Please read the news report in this morning’s ThE HINDU (6 Jan 2022) and you’ll understand why readers like me feel our intelligence gets insulted by the politicians-journalists combine in this country .
The Prime Minister changes his earlier scheduled plan to travel in Punjab in a helicopter and duly advises the Punjab State authorities that the new schedule is to travel by road.
The PM’s convoy on the road gets then obstructed by farmer-rioters in an incident the Home Ministry describes as grave and unacceptable security breach committed by Punjab State government. The PM returns to Delhi cancelling his engagement at a public rally.
The Punjab State security authorities and the Chief Minister claim, they were taken by surprise at the last minute change of travel plan of the Prime Minister and had no sufficient time to organise escorting security detail for the road-convoy since they were expecting the PM to travel by helicopter.
The Punjab CM does not explain how then a group of Farmer-Rioters could mobilise themselves on the road at such short notice to assemble and obstruct the PM’s convoy from proceeding to the public rally!
What is an average intelligent reader of this news report to make of the incident? That a motley group of farmer-rioters in Punjab can indeed more speedily and effectively mobilise and organise themselves than the entire State Police and Security apparatus and personnel can ?!!
No wonder the MHA calls the incident as an unacceptable breach of security provided for the Prime Minister of the country and wants accountability to be established.
Please let us all remember the recent tragic accident in Ooty that took the life of General Bipin Rawat away from us…. And that it was only a few years ago too that in Tamil Nadu State the PM was unable to travel into Chenai city for a public engagement by motor-convoy on road and had to fly in a helicopter after it was hurriedly arranged at the last minute for him.
Security breaches can easily turn into “black-swan events” and invariably their consequences therefore none would get blamed for them eventually.
The country does not want to hear about, God forbid , a case of “Accidental Prime Minister” of another sort … for God’s sake, no … please!
Who are are you trying to hoodwink, O Ye Punjab “farmers” … and why?
Sudarshan Madabushi