Less than three months after hosting its first House session, the new Parliament complex witnessed a major security breach when two intruders jumped into the Lok Sabha hall from the visitors’ gallery and opened smoke canisters. Even more shocking was their audacity to cause chaos in the House on the 22nd anniversary of the 2001 Parliament terror attack, which had claimed the lives of nine securitymen and staff. The Lok Sabha Secretariat has suspended eight security personnel for lapses, even as a probe has been initiated on the orders of the Ministry of Home Affairs. The intruders and their accomplices have been arrested and booked under the anti-terror law UAPA (Unlawful Activities Prevention Act).

The incident has glaringly exposed the vulnerability of the parliamentary security system, which needs to be dismantled and replaced with a professional force. The intruders had gained access to the gallery through visitor passes arranged by BJP MP Pratap Simha. Parliamentarians invariably entertain requests for such passes from members of their constituencies. As per the Parliament rulebook, the MP has to certify that ‘the visitor is my relation/personal friend/known to me personally and I take full responsibility for her/him’. It is apparent that due diligence was not exercised by the MP and his personal staff while processing applications.

That the duo managed to sneak in smoke canisters shows criminal laxity. The security gaps, if not plugged at the earliest, can be exploited by terror groups and other anti-India elements — to the detriment of national security. The entry of visitors needs to be tightly regulated, even as all MPs and their staff must closely scrutinize every application they receive. There should be zero tolerance to any lawmaker’s irresponsible conduct that imperils Parliament’s physical or digital security. Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra was recently expelled from the Lok Sabha for sharing her parliamentary login with an unauthorized person. Exemplary action should be taken against Simha as well.
(Tribune, India)