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Pakistan terror boat: Government must answer questions, just as Opposition must ask them

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Pawan Khera
Pawan KheraJan 06, 2015 | 18:43

Pakistan terror boat: Government must answer questions, just as Opposition must ask them

Despite disproportionate media hype on every breath he takes and every move he makes, Narendra Modi should realise that he is also being watched both by his loud admirers and silent critics. He is being pushed towards a serious trust deficit evoked by his own team of media managers.

There are gaping holes as highlighted by The Indian Express and the Hindustan Times in the state-supplied "terror boat" theory. The number of unanswered questions is growing by the hour. It is becoming clear that the government acted in a deliberate hurry in concluding that the Pakistani boat was a part of a terrorist operation. Friendly media sang paeans to the vigilant government which succeeded in pre-empting a major 26/11 type terror strike. An entire industry of pulp-patriotism got into the act of conning unsuspecting citizens.

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And yet there are party poopers in every sector. Several newspapers raised credible questions ripping the government’s claims on the episode. Why did the Coast Guard not share any information of any maritime operation with either the Gujarat Police or the Maharashtra Police? The so called "hot pursuit" as claimed by the Coast Guard was not possible given the technical parameters of the Pakistani boat released by the agencies. The claims made in the press release of the MoD of bad weather and strong winds do not match the meteorological data of the same period and location.

Questions were also raised on why was the Standard Operating Procedure of sharing a terror related input with the Multi Agency Centre (MAC) not followed. As per some media reports, the Intelligence Bureau, Naval Intelligence, R&AW, State Police, Joint Operations Centre of the Western Naval Command and the NSG were completely unaware of this operation. The NTRO which alerted Coast Guard does not have a sea based monitoring station there. The claims of NTRO of interceptions of conversations of a Thuraya satellite phone have also been busted by the media.

Experts also pointed out that the orange colour of flames of the burning boat emanate from burning oil. If there was an explosion on the boat, the colour of the flames would have been white and the structure of the boat would not have stayed intact as shown in the pictures released by the ministry.

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Responding to media reports, the Congress party asked the government to come clean on these questions instead of sensationalising the issue. What followed was a demonstration against Praveen Swami of The Indian Express by the Hindu Sena and heaps of invectives against Swami and other sceptical journalists who dared to question the government on an issue of national security. The Congress was accused of speaking the language of Pakistan.

When the NDA government under Atal Bihari Vajpayee sent a senior minister to escort terrorists to Kandahar to secure the release of passengers of IC 814, there were reports of Jaswant Singh carrying an undisclosed sum of money to secure the release of Roberto Giori, proprietor of De La Rue Giori – a company which prints the currency of 150 countries. The Congress refrained from amplifying these reports as it was a matter of national security and it involved lives of 176 innocent passengers. The BJP’s then estranged Madan Lal Khurana raised this issue before the 2004 Lok Sabha elections, but Congress refused to join hands with him on this issue even at that stage.

Governments must answer questions, just as the opposition must ask them. The media and the opposition will both cease to be answerable if they stop asking questions.

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What kind of a party and government is this which threatens to deport those who question it to Pakistan or accuses those who question it to be pro-Pakistan?

Investigations will prove whether the boat in question was involved in a terror operation as claimed by the government or it was engaged in some "illicit transaction" as claimed by sceptics. The response of the BJP and its government at being questioned shows a total lack of faith in democratic institutions and norms.

The country ought to know the truth. Was someone in the government trying to sensationalise a minor operation to get political mileage or worse still to cover something else? If so, what was being covered behind the smokescreen of the terror boat which was not? The sanctimonious response of the government to valid questions cannot be an answer, more so on national security. It is too important an issue for the government to seek political mileage on.

Those who voted for a leader are beginning to feel shortchanged at discovering a mere manager.

Coming back to Sting’s signature song, with which I started the piece and which sums up the role of the media and the opposition. "Every bond you break, every step you take, every word you say, every game you play..."

Last updated: January 06, 2015 | 18:43
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