The most unprecedented and shocking event took place early Wednesday evening when visuals from a flyover being blocked in Punjab and a VVIP cavalcade getting stuck went viral on social media. That cavalcade belonged to none other than Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the blockade was being caused by vehicles full of 400-500 protesters sloganeering at a high pitch trying to corner PM’s vehicle from a close distance of less than 5 feet. Slowly, videos of the entire episode were being uploaded by eye-witnesses on social media, with clear evidence of around 21 personnel of Punjab Police being present at the spot.
Prime Minister Modi was scheduled to visit the National Martyrs Memorial at Hussainiwala in Punjab; he was to fly in a helicopter after landing at the Bathinda Airport. However, due to bad weather conditions, his plan was changed to travel via road instead. The journey would be two hours long and as per protocol, the security team of Prime Minister informed Punjab Police about the change in plan. According to sources in the central government, the cavalcade proceeded only after DGP, Punjab Police gave a clear assurance that the route which PM’s convoy would take was duly secured and sanitised.
However, on the way, around 30 kms from his destination, PM’s convoy was blocked by a large group of protesters. Visuals show a bus being parked diagonally to prevent any movement with protesters in other vehicles constantly raising slogans. What’s even more shocking is that the protesters also had a loudspeaker announcing “Chai ka Langar” with personnel from Punjab Police enjoying themselves with a cup of tea.
In an interview, Bhartiya Kisan Union (Krantikari) president Surjeet Singh Phool, who was leading this protest, claimed that he was informed about Prime Minister’s movement via road by the Punjab Police. In other words, Punjab Police not only failed to clear the route for a VVIP movement but also broke security protocol by leaking information deliberately to the protesters.
In order to understand the gravity of this security lapse, we need to revisit the unfortunate events in the past when top political leadership including a Prime Minister (Indira Gandhi) and a former Prime Minister (Rajiv Gandhi) were assassinated due to security breach. Political tussles and election-time rivalry are one thing but this was not your usual opposition leader visiting a state. This was the Prime Minister of the country. The security to the Prime Minister of India is provided by the Special Protection Group (SPG) whose primary job is to protect the PM under the Special Protection Group Act, 1988. The SPG provides security in coordination with the state police and Information Bureau during domestic visits as guided by a manual also known as the “Blue Book”. The Prime Minister’s motorcade consists of multiple vehicles including Mercedes Maybach S650 and a mix of other armoured vehicles. All roads are sanitised well in advance before any movement by the PM and that even includes removing stray animals from the road.
The question that needs to be raised here is if this was mere security lapse or Congress’s dirty politics. Let’s examine this. According to the press release by the government, the only people who knew about this VVIP movement were the security team of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and top-level officials of Punjab Police besides the Home Ministry and Chief Secretary of Punjab. If the plan was leaked, it was done at the behest of Punjab administration. Despite assuring PM’s security team that the road would be duly sanitised, Punjab Police failed to prevent the protesters from gathering on a key security route and leaked key information to protesters. This seems intentional and sinister at so many levels.
Various videos of the event shared by eye-witnesses clearly show that the protesters came with full preparation. Punjab Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi said the protesters were not planted and it was a “Kudrati” event. However, what’s amiss is that CM Channi didn’t even pick the phone of Modi’s security team when they called him for intervention. Also, normally during PM’s visit to any state, the CM, Chief Secretary and the DGP receive him but this time none of them were available to receive Modi. Channi claimed he avoided receiving the PM because his staff had tested positive for COVID but ironically the same person later held a press conference, attended in large numbers by the media, that too without a mask on.
Despite such an elaborate security arrangement, the fact that PM Modi’s convoy was left stranded on a highway in Punjab demonstrates the serious nature of security lapse. The Prime Minister himself was quite overwhelmed with the entire experience as evident in his remark to the officials at Bathinda Airport. According to various sources, he told them to convey his thanks to the Chief Minister for letting him return alive. This entire episode has not only raised a big question on Punjab government’s true intentions but it also demands a serious condemnation of how low can one actually stoop in the name of politics.
The author is a PhD in International Relations from the Department of International Relations, South Asian University. Views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not represent the stand of this publication.
Read all the Latest Opinions here
Comments
0 comment