Time to review Campose committee suggestions
Thefidayeen attack on the high security 166 Field Regiment located near the Nagrota-based 16 Corps Headquarters in Jammu, is shocking. But our soldiers fought valiantly, and prevented the attack from turning into a full-fledged hostage situation. Sources say that there exists serious laxity in providing state-of-the-art security to such vital infrastructure.The Government should be extremely careful as there have been persistent attempts by the militants to cause damage on the Indian defence establishments since the attack on the Pathankot air base in January. This assault needs to be viewed more seriously, as it happened within the vicinity of an Army installation, which houses nearly 1,000 officers, and is also crucial for the defence of the borders of the entire Jammu region.
The Army and the intelligence agencies should create an additional cover of security ring around these camps, because the militants have a habit of looking for high-impact attacks. Also, there needs to be a thorough analysis on the preparedness of our ground forces to strike at the Islamists, who simply come to lay down their lives, armed with the most sophisticated weapons. The casualties highlight the fact that the Government, and particularly the Army, needs to learn many lessons, even as the country has already witnessed two previous major attacks this year itself. The administration must bring in crucial changes to provide adequate security to military establishments. Should we respond only when some major incident takes placeIJ The Government must initiate comprehensive measures so as to minimise suicide attacks or sudden terror strikes of this scale. The Armed Forces must not leave gaps, as the State of Jammu & Kashmir can well see morefidayeen attacks the in days to come — and not just in J&K.
There should be swifter follow-up action from the Government on the critical recommendations given by a tri-service committee, headed by lieutenant General Philip Campose. This panel was constituted immediately after the Pathankot terror attack in January. Reports say that, if the Government would have taken some of the key points of the committee into consideration, it could have led to further improvements in the security of our Armed Forces’ installations and possibly prevented the Uri attack. The Campose committee mainly stressed on upgrading security infrastructure at all military installations by using modern access control and perimetre security-cum-intrusion detection systems.
It is disheartening to note that our troops and sentries are not equipped with the most modern weapons against the infiltrators. The panel strongly recommended a larger supply of sophisticated arms and ammunition to our forces. It also suggested revamping and standardising the system of response to intelligence-based alerts and real terror attacks. The bottom line is clear for India: It has to live with a recalcitrant neighbour like Pakistan which wants to bleed this country with a thousand cuts, and has to get ready for more such misadventures. Though the baton has just passed on to a new Pakistan Army chief, General Qamar Javed Bajwa, who is expected to lessen hostility across the border, it is in the DNA of the Pakistan Army to disturb peace in India. Thus, India must always remain prepared.
