The decision was taken without taking the states into confidence, of course. Former Punjab Chief Minister Capt. Amarinder Singh is applauding the BSF takeover. The Captain is like he is perched on a BSF camel, able to see far beyond what Punjabis like Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi and chief betenoire Navjot Singh Sidhu can or would want to. It’s made cosying up to the Modi Government easier for the long retired Captain of the Indian Army.

The police forces of the states affected by the partial takeover of their jurisdictions aren’t happy. India’s federal structure has been undermined. Weakening the states seems to be a Covid-19 pastime for Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah. Both of them seem to think they are like the Mughal emperors of the old – if not drunk with power, at least not chary with throwing their weight around. The brute majority in the Lok Sabha has gone to their heads!

And rule by proxy seems to be the aphrodisiac driving them crazy. The central enforcement agencies are in their direct control. In the hands of a dictator that is dangerous. The checks and balances are all gone. The excuse is that increasing the BSF’s jurisdiction will help beef up security and thwart threats from the other side of the border. But, like somebody asked, is the BSF better qualified to “search, seize and arrest” vis a vis the state police forces?

Maybe, maybe not. The point is it’s not going to lift the state police forces’ morale. Elated civilians will jump through hoops, that’s all. The apologists for Modi and Shah (also for Capt. Amarinder Singh) speak of the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan to justify the BSF’s jurisdictional jump. The argument is that this left India far more exposed to Pakistani and Chinese threats and blackmail. Also, it is trotted out that going from 15 to 50 is not a quantum jump to raise Cain about – hold your horses, it’s just one butterfly flitting from one flower to the next!

Is that so? Modi and Shah should go back to school. Threats and blackmail from Pakistan and China will not go away just because the BSF can now run around 50 km inside the borders of India instead of the 15 km before. Who are you fooling? Looks like the Pakistani drones got to the wrong ears in the Union Home Ministry. It isn’t the BSF’s fault that there are targeted killings of Kashmiri Pandits and “outsiders” in the Kashmir Valley, which has its roots in the events of August 5, 2019.

The BSF cannot be expected to notch up successes 50 km “inside” the border when it could not 15 km inside. The BSF should be bothered about its failure to stop cross-border smuggling into Assam and elsewhere. One way of looking at it is that Modi and Shah have successfully shrunk India’s borders by 50 km! Incredible India and her incredible rulers!

The Centre probably believes that with the BSF 50 km inside, it will be able to catch Pakistani drones even as they land – able to enhance BSF’s “intercept and destroy capabilities.” The question is, what’s NSA Ajit Doval doing? The IB, and the RAW, too. Where are these fellows? They cannot have all joined the BSF on deputation?

Let’s admit it, intelligence is India’s Achilles heel. Maybe, we need a fresh new guy in a fresh pair of shoes doing the NSA job. Ajit Doval is another Capt. Amarinder Singh, fit to be retired, and ready to be told to enjoy the autumn. True, India faces a bucketful of threats, both internal and external, but that doesn’t mean you call in the only border force available and hold it to patrol civilian areas. The BSF camel will revolt.

The big worry in high circles is the increasing intrusions of central agencies into state jurisdictions. The plight of Shahrukh Khan’s 23-year-old son Aryan Khan is cited as an example. The Narcotics Control Bureau should have been at port, instead of sailing the high seas. And the BSF should be harassing the international border, not ducking into alleys and coming up against dead-ends. Amit Shah has a huge big jurisdiction at ‘Home’, what’s he doing at the international border? (IPA Service)