news details |
|
|
| Pop show followed by police "flop" show | | |
EARLY TIMES REPORT
------------------
Dec 17: As M A Stadium -- witness to the serial blasts on Republic Day in 1995 -- is the main venue of January 26 celebrations here every year, commoners' entry to it is banned at least 45 days in advance and then security agencies take charge of it.
Hardly 40 days are left for the R-Day funtion. But a visit to the ground zero of the 1995 blasts nowadays tells an entirely different story. After Jazzy's last Saturday's Punjabi pop show, the pits dug over a large piece of ground in the stadium are still lying exposed. The ballies (long thick pieces of wood) are also standing erect in a corner of the ground.
The stadium's condition is quite pitiable. After its ruthless use for the "flop" show, authorities too seem to have turned inimical to its maintenance.
Pits and pieces of wood do not pose a risk to the security apparatus, say authorities. Perhaps the memories of the 1995 have faded away from their minds when "undeniable planning followed by execution failures" had led to the serial explosions in which the then Governor K V Krishna Rao had a narrow escape. A probe that followed had attributed the blasts to "serious" security lapses.
Taking advantage of the authorities' "lackadaisical" approach and security gaps, Maj Irfan, a Pakistani national, had in 1995 entered the stadium few days before Republic Day, dug the ground at three places, planted IEDs fitted with pre-timed devices and then fled without being seen by the cops who were entrusted with the stadium security.
Granting permission to hold the pop show at the "high-security" stadium over a month before Republic Day, when mock security drills start inside the sports complex, is in itself a matter of grave concern. Who gave permission to use the ground when it was required to be kept under close vigil remains unanswered by the government?
Thousands of people thronged the venue on the day of the show and hundreds visited it before December 12, when the show was held. Was it not an opportune moment for subversive elements, if any, to use the time for them? Pits were already dug and they had simply to plant an IED in them!
The "very vivid" security gaps left during the pop-show need to be filled at the earliest now. Police authorities are to wrap up all unwanted items littered on the ground and begin their customary security drills to ensure the smooth conduct of R-Day.
What is surprising is that neither Omar Abdullah-led government nor the state police realised that allowing people to enter the stadium in hordes to see the pop-show over a month before R-Day was not good from security point of view.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
| |
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
