy welcoming the new year, some of our soldiers gave up their lives fighting the terrorists. Their families will forever remember the New Year as a black day in their lives.The incident shook the nation and has raised alarming questions over our national security systems. The search operations continued for 80 hours and after 7 days of the attack, the security forces claim that the area is fully sanitised. We made some efforts to know the sentiments of people at deeper levels and here are the reactions and questions that this attack brought out from the bloggers.
We have our security systems in place – the Army, Navy, the Air Force, and a host of other internal security forces, but India has a record of innocent lives being lost at the hands of terrorists. Such attacks reveal that the Indian Security System has serious defects that need attention on a priority basis. Col DJS Chahal who was present at Gurdaspur on January 1st, gives us an onground report and talks about the defects in our system and his take on the events that took place between India and Pakistan in the month of December 2015. We need to learn lessons from the past and remain alert on the double standard approach by Pakistan.
Life goes on after the attacks and we get back to our normal lives after sending out some prayers for the martyrs. Reacting to celebrity gossip comes easy and mourning over attacks outside India is prompt, but our news channels fail to cover our own people, our soldiers. Shwetabh Mathur acknowledges the bravery, sacrifice and martyrdom of the bravehearts who gave up their precious lives, leaving behind yet another deep wound. We should remember these 7 soldiers as brave martyrs and not let them become just a number.
A uniform is a huge commitment given to the security of a nation. It is an oath that binds a soldier to monitor and protect the borders of the country with each breath. However our defense mechanisms seem to have chinks in the armour which are exploited by anti-national elements. Punjab has witnessed 5 attacks since 2013, the latest being in July 2015. This area is a proven soft target, but no measures have been taken to amp up the security systems. Here are some serious questions raised by Manoj Joshi that demand answers.
Mr. Ajit Doval, National Security Advisor is being held responsible for the inept handling of the overall operation. The attack that happened after a series of efforts of peace talks between India and Pakistan is seen as a spoiler to derail the peace talks. It is expected that terrorists will again come up with more such attacks. Ajai Shukla gives his take on his blog.
We took a look at the questions at the administrative level and now here are some questions that every ordinary Indian citizen is asking. Lt.Gen Prakash Katoch talks about how these questions remain unanswered time and again. The quickness of response during such crises makes all the difference when it comes to weeding out terrorists.
Another setback that the defense and the police forces face is the conflicting opinions of each. It was seen that BSF denied any evidence of terrorists entering through the Punjab border and the Punjab Police had a different opinion on this. GreatGameIndia details the blunders that the police and the investigating teams made in the operation.
We lost precious lives of our soldiers and the defence equipment was left undamaged. The incident that is still being interpreted for its purpose has got different definitions from leaders of India as well as Pakistan. Claude Rakisits writes an elaborate post on his analysis as to what this attack means to India and Pakistan
Apart from the NSA chief, if there is another name that is blamed for the attack, it is Narendra Modi. When he was elected as the PM, expectations were on the rise to see the traditional organisations and institutions work in a different yet an efficient manner. But all people can recount is his foreign visits and silence on pressing domestic issues. The Air Force Base in Pathankot is poorly managed and protected. His ministers are often seen hiding their faces when it comes to giving accounts on national issues. More from blogger and British journalist John Elliot who has over 20 years of experience in writing on Indian issues.
Cifar Shayar talks about the negligence that our army men face when they are alive and after they achieve martyrdom. The negligence that doesn’t change despite changes in the political regime. The post talks about the failures that were demonstrated at various levels of defense authorities and by the Union Home Ministry.
Ajay Malhotra, a student of Negotiations, gives his take on the peace talks between India and Pakistan that were very positively seen when Nawaz Sharif was invited by PM Narendra Modi for his swearing in ceremony. Like most of us, he too sees communication and talks as an important tool to solve the problems.
The differences between these two countries need to be resolved for the betterment of both the nationalities. Pakistan officially welcomes talks and negotiations while their alleged state sponsored terrorists wreak havoc in India. Not to forget we need some action oriented steps from our country representatives. If you have an interesting post on the Pathankot attack, please share it with us in the comments below.
Our heartiest prayers for the soldiers who laid their lives and their families. May they be blessed with strength and courage to lead their lives ahead.