Haryana is burning, 30 are dead and hundreds injured. Crores worth property (vehicles, offices etc) burned / destroyed.
Since the past five days thousands of followers of the Dera Sacha Sauda have been coming to Panchkula from all over the country, ostensibly, to catch a glimpse of their guru, the leader of the “dera”, Gurmeet Ram Rahim who was to attend a CBI court, facing rape charges.
Now the government is saying this is an intelligence failure but it is not! Even a blind person will know that there will be a riot, whether or not the judgment goes for (or against) the Guru.
I wait to see who will resign accept his/her responsibility and impotence and who will shamefully continue to stick to his/her seat!
Scenario 1 – the judgement is in favor of Gurmeet Ram Rahim – the thousands go berserk and celebrate the “victory” in small town Panchkula. Can you imagine the chaos and manner in which these followers would have celebrated – guns, cars, fireworks, noise and general mayhem.
Scenario 2 (this is actually scenario 1 and has happened. it was obvious this was to happen but only the blind twiddles sitting in position of power thought that they could wish away realities of life) – the judgement is not in favor of Gurmeet Ram Rahim and he is convicted of rape!
Over the past 24 hours, these thousands have turned rioters, burning vehicles, vandalizing property and causing grievous hurt to people. They first called in the para military and now army has been called in. However, every single action / inaction of the police and government stinks and shows what it means to twiddle like Nero. This episode Indicates the gross foolishness of cops and government in reading the situation… consider the following points:
- It was obvious that the judgment would be going against Gurmeet Ram Rahim
- Why did the administration allow thousands to collect in Panchkula and other places
- Why didn’t they make pre-emptive arrests
- Why did they not check anyone for petrol, inflammatory substances, arms that have now surfaced and used for torching vehicles and offices
- There was this visual on TV showing a cop telling folks that Sec 144 has been declared and that means more than 4 people cannot be together. The TV camera pans to show thousands sitting all over the place! Too little too late and I can bet the police officer was sweating and s*** in his pants
Now – what do we see …
- The result of total dereliction of duty!
- निंदा – this is a laugh!
- They are saying that there was incorrect intelligence input from the agencies! (my take is that there is a lack of intelligence among the people who were supposed to take action in the first place – i mean you are looking at potential BIG TIME trouble and you are waiting for a fax tot tell u there is trouble coming your way!)
- 30 dead, trains burnt, offices vandalized, scores of vehicles destroyed, curfew in Delhi and other places
- HM is calling for an emergency meeting
- PM is also doing निंदा
- CM is clueless
- Army is patrolling..
- Internet and telecom links have been snapped
- The HC has ordered the attachment of properties of the Dera to compensate for the damage but I wonder who will have the guts to execute the attachment orders.. later who will have the guts to sell (or buy the properties) – remember Sahara and Dawood.. their properties are yet unsold and have become ulcers on our national fabric.
I have a question here – we called in the army and what do we expect from them ? Shoot at the mobs? Do we really believe that we want the fauji to shoot at our own citizens !!! So why do we call them into a civil riot.
To get a handle on the on-ground situation read this piece by Gen Hooda who lives in Panchkula and seems to be in the eye of the riot.
http://www.news18.com/news/india/watching-the-state-surrender-and-goons-take-over-panchkula-writes-retired-lt-gen-who-led-surgical-strikes-1501661.html
The situation is sadly repeated time and again in the past 10 years since we gained independence where we have witnessed an impotent state struggling to find divine intervention to ward off a calamity like this. While the political masters may not be able to drum up the will to take (or orer) strong action until the s*!* hits the ceiling, unfortunately, the police (LEA) machinery and command also shows it’s impotence, joins the twiddling festival, making some “moves” to save their skin when the SITs and fact finding commissions are commissioned.
One hopes that these uniformed law keepers live up to the training they have been provided (though too late now). These are the guys who are trained to handle mobs, quell riots, make pre-emptive moves to defuse inflammatory situations, and most importantly – they are able to see into situations and take action.
In Panchkula – no knowledge / intelligence gained from such training was evident and there is national suffering.
Now I wait to see who will resign accept his/her responsibility and impotence… and go quietly into his/her twilight zone.
