Don’t give in to terror threats
New Zealand’s sports administration and the Black Sticks deserve kudos for not having buckled under a threat put out by a terrorist organisation on an Asian website that sporting teams would be in danger of being attacked if they visited India to compete in the 2010 Hockey World Cup.
After some initial hesitation, which can only be natural given the India’s proximity to the epicenter of global terrorism just outside its western frontier, the Black Sticks did decide to travel to New Delhi. But one star player decided not to accompany his team because he thought the enhanced security arrangements would affect his game.
On having reached New Delhi, the team spokesperson has said that the Indian authorities have greatly tightened security at the hotel of their stay and the venue of the game, which is the Dhyan Chand Stadium.
The Black Sticks have joined the other dozen or so teams that have accepted the security assurances of the Indian authorities.
India’s spectacular growth over the past decade and even during the global financial meltdown that has led to its emergence as a world economic power is something the cowardly and fundamentalist terror cells across the border cannot stomach.
Having failed repeatedly and miserably to push India into a major conflict on its frontiers by fomenting violence in the border areas, the terror organisations embarked on their deranged strategy to strike at India’s economic heart.
The Mumbai carnage in November 2008 was part of this. The selection of targets a popular restaurant and an iconic hotel was designed to stop foreign tourists and businesspeople from visiting India out of fear.
Unprecedented security after this event that took 170 innocent lives and the location of both paramilitary and elite forces close to all major cities and sensitive establishments across India has sent the cowards scurrying for tier-II cities like Pune where 16 innocent people died in a bomb explosion at a popular restaurant earlier this month.
No level of security provided by any nation on earth can ever hope to completely prevent terrorist acts. But given India’s long experience in dealing with terrorists of various persuasions, the security arrangements in India can be by and large trusted – especially when it comes to international and national events involving hundreds of thousands of people.
So far, no such incidents have happened at sports events or even large public events like the January 26 Republic Day parades on Jan Path in New Delhi, though such an event would be a sitting duck for terrorists.
Add to the security arrangements the extreme alertness that the Indian public has honed over the years, and what you have is an environment as safe as it can really get.
It is great that the hockey teams have taken the assurances and the ground realities on board and not succumbed to a threat on a website, which, for all one knows could be no more than an empty one. But no threat can be taken lightly and such threats only spur the security forces and the common people alike to sharpen their vigilance skills in their environments.
Unlike the last round, the Indian Premier League has said that it will not move the tournament outside India this time – and this has had some of the international players worried. But it is unlikely that there would be too many players who would think twice of going especially given the moolah involved and the relatively low possibility of an actual strike of the kind that the Sri Lankans became victims to in Pakistan.
Just as the restraint shown by the Indian political and military establishments in the face of all that chiding and violent instigation of the terrorists outside the border has resulted in frustrating them to a large extent, it is equally important to stand up to their threats and make it clear that the show will go on, frustrating them again and again.
The forthcoming hockey tournament will be a test case in India’s security management – one that will be watched closely by not only the participating teams, their managements and their countries but also the entire world as a large part of it that comprises the league of Commonwealth nations prepares to send their teams to compete at the Commonwealth Games in new Delhi later this year.
All concerned need to stand united and send the message loud and clear: No matter what, the show will go on.
New Zealand’s sports administration and the Black Sticks deserve kudos for not having buckled under a threat put out by a terrorist organisation on an Asian website that sporting teams would be in danger of being attacked if they visited India to compete in the 2010 Hockey World Cup.
After some...
New Zealand’s sports administration and the Black Sticks deserve kudos for not having buckled under a threat put out by a terrorist organisation on an Asian website that sporting teams would be in danger of being attacked if they visited India to compete in the 2010 Hockey World Cup.
After some initial hesitation, which can only be natural given the India’s proximity to the epicenter of global terrorism just outside its western frontier, the Black Sticks did decide to travel to New Delhi. But one star player decided not to accompany his team because he thought the enhanced security arrangements would affect his game.
On having reached New Delhi, the team spokesperson has said that the Indian authorities have greatly tightened security at the hotel of their stay and the venue of the game, which is the Dhyan Chand Stadium.
The Black Sticks have joined the other dozen or so teams that have accepted the security assurances of the Indian authorities.
India’s spectacular growth over the past decade and even during the global financial meltdown that has led to its emergence as a world economic power is something the cowardly and fundamentalist terror cells across the border cannot stomach.
Having failed repeatedly and miserably to push India into a major conflict on its frontiers by fomenting violence in the border areas, the terror organisations embarked on their deranged strategy to strike at India’s economic heart.
The Mumbai carnage in November 2008 was part of this. The selection of targets a popular restaurant and an iconic hotel was designed to stop foreign tourists and businesspeople from visiting India out of fear.
Unprecedented security after this event that took 170 innocent lives and the location of both paramilitary and elite forces close to all major cities and sensitive establishments across India has sent the cowards scurrying for tier-II cities like Pune where 16 innocent people died in a bomb explosion at a popular restaurant earlier this month.
No level of security provided by any nation on earth can ever hope to completely prevent terrorist acts. But given India’s long experience in dealing with terrorists of various persuasions, the security arrangements in India can be by and large trusted – especially when it comes to international and national events involving hundreds of thousands of people.
So far, no such incidents have happened at sports events or even large public events like the January 26 Republic Day parades on Jan Path in New Delhi, though such an event would be a sitting duck for terrorists.
Add to the security arrangements the extreme alertness that the Indian public has honed over the years, and what you have is an environment as safe as it can really get.
It is great that the hockey teams have taken the assurances and the ground realities on board and not succumbed to a threat on a website, which, for all one knows could be no more than an empty one. But no threat can be taken lightly and such threats only spur the security forces and the common people alike to sharpen their vigilance skills in their environments.
Unlike the last round, the Indian Premier League has said that it will not move the tournament outside India this time – and this has had some of the international players worried. But it is unlikely that there would be too many players who would think twice of going especially given the moolah involved and the relatively low possibility of an actual strike of the kind that the Sri Lankans became victims to in Pakistan.
Just as the restraint shown by the Indian political and military establishments in the face of all that chiding and violent instigation of the terrorists outside the border has resulted in frustrating them to a large extent, it is equally important to stand up to their threats and make it clear that the show will go on, frustrating them again and again.
The forthcoming hockey tournament will be a test case in India’s security management – one that will be watched closely by not only the participating teams, their managements and their countries but also the entire world as a large part of it that comprises the league of Commonwealth nations prepares to send their teams to compete at the Commonwealth Games in new Delhi later this year.
All concerned need to stand united and send the message loud and clear: No matter what, the show will go on.
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