An intrepid photographer managed to get a picture which spoke more than a thousand words. On Saturday, behind a police station of the coastal police the photographer managed to take a picture of a purported birthday party of one of the cops of the coastal police, with out of duty as well as those on duty partaking in the festivities with a swig or more of alcohol.
Without any intent to get into moral policing of the police, the reason why we felt this needed to be highlighted bears significance. Firstly, the venue of the party was adjoining or perhaps just behind the coastal police station. On duty policemen graced the occasion along with colleagues who were off duty. And while no alcohol was found in the system, after tests, of the ‘on duty’ cops, as per our report, the optics of policemen drinking, and in a sense, in the open, since the photographer managed to easily get an outdoor shot of them drinking, aren’t very pleasant.
But this does not end here. Much as the highest echelons of the Goa Police have “rubbished” any terror threats from the coasts, the fact remains that the Coast Guard has issued a terror alert advisory to states on the western coast of India, which is specific. The Caption of Ports, Goa, who received the advisory stated, “Have received intelligence inputs from the District Coast Guard that anti- national elements have boarded and apprehended an Indian fishing boat in Karachi and likely to land on Indian coast and attack vital installations. All vessels to increase security and report any sighting or untoward movement to concerned authorities.”
The threat, we reiterate, is specific. The government may well take the view that this is not specific to Goa, but can it afford the luxury of concluding that the threat perception is beyond Goa. And it is indeed surprising how the communication of this threat reached the Captain of Ports, with the Chief Secretary and the DGP not receiving parallel information. However, given the fact that this alert has been received, one expected a far more proactive down the line messaging going down the security ranks.
The threat cannot be rubbished because a) The communication speaks of a the threat of a vessel likely to land on an Indian coast, and Goa is very much a part of that coastline. It may breathe easy because Goa does not have vital installations but can it rely on this, to assume that Goa won’t be touched?
It is clear that the attitude to these inputs is extremely casual. And this was reflected in policemen of a police station taking time off to party and drink at a time when a terror alert has been received by at least one authority the state, linked to monitoring the waters of Goa.
Goa cannot and should never forget that two of the biggest terror attacks on Indian soil, where not just Indian, but Goan lives have been lost, have come from the sea. The arms and bombs which were used to kill so many in the Bombay blasts of 1993 plus the 26/11 terror attacks in Mumbai, came via the sea. The terrorists of 26/11 also came by boat.
While Goa has been safe from terror, can we afford to be complacent and wish away threats, when we clearly do not have the security wherewithal to withstand any untoward attack on our soil?
This isn’t being alarmist but plain and simply being aware and careful. This message needs to be urgently passed down the police ranks, especially to those who were raising an alcoholic birthday toast outside a coastal police station.
