Security establishments in J&K need much better guarding

The success of infiltrators at regular intervals is worrisome

The attack by a suspected Jaish-e-Muhammad fidayeen group from Pakistan on BSF’s well-fortified camp near the Srinagar airport last Tuesday eerily reminds us of several high-profile attacks by Pakistani irregulars on our security establishments in J&K in recent times. The heartening feature of our response of late has been a far better coordination than before among various elements of the security grid — the Army, the BSF, the CRPF and the state police. Even so, it cannot escape notice that the major attacks on security camps have been similar in nature — the perimeter wire is snipped and terrorists wearing the uniform of one or another arm of the security establishment sneak in. They are armed with grenade launchers and automatic weapons, and give evidence of a high level of tactical training as they dig in and fight for long hours.

The success of the infiltrators at regular intervals, and while using the same technique of entry, is surprising. What it comes down to is that the forces do not guard the periphery of their camps the way they should be doing. A leading security expert loosely spoke of the fatigue factor and the long hours of work that jawans are required to put in every single day. Such an explanation does not seem good enough. Antimilitancy operations are going on reasonably well for a few months. The positive impact of this should not be surrendered by allowing attacks on security camps to succeed.