07-30-2006, 07:36 AM
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--><b>National insecurity adviser</b>
Pioneer.com
Kanchan Gupta | New Delhi
Panic as Narayanan presses alarm button ---- Senior intelligence and security officials and counter-terrorism operatives are aghast at National Security Adviser MK Narayanan's shocking public disclosure that <b>"there is some information that one of our atomic installations is under threat. It is a LeT operation."Â </b>
Speaking to CNN-IBN, Narayanan, even while admitting <b>"I may be excommunicated after making this public", asked how serious is the threat to India's nuclear installations, said, "Of course, it is a very serious threat."</b>
The disclosure has triggered a tsunami, with waves of furious response swamping the portals of the national security establishment. Former intelligence chiefs, including of IB and RAW, as well as those who have handled the affairs of the National Security Council, are equally enraged.
<b>"Narayanan has painted a frightful scenario with apocalyptic consequences resulting from a fidayeen strike on one or more nuclear plant. When the NSA says something so disturbing, then it must be taken seriously," said a senior security official, adding, "But should he be saying it? Even if what he is saying is true, does this information belong in the public domain?"[/B]
If Narayanan, who is the custodian of intelligence inputs and advises the Prime Minister on national security as well as strategic affairs, is to be taken seriously, then security arrangements at India's nuclear plants are inadequate, making them vulnerable to jihadi strikes. This is the first such official admission, emanating from the highest level of Government.
[B]"Safeguards both within and outside our nuclear establishments, including research facilities where we do not deal with fissile material or handle it in minimal quantities, are excellent and impossible to breach. This fact is acknowledged even by critics of India's nuclear programme,"</b> said a senior scientist.
A former top national security official, accusing Narayanan of "wilfully spreading panic", said, "Ever since the media began to criticise him for the Government's failure to check jihadi strikes, more so after the Mumbai bombings of July 11, he has been responding with outrageous statements in the hope they will shore up his image... He doesn't realise the enormous harm he is causing to national security and he has demonstrated that he cannot act with discretion while handling sensitive information".
Narayanan's disclosure comes at a time when the India-US civil nuclear cooperation Bill is struggling its way up the Hill in Washington, DC. Deal-busters in the Congress can be expected to seize upon his statement and point out that the US should supply neither technology nor fuel to India if its nuclear establishments are so vulnerable to terrorist attacks.
This is the second time in recent days that Mr Narayanan has sought to create alarm and fear among the people with the help of 24x7 news channels. On July 21, Times Now carried a story of how <b>he has written to Chief Ministers, informing them about "two LeT cadre having joined the Indian Air Force".</b>
Along with the letter, he forwarded a top secret 40-page document prepared by the National Security Council Secretariat on "activities of jihadi groups within and outside India". The IAF, after combing its personnel, has refuted the claim, but niggling doubts remain within and outside the defence forces.
<b>"By sending the report to State Governments which leak like a sieve, the National Security Adviser has ensured that all and sundry get to know of the weak chinks in the defence forces,"</b> said the former top national security official.
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Pioneer.com
Kanchan Gupta | New Delhi
Panic as Narayanan presses alarm button ---- Senior intelligence and security officials and counter-terrorism operatives are aghast at National Security Adviser MK Narayanan's shocking public disclosure that <b>"there is some information that one of our atomic installations is under threat. It is a LeT operation."Â </b>
Speaking to CNN-IBN, Narayanan, even while admitting <b>"I may be excommunicated after making this public", asked how serious is the threat to India's nuclear installations, said, "Of course, it is a very serious threat."</b>
The disclosure has triggered a tsunami, with waves of furious response swamping the portals of the national security establishment. Former intelligence chiefs, including of IB and RAW, as well as those who have handled the affairs of the National Security Council, are equally enraged.
<b>"Narayanan has painted a frightful scenario with apocalyptic consequences resulting from a fidayeen strike on one or more nuclear plant. When the NSA says something so disturbing, then it must be taken seriously," said a senior security official, adding, "But should he be saying it? Even if what he is saying is true, does this information belong in the public domain?"[/B]
If Narayanan, who is the custodian of intelligence inputs and advises the Prime Minister on national security as well as strategic affairs, is to be taken seriously, then security arrangements at India's nuclear plants are inadequate, making them vulnerable to jihadi strikes. This is the first such official admission, emanating from the highest level of Government.
[B]"Safeguards both within and outside our nuclear establishments, including research facilities where we do not deal with fissile material or handle it in minimal quantities, are excellent and impossible to breach. This fact is acknowledged even by critics of India's nuclear programme,"</b> said a senior scientist.
A former top national security official, accusing Narayanan of "wilfully spreading panic", said, "Ever since the media began to criticise him for the Government's failure to check jihadi strikes, more so after the Mumbai bombings of July 11, he has been responding with outrageous statements in the hope they will shore up his image... He doesn't realise the enormous harm he is causing to national security and he has demonstrated that he cannot act with discretion while handling sensitive information".
Narayanan's disclosure comes at a time when the India-US civil nuclear cooperation Bill is struggling its way up the Hill in Washington, DC. Deal-busters in the Congress can be expected to seize upon his statement and point out that the US should supply neither technology nor fuel to India if its nuclear establishments are so vulnerable to terrorist attacks.
This is the second time in recent days that Mr Narayanan has sought to create alarm and fear among the people with the help of 24x7 news channels. On July 21, Times Now carried a story of how <b>he has written to Chief Ministers, informing them about "two LeT cadre having joined the Indian Air Force".</b>
Along with the letter, he forwarded a top secret 40-page document prepared by the National Security Council Secretariat on "activities of jihadi groups within and outside India". The IAF, after combing its personnel, has refuted the claim, but niggling doubts remain within and outside the defence forces.
<b>"By sending the report to State Governments which leak like a sieve, the National Security Adviser has ensured that all and sundry get to know of the weak chinks in the defence forces,"</b> said the former top national security official.
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