A second terror attack in six months shows how vulnerable Punjab’s preparedness is to meet any threats of militancy revival. Dinanagar and Udhampur had made it clear that terrorists wanted to shift their area of operation from Kashmir to Jammu and its neighbouring Punjab areas. An advance intelligence alert about a possible terror strike in the Gurdaspur area was available. Yet the state that had suffered so heavily due to terrorism was found wanting. Well-equipped and well trained at one time to tackle militancy, the Punjab Police seems to be taking it easy now, pandering to the whims and fancies of politicians in charge of police stations.   Reports suggest terrorists used established drug trafficking routes to infiltrate and carry out their deadly activities. Though the state political leadership keeps denying this, the Central agencies probing terrorist activities may expose political and police patronage provided to drug peddlers. The Pathankot attack should have normally prompted a security rethink. Instead of recognising and accepting the obvious lapses — delay in acting on actionable intelligence provided by the Centre and distrust of an SP-rank officer’s claims of being kidnapped by militants — the Punjab leadership is busy demanding a greater BSF presence in the state. The BSF failure is evident. What about the second line of defence the Punjab Police is supposed to provide?  In his meeting with the Union Home Minister the Punjab Deputy Chief Minister, who holds the Home portfolio, has emphasised that the Pathankot and Dinanagar attacks should be treated as “acts of disguised foreign aggression”. It means: fund the war against terror. National Security Adviser Ajit Doval has praised the Punjab Police for its “prompt inputs and zero-time coordination with the Central forces”. A collective failure is being covered up with laudatory noises. Six terrorists sneaked into the state, had a free run for quite some time, killing a youth and kidnapping an SP along with two others before gunning down seven security personnel at the airbase. Tackling terror in Punjab is the primary responsibility of the state government with help from the Centre. There is a failure. And there is the blame the state and Central leadership cannot run away from.