GOVT MULLS ACTION ON BAISARAN INTELLIGENCE FAILURE

Government considers action against officials over intelligence failures leading to the massacre of 26 tourists.

- ABHINANDAN MISHRA

Faced with the undeniable fact that the lack of intelligence inputs – primarily from agencies responsible for internal security – was a key factor in the massacre of 26 unarmed tourists by Pakistan military-supported Lashkar-e-Taiba terrorists, the government is understood to be mulling action against high-ranking officials for failing to preemptively respond and take suitable action.

Sources indicated that top officials in the Prime Minister's Office and the Home Ministry were highly upset over the failures, despite the government ensuring that the demands for resources were met without delay, including increasing the budgetary allocation every year.

This attack is being viewed as one of the biggest failures of the intelligence agencies since the 26/11 Mumbai attacks.

Sources stated that one of the primary reasons for this failure, as claimed internally, was the induction of certain officials into the agencies not based on merit, but due to their good relations with batchmates and seniors in the bureaucracy. This practice has resulted in average or below-average officials occupying critical positions. This professional issue is also being observed in another anti-terror body.