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New
Delhi, 01 February 2005
For the first time this daring and explosive book
by M K Dhar, reveals an insider’s account of
India’s intelligence apparatus. Dhar retired as
No. 2 in the Intelligence Bureau (IB). A well
written book, which may have betrayed many a trust
in India, it is likely to be frowned upon –– we
are still hidebound and national interest is not a
No. 1 priority. The intelligence community of India
is good but semi professional as it is an IPS
service and they normally scratch each other’s
backs and even duds become joint secretaries.
Hence it must have been a departure for Dhar to
bare some home truths about India’s intelligence,
but they seem to be true even though he may have
exaggerated a bit. His message is that India’s
intelligence is good, but it is a tool of the
politicians and individuals tend to take political
sides –– as he himself did with leanings for
Hindutva and then was disillusioned. His views on
personalities like RN Kao who was close to Indira
Gandhi, MK Narayanan (present NSA, whom he praises
as a professional), Sanjay, Rajiv and Indira Gandhi,
V P Singh, Narashimha Rao, Nar Bhahadur
Bhandari, TV Rajeshwar, RK Dhawan, Vincent George
and so many others, are firm and strong. His views
are interesting and all India watchers should read
them.
We take you on a mini tour, although TOI , Indian
Express and CNBC did some reviews but not being
experts on Intelligence, they missed the fact that
Dhar wants to correct India’s Intelligence and for
that he needs to be congratulated. He tells us of
the planning (months in advance) to bring down the
Babri Masjid and LK Advani and others were present
for the meeting and according to him IB has the
tapes. He says Narashimha Rao defaulted as he knew
of the plan. Dhar tells us what we know about
bugging telephones and watching politicians etc. He
recalls and we quote, “Sanjay Gandhi was the
greatest bully of Indian public life” and much
more as he used to brief Sanjay personally and the
conversations are recorded in the book.
He
helped research the prospective candidates of Indira
Gandhi’s Congress and their chances in the 1977
elections and he correctly predicted the outcome ––
she returned to power. RK Dhawan and Vincent George
were the interlocutors and he briefed Mrs Gandhi. He
says on page 193, “Indira Gandhi as I came to know
better a little later could hit more ruthlessly than
a gladiator cornered in a ring. Nobody could ever
doubt her fighting spirit. She was a born
fighter”.
Within
the 518 pages of the book one finds the story of an
intelligence operator, who devoted nearly 30 years
in the country’s prime intelligence agency ––
through stories of memorable events, which often
shaped the contours of Indian polity and made
valuable additions to the internal or external
policies of the nation. The security ambience in the
neighbouring countries and the geopolitical sphere
especially the North East, secrets of Sikkim take
over and the durbars and money making in New Delhi
are all there. The defence services however are kept
out of the ambit.
The
book brings out, through narration of events and
analysis of perspectives, the deplorable stories of
blatant and brutal misuse of the India’s
intelligence, security and investigative agencies by
the ruling establishment. The operatives and
officials are emasculated by politically tinged and
often personalized demands of the politicians. Those
who follow Indian politics closely will be able to
corroborate a lot of what he says as correct.
The
narrative candidly unlocks certain well-guarded
vaults with the avid intention of appealing to the
discerning readers, scholars and opinion makers to
bring pressure on the ‘System’ to devise
constitutional and legal tools to bestow more
functional independence and to provide more teeth
and armour to the intelligence, security and
investigative agencies, both at the Centre and in
the States.
At the same time it is essential to initiate
measures to make these agencies accountable to the
supreme constitutional institutions of India, for
safeguarding democracy and upholding freedom and
liberty.
Maloy Krishna Dhar’s career with the Indian
Intelligence Bureau (IB) spanned nearly three
decades, during which he conducted and witnessed
innumerable counter-terrorism, counter-espionage and
political operations. He specialized in
counterintelligence measures to meet Pakistan’s
overt and covert aggression and the proxy war it
unleashed in the past few decades against India.
After retirement he took to freelance journalism and
professional writing –– published two novels,
“Mission to Pakistan – An Intelligence Agent in
Pakistan” and “Bitter Harvest” and its Punjabi
edition – ‘Kadwi Fasal’. He also
co-authored “Pakistan After 9/11”.
