Are we missing the forest for the trees?

The re-open HAL firestorm is threatening to spread through the forest as it were, altleast going by what is said in some of the public forums -- (not on Praja, this is too genteel for that sort of stuff). To continue with the forest metaphor, are we are missing the forest for the trees?

Most of us are caught up with HAL as a commercial enterprise while ignoring the fact that there is whole ecosystem of HAL (aircraft manufacturing), DRDO (development of defence aircraft and other systems), the flight test center (not sure what this is part of) that are being supported out of the HAL airfield. DRDO alone has a dozen or so entities that operate in and around the HAL airfield. There is probably multiple billions of $ sunk into the defence infrastructure around HAL that most of us civilians do not get to see.

There was a nice article in the Times of India several weeks ago by retired Air Marshal Malcolm Wollen (former Chairman of HAL, a genuine IAF war hero and I believe a test pilot himself) where he argued that flight testing and commercial flying out of HAL cannot and should not go togther. The fact that we did have commecial operations out of a facility meant for defence R&D and flight testing was an artifact of a dysfunctional system of governance and bureaucracy. A separate commercial airfield like we finally have now has been overdue in Bangalore for 30-40 years. The fact that HAL serves a critical national defence need has not entered into the discourse and that is troubling.

Niagaras of hot air have been generated over this issue, doomsday scenarios have been conjured up (what if BIAL does not invest another paisa on the project, what if the common man is forced to take a shower before boarding an airplane and sit with the gentry etc. etc.), Tughlaqian ideas have been floated (move all of the defence-related infrastructure to Yelahanka and leave HAL free and clear for commercial business -- clearly a case of tail wagging the dog!). The fact is we have a half-decent facility in BIAL by all accounts (I personally have received a dozen very favorable reports from friends who are all international frequent fliers of a minimum gold level) and it can be improved over the years (I remember what a disaster the $3.5 Billion Denver International Airport was at its inception and there have been other monumental disasters in the recent years).