There has been considerable discussion on whether the Pakistani boat in Indian waters as the new year dawned was really on a terrorist mission, as the government has strongly suggested, or whether it was on a drug smuggling run, as some reports have sought to indicate. The authorities are still examining the evidence. It is hard to say anything with finality at this stage.
Analysis is rendered difficult as what we really have in any concrete sense are photographs of the boat, whose crew exploded the craft (the most likely cause for the boat to turn into a ball of fire) when they feared capture by the Indian Coast Guard. The remains of the vessel and those on board appear to have sunk to the bottom of the Arabian Sea. There is, of course, some intelligence available in the form of communications intercepts, which set the Indian patrolmen on their scent to begin with.
In a strictly technical sense, the jury is thus still out, and questioning the government’s version cannot be deemed unpatriotic. Indeed, urging all concerned to weigh the information with care before deciding on a policy course is a sign of a mature society dealing with what might be a serious security threat, a society and nation that does not act on a knee-jerk basis. Seen in this light, the back and forth between the BJP and the Congress on this matter is unfortunate. The ruling party could have afforded to be less sensitive about its own view in this case since there is, so far, no clinching evidence.
Having said that, it cannot be overlooked that on balance the government’s case does not seem to be hastily constructed, although the evidence is yet to be fully analysed. The question asked in this column earlier was that it was relevant to ask why the Pakistani crew blew up their boat when they apprehended capture. This is a question defence minister Manohar Parrikar also posed on Monday.
Mr Parrikar has made two further points. One, that the boat had taken a rather isolated track, not the one that is usually crowded with fishing boats which smugglers typically choose to evade detection. Two, through cutouts, the crew appeared to be in touch with the Pakistani military as well as its maritime agency. A smuggling mafia’s vessel is unlikely to do that. Thus, there is high probability that the object of the boat’s crew was linked to terrorism. At the moment, the probability of this seems higher than any other. We should take this on board instead of scoffing at the suggestion. Prudence demands this. Pakistan’s military establishment and its pampered terrorist outfits are, after all, constantly in search of ways to harass India.
