Pak Boat: The turf war is out in the open

Adding to the already prevailing confusion over the Pakistani boat, the Inspector General of the Coast Guard said that it was the Coast Guard which blew up the Pakistani boat on December 31 2014.

His statements are contradictory to what the Defence Ministry had said, but one must also not forget that on the night of December 31 there was a clear turf war between the Indian Navy and the Indian Coast Guard seeking one-upmanship.

B K Lokashali who is the also Chief of Staff (North West Region), Coast Guard, Gandhinagar said at a function he was the one who ordered the blowing up of the boat. " Blow the boat off, we do not want to serve them biriyani," is what the DIG is alleged to have ordered.

The Defence Ministry had after the incident said that the boat was blown up by its inmates as they were trying to cover up their crimes.

The turf war:

While the Defence Ministry would have to come out and clarify once again what exactly happened that night, sources tell Oneindia that on December 31 there was a clear fight for one-upmanship.

In this whole episode each one is trying to be a "Rambo," and wants the credit for the operation. While that is one part of the story, the fact is that there was a major tussle on between the Indian Navy and the Indian Coast Guard that night.

While it was the Indian Coast Guard that undertook the operation, the Indian Navy wanted to dig deeper into the incident. The Indian Navy sought to get details about the incident, but the Indian Coast Guard resisted it as it felt that their officers were being treated like accused.

The Indian Navy sought access to the IPV Rajratan which had intercepted the boat of terror from Pakistan. What the Indian Navy sought to do was collect the vessel data as it felt that a better picture of the incident could be brought to light.
The Indian Coast Guard however resisted that move and finally prevailed over the Indian Navy.

Why did the ICG deny access?

The ICG felt that the Indian Navy had intended to subject its officers to an interrogation. The ICG felt that it did not want its officers to be treated as accused persons and there was no need for such an inquiry into a bonafide operation.

The ICG felt that there was not enough participation from the Indian Navy and hence seeking details was not the right thing to do. The ICG also assured the Defence Ministry that it would send all possible data and details to the ministry directly.

The Indian Navy on the other complained to the ministry of Defence that the ICG was being extremely defensive about the operation. The Defence Ministry had to step and it ensured that the issue did not blow out of proportion.