Gurdaspur Diary: Police reshuffle should bolster security in border areas

Any officer can display leadership qualities when the sea is calm. What matters is how an officer acts and reacts when the sea becomes choppy. It is here that the role of the new DIG of border range, Satinder Singh, comes into play. He was the Senior Superintendent of Police of Amritsar (Rural) before he was promoted to the rank of DIG (Border). The post assumes a lot of significance in times when infiltration from Pakistan is hogging the limelight. The onus is now on the new DIG to control such crossovers. The attack by three Lashkar-e-Taiba militants on the Dinanagar police station in July 2015 and subsequently the blitzkrieg launched by four Jaish-e-Mohammad militants on the Pathankot Air-Force Station in January, 2016 is still fresh in the minds of security agencies. In both cases, the terrorists had infiltrated from Bamial in Pathankot district. Here, the Ravi river meanders its way into Pakistan from India and back. This creates a porous border which is very conveniently used by Pakistani state and non-state actors to push in men who are ready to wreak havoc on Indian installations. To counter this, there has been a reshuffle in the top echelons of the police brass of the border range. DIG Rakesh Kaushal has been replaced by Satinder Singh while Batala SSP Ashwini Gotyal has been shifted to Khanna police district. The subsequent vacancy in Batala has been filled by Pathankot police chief Suhail Qasim Mir. His place in Pathankot has been taken by Daljinder Singh Dhillon who has remained SSP, Batala. This means that all these officers have adequate experience of policing in border areas. While Gotyal went hammer and tongs against gangsters, and achieved success to some extent, Suhail is known to be an officer who remains calm even when there is chaos all around him. As Pathankot police chief, he successfully patrolled the border in Bamial. Dhillon is a man who listens to nobody except to the voices of righteousness and truth. Examples of him siding with the truth when he was Batala SSP are galore. As far as Satinder Singh is concerned, even his detractors admit that he is one of the finest officers of Punjab Police. The audacity with which he went after Khalistani ideologue Amritpal Singh when he dared to enter a police station by taking refuge in a religious book is still recalled with awe by officers. Now, it is up to him to plug the gaps in the Bamial border. He knows that it is a difficult task but by no means an insurmountable one. He also knows that the infiltrators have a habit of throwing red herrings to divert the attention of security agencies. We all hope Satinder Singh has devised ways and means to counter these aberrations. That Amritpal Singh has gone on to become an MP is a story for some other day. Here is wishing all the best to these officers who guard us at the borders so that we have a peaceful night.

Sapling plantation drive launched

Raman Bahl, Chairman of the Punjab Health Systems Corporation, inaugurated a sapling plantation drive at the DC complex. He was accompanied by ADC Subash Chander, Assistant Commissioner Ashwani Arora and senior officers of the Gurdaspur administration. Bahl and company should keep in mind that planting a sapling is not enough. What matters is its upkeep in the form of covering the sides by tree guards and watering it to ensure it lives a healthy life. Actually, not far from the place where the drive was launched, many monsoons ago, the then DC Mohammad Ishfaq and SDM Amandeep Kaur too planted such trees. However, without upkeep, they withered and died. Hope Raman Bahl takes this into account and ensures that the saplings he has planted do not get buried in the sands of time. Hopefully, a good idea does not go to seed. Bahl said the state government had a target of planting 3 crore trees. “The forest department has completed 60-70 per cent of the target. The rest will be achieved soon,” he said. (Contributed by Ravi Dhaliwal)