In a ‘major security lapse’, which also seems like a deliberate attempt to compromise the safety of a sitting Prime Minister, the convoy of PM Modi was brought to a halt for about 20 minutes. PM Modi was on his way to National Martyr’s Memorial in Hussainiwala village, which borders Pakistan, in Punjab’s Firozpur district when his vehicle was stopped due some protestors blocking the way.

The development had saddened, and rightly so, a substantial part of the civil society and government machinery, while on the other hand, we could also notice a faction of the citizenry feeling upbeat about the debacle.

What comes more as a shock is the fact that the said events hindered PM Modi to lay the foundation stone of various developmental projects worth around Rs 43,000 crore in Punjab.

Naturally, blame-game and accusations followed the sorrowful event. While the Central Government put the blame on the Punjab administration, the latter was seen deflecting the former’s claims in an unsubstantiated manner.

To make more sense of the whole security breach, we will have to consider some points.

Statement from the Ministry of Home Affairs

The MHA clarified that PM Modi had to travel by air from Bhatinda Airport to the designated site, but due to bad weather the plan was cancelled, and alternate arrangements were to be made. It was decided that the Prime Minister would travel by road to the National Martyr’s Memorial, which is about two hours away from Bhatinda. 

The information was duly given to the Punjab police department, and the DGP of Punjab Police established that necessary security arrangements were put in place.

However, about 30 kms from the destination, the PM’s carcade came to a standstill due to some protestors blocking the bridge way. MHA also asserted that the PM’s schedule and travel plans were communicated to the Punjab Government in advance.

After the breach the convoy had to return to Bhatinda.

The Protocols

The movement of the PM on road is governed by a set of rules prescribed by the Special Protection Group’s (SPG) ‘Blue Book’.

According to these rules, it is the state administration’s duty to prepare a contingency plan and deploy additional security along with logistics support to safeguard any movement by road.

The instructions laid down in the Blue Book must be scrupulously and meticulously followed, and the arrangements should be made accordingly.

Along with the alternative route, contingency hospitals and safe houses should be identified, and the officers in the carcade should be briefed regarding these arrangements.

According to report by ANI, Punjab Police did not regard intelligence inputs about the protestors’ movement given to them by the Intelligence Bureau, and ignored the rules given in the 'Blue Book', said an MHA official.

The official also added that SPG personnel remain in close proximity to the PM, while the rest of the security measures are taken care of by the concerned State Government. The state police updates SPG, and the movement of VIP is modified accordingly in case of any adverse situation.

Punjab Government’s response: Deputy CM contradicting CM

Punjab CM Charanjit Singh Channi tried to defend himself and his administration, but as the whole matter became more and more serious, he ended up giving mixed responses to certain media houses.

CM Channi, in a conversation with CNNnews18, said, “Yeh kudrati hua.” (This happened naturally.)

Although, later in the evening he expressed his regret that PM Modi had go back to Bhatinda due to the security breach.

He also maintained that his government had asked the PMO to discontinue PM’s visit ‘due to bad weather and ongoing protests’, signalling that his administration knew about the protests beforehand.

If this was not enough, he later went on to state that ‘there was no security lapse during the PM visit’.

His deputy, Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa, however, contradicted him, and accepted that there was indeed a ‘security lapse’.

In an interview with Republic TV, Randhawa said, “Look, one thing I accept categorically that when PM’s route was decided, another alternative route should have also been finalised. Normally, an alternative route is finalised for a VVIP. If they had found some obstruction on their original way, they should have chosen an alternative way. I accept that this is a security lapse, and there was definitely some shortcoming in the co-ordination.”

The contradicting statements by the top two Government officials of Punjab have paved the way for a whole new controversy to take a centre stage.

On another note, though, CM Channi also asserted that the real reason behind cancelling the rally was lack of interest shown from the people of Punjab to the PM’s visit. He stated, “They (BJP) had put 70,000 chairs, but only 700 people came. So, they made the excuse of rain and the other excuse, and the rally got cancelled," according to a news report by News18.

Nonetheless, several videos doing rounds on social media have shown that there were many people attending the rally, certainly a lot more than just 700.

Something to ponder upon

Absence of CM, DGP, and CS – In normal circumstances, according to the procedure, a PM on a visit to any state is accompanied by the state’s Chief Secretary (CS) and DGP Police, but in this case both the dignitaries were not to be seen.

Furthermore, former CM of Punjab, Amarinder Singh stated that the current CM, Channi was expected to attend both the events that PM was gonna be a part of – the event in Hussainiwala and hospital inauguration. Only the public rally was supposed to be an exclusive event.

However, CM Channi said that he was going to receive PM Modi from Bhatinda airport, but someone who had to accompany the former tested positive for Covid, and hence he could not be a part of the event.

Statement by JP Nadda – President of the Bharatiya Janta Party, JP Nadda claimed that the state police was instructed by the state government to not let people from attending the rally.

“The state police was instructed to prevent people from attending the rally. Large number of buses were stranded because of the high-handedness of the police & connivance with protestors,” he tweeted.

We tried to verify this claim, and found this video on the social media.

Moreover, JP Nadda also shed light on how CM Channi did not come forward to talk about the issue and did not even get on the phone.

He said in a tweet, “to make matters worse, CM Channi refused to get on the phone to either address the matter or solve it. The tactics used by the Congress government in Punjab would pain anyone who believes in democratic principles.”

Knowledge of route to protestors – As claimed by Dy CM Randhawa, it was in public knowledge that the PM would be travelling by road, but how did the protestors know the exact route? Even if the information was out, why was their no alternative route?

Intelligence inputs and porous Punjab-Pakistan border – Earlier this week on Monday (January 3), Home Minister Amit Shad had chaired a high level meet with the Multi Agency Centre (MAC), which is the nodal agency for exchange of intelligence inputs collected by various agencies like RA&W, IB, Military Intelligence, Defense Intelligence Agency.

Although, members of MAC hold regular review meetings, the meeting on Monday was of significance because it was the first time since 2012 that an HM has chaired the meeting.

Moreover, the meet was held just days after security agencies stated that there were signs that the court blast in Ludhiana District Court Complex, in which a person was killed and several others were injured, last month was linked to Khalistani and narco-terror elements operating from Pakistan.

Considering the above chain-of-events with what former CM of Punjab (for more than nine years), Captain Amarinder Singh had claimed back in September 2021 about Punjab-Pakistan border being easily infiltrated, one can safely assume that there was a high level threat to PM Modi’s safety yesterday, especially taking into account the fact that the place where PM’s convoy was stopped is in really close proximity to the porous border between Punjab and Pakistan.

Pakistan has been responsible for sending arms, drones, and explosives to our state. We have a common border and it becomes a matter of national security, according the ex-CM.