The gathering clouds

Gurbachan Jagat

Former Governor, Manipur

THE following subheading in The Tribune, dated February 14, was eye-catching and hit a former policeman in the gut: “Had we not run away, protesters would have killed us: Cop”. This admission was from an FIR registered by the UT police regarding a clash between protesters and police personnel in which police vehicles were damaged and several cops injured last week. The FIR is further quoted as saying, “The attackers took away 20 police barricades, a teargas handgun and ammunition, helmets, shields and body protectors.”

The lethal combination of easy availability of drugs, arms and finance feeds the activities of the radicals, whose numbers appear to be increasing.

I’m confident that the FIR must have been registered by a police officer of sufficient seniority and rank. This is an admission of a boldly planned and well-executed action on the part of the protesters and almost complete unpreparedness on the part of the police. Going by newspaper accounts, some radicals had set up a ‘pukka morcha’ at the site in order to protest against the detention of 20-odd persons and the morcha is known as Bandi Chhor Morcha, now also known as Qaumi Insaaf Morcha. The declared purpose was to proceed to the office/residence of the Punjab CM, but they were prevented from doing so by the police because of the fear of a law and order problem — so far so good. But then having stopped them from entering Chandigarh, why allow them to set up a ‘pukka morcha’ at that site? Not only this, the number of protesters kept increasing and they carried kirpans and lathis, they had horses and tractors and they used the tractors to bulldoze the barricades. This site is at YPS Chowk which sits at the heart of Mohali and is one of the main entry points to Chandigarh — why would you allow any permanent protest to be set up here, especially so when radical elements are involved?

The first step in a potential law and order problem is not to allow people to collect in large numbers. Was there a failure of intelligence, just gross negligence, or lack of clear orders at the government level that allowed this to happen? Clear orders should have been given that no crowd would be allowed to gather and protesters should have been picked up and removed and furthermore, if needed, requisite force should be used to protect life and property, both private and government.

This incident, in isolation, may not be of much concern, but a deeper web is being spun by forces far more inimical to the state and the nation. There are daily reports of gang warfare in Punjab and one is confused by the multiplicity of names and gangs. Further reports indicate that people are being targeted on the orders of gang leaders residing abroad, i.e. Canada, US, Australia, UK, Pakistan, etc. Arms are being supplied through drones and carriers are also coming in from other heartland states. Going by the rule of thumb, whatever is being captured is only 10 per cent of what has gone through. Even in case of seizures, very few carriers or suppliers or their financiers have been caught. The same is true of drugs. Persons at the highest levels of the government are admitting to the easy availability of drugs. Here I must add that in addition to drugs coming across the land border, heavy quantities are also coming in from coastal areas. Drugs are not only used to weaken the moral and physical fibre of our youth but also used to finance radical activities. This lethal combination of easy availability of drugs, arms and finance feeds the activities of the radicals, whose numbers appear to be increasing.

The numbers are increasing because of a multitude of reasons — economic distress in rural areas is a primary factor. Moreover, the farmers are getting restless over the alleged non-implementation of their accepted demands: they are also not happy over the budgetary allocation for agriculture and non-mention of MSP. They have announced joining the Qaumi Insaaf Morcha — rural farmer unions openly giving a call to join what appears to be a radically run morcha! However, it is pertinent to point out that most of the farmer unions have split up because of ideological or other reasons. Adding further fuel to the fire and the agenda of the radicals is the emergence of deras and self-styled gurus which are gathering large numbers; some of them are led by convicted criminals. These dera heads appear to have the support of various governments and political parties, as can be seen by the ease with which they exit jails after getting parole. Parallel to this is the fact that the SGPC has been split into various conflicting state units and no longer carries the clout it once had. The old mainstream political parties — the Congress, the Akali Dal and Left parties — are behaving like spent forces and they seem to lack the ability or the motivation to lead the state out of this morass. So, to whom is the field being left open? One shudders to think of the possibility of history repeating itself. Many seen and unseen hands, it seems, are at work to reproduce past scenes of violence, anarchy and mayhem on Punjab’s canvas.

Now, coming back to the morcha, all that one knows is from reading the newspapers; apparently, there are 20-odd convicts languishing in jails for quite some time and it is alleged that some have completed their terms. As far as the convicts are concerned, both state and Central governments must be aware of their real position. The government concerned should take a decision on the basis of facts and its assessment of the situation. If they can be released, they should be released; if not, the situation should be clarified. They should not be allowed to remain in limbo. Punjab has suffered more than enough in the past due to such delays in handling rising situations. It should not be put through another ordeal by fire.

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