Excerpts
On
Changes
"However,
what is required is a national level institutional
arrangement, which has not materialized even after
the Joint Intelligence Committee has been revamped
and the National Security Council reconstituted. The
intelligence Bureau has also set up a new stream of
activity for multi-agency coordination. But these
high sounding vocabularies end up in vocabulary
itself. The ground level reality is: there is urgent
need for reexamination of the entire gamut of
intelligence generation process by the State and
Central organizations and devising integrated ways
and means for fast communication and
interaction."
Lack
Of Coordination
"Serious
gap of communication between the IB and the State
Police on the one hand and the IB and the R&AW
and the CBI on the other, had become apparent during
security operations in Punjab, Kashmir, Assam and
against the Pakistan sponsored jihadist elements.
The most glaring example of total intelligence
failure was the Kargil adventure by Pakistan army.
The R&AW, the Military Intelligence and to a
lesser extent the Intelligence Bureau had miserably
failed to unearth the Pakistani design and warn the
policy planners. Whatever intelligence was available
was not coordinated to cull out a coherent collage.
The rest is history."
On
Sanjay and Indira Gandhi
Did
Sanjay have any secret weapon to blackmail his
mother? I did not believe in many of the stories
that linked Indira with dubious male stalkers, who
walked the political stretch along with her. She had
suffered much as a child. She had seen her mother
being humiliated and tormented. She did not enjoy a
blissful married life. Her sons’ intellectual
achievements often dismayed her. She wasn’t happy
with Sanjay’s marriage. However, it would be
preposterous to imagine that Sanjay had in his
possession some scandalous material that he used to
paralyse his mother’s political will.
On
Narasimha Rao
"I
did not like the deceptive pout of the PM. His
supposed direction to a political adventurer from
Assam, to influence me was the most insulting
experience I ever had with any political creature. I
literally reprimanded the bully and advised him to
try his muscle in Assam. Rao was beset with
scandals. Association with Chandraswami had smeared
his name. Later came the sordid episode of Harshad
Mehta, the stock market plunderer. Personally I
rated Rao as one of the worst hunter-gatherers of
Indian politics. His alleged corrupt practices had
fattened his own pocket and not the party coffers.
His scholarly slough did glitter but like that of a
black cobra."
On
Personal Matters
"Having
taken care of family I was prepared to jump into
action. I sought out my RSS friend (Benares one),
who had reverted back to his pracharak mission. A
self-effacing person, he was not interested in
governmental matters. Out interactions confirmed my
doubt that the Jan Sangh was not in a position to
provide good governance. The conflicting interest in
the Janata conglomerate were straining the very
seams of the coalition. The former Congress elements
were in collision with the regional satraps, and the
ever-splitting socialists. Charan Singh, Jagjivan
Ram, and Bahuguna were pursuing their own agenda.
Morarji Desai was obsessed with the mission of
humiliating Indira and tarnishing the Nehru legacy
with as much black paint as he could muster."
The
Gold Auction Inquiry
"The
crucial question of fitting a square peg like me in
a round hole was temporarily solved. Rajeshwar
called me to his room and told me that he was
deputing my services to the Ministry of Finance, as
a Director to assist the just constituted Gold
Auction Enquiry Committee, headed by K. R. Puri, a
former Governor of the Reserve Bank of India.
Enquires revealed that my deputation was co-terminus
with the life of the committee. My future,
thereafter, would depend on the whims of the DIB. He
might, I feared, revert me back to my state cadre
after my tenure with Puri was over. I thought that
was the time for me to consult Dhawan but I did not
have to. I stood up to Rajeswar and told him that as
an earmarked officer I cannot be sent on deputation
to a ministry. I had accepted intelligence as the
anchor of my career and I intended to hone up my
professional capabilities in the fields of
counterinsurgency, counter terrorism and
counterintelligence fields."
On Maneka Gandhi
The popular perception that Maneka was thrown out
of 1 Safdarjung Road is not correct. She had
meticulously prepared for the event and precipitated
the matter by floating a political outfit, Sanjay
Vichar Manch just a day before Indira returned
from London. My static watchers and moles inside the
PMH had noticed Maneka and Ambika transferring out
small baggage items, which allegedly contained cash,
from Safdarjung house to her mother’s place at
Jorbagh.
Conclusion
The
book by Manas Publications may get withdrawn and so
for Rs 795 it is a great read!
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