PM unhappy, seeks details

By Harish Khare

NEW DELHI, DEC. 23. The Prime Minister, Mr. Atal Behari Vajpayee, is believed to have taken a dim view of the Red Fort shootout late last night. In particular, there is all-round disappointment that the militants were allowed to get away, despite the official claims that ``the reaction team of 7 Rajputana Rifle'' had engaged the intruders.

The Defence Minister, Mr. George Fernandes, was summoned to a meeting at the Prime Minister's house this morning. Mr. Vajpayee wanted to hear for himself the details of how the incident took place at a site regarded as a seat of national honour. The Union Home Minister, Mr. L.K. Advani, and the National Security Adviser, Mr. Brajesh Mishra, were also present. The militants' escape for the attack was deemed a ``security lapse''.

Holiday plans unchanged

However, notwithstanding the dramatic nature of the incident, the security establishment has taken the whole affair rather calmly. No sense of panic was visible. In fact, except for the Defence Minister's briefing for the Prime Minister, even the Cabinet Committee on Security was not called. Nor is there any change in the Prime Minister's holiday plans to spend a week, beginning December 26, in Kerala.

Only the Union Home Secretary is understood to have presided over a review committee, which decided to put various sensitive installations on high alert. The Delhi Government has also been asked to submit a report about the Delhi police's role in the incident.

No word on LeT

For the record, there is no official acknowledgement that it was a Lashkar-e-Taiba team that was involved in the attack. However, it was left to Mr. Fernandes to point a finger at the outfit. Talking to reporters, after visiting the Red Fort this afternoon, the Defence Minister is reported to have observed that it would seem that Pakistan was not interested in the peace process.

``We have clearly indicated to Pakistan to rein in militant groups such as the Lashkar-e-Taiba and the Harkat-ul- Ansar so that an atmosphere conducive for talks was created, and now it seems either Islamabad is not interested or it does not have control over these fundamentalist groups,'' Mr. Fernandes said.

Later in the evening, the Home Minister was less strident though he also sought to put the onus on Pakistan by suggesting that since Pakistan was controlling these groups, Islamabad could help the peace process by putting the brakes on such outfits. Mr. Advani chose to interpret the Red Fort attack as an attempt to sabotage the peace process.

Nonetheless, a sense of exasperation could be discerned among the concerned officials over the Army's caginess over the incidents and its unwillingness to share information with the Delhi police and other agencies. This organisational reflex was evident, a few weeks ago, when there was presumed to have been a shootout at the Navy Chief's official residence.

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