New Delhi: Unlike the Western countries, the retired spies of India rarely write books on their past operations or work. But, a few dare to write giving some juicy, thrilling details of their life as spies. Some focus on certain issues and some write on everything they have seen, heard and experienced while working as top spies of India.
Former RAW chief A K Dulat has created some media sensation by writing a book on his tenure as the RAW chief and before that IB station head in Kashmir. His book ‘Kashmir: The Vajpayee Years’ talks about the handling of Indian Airlines flight hijack in 1999, militancy in Kashmir, Rubaiya Sayeed abduction and many other things of those turbulent period. Dulat has defended the release of terrorists by the then Vajpayee government to secure the safe release of Indian passengers on board.
In the last ten years there have been four books on the RAW by former RAW operatives.
In 2007, a former RAW officer Major General V K Singh got into trouble after he wrote a scathing book on the functioning of India’s much feared and also maligned external intelligence agency. The book titled "India's External Intelligence: Secrets of Research and Analysis Wing RAW" is the first account by a person who has actually served in RAW at a senior level. Though not an insider, he was part of the organisation for a little less than four years and was able to see its functioning from close quarters.
Since he was concerned with signal intelligence rather than human intelligence operations, most of the coverage is devoted to the former. The book brings to light several lacunae in the functioning of the country's top intelligence agency, the most glaring being the anomalies in procurement of equipment, lack of accountability and our dependence on foreign sources, with the resultant threat to national security.
Some of the hitherto untold stories recounted in the book are: 1. How equipment was purchased from foreign companies at prices that were more ten times the market price by altering technical parameters. 2. How the security of the Prime Minister was almost compromised for a few pieces of silver. 3. The circumstances leading to the death of one of RAW's brightest officers, Vipin Handa. 4. The stories of moles in the country's top intelligence agencies, including that of Rabinder Singh. 5. The bitter rivalry between RAW and IB, and its effects. 6. The modus operandi of foreign intelligence agencies in recruiting moles in India. After he made these sensation revelations, he was allegedly hounded by the RAW for exposing them.
‘Mission R&AW’ by another former RAW officer R K Yadav came out in May 2014. According to Amazon, this book would probably be the first eye opening account which has unlocked the main achievements and failures of Indian intelligence including IB and R&AW. There had been various assumptions, apprehensions and pretensions about the myths and realities of our intelligence among media, security analysts and in defence forces which have been threadbare for the public of this country in general and for the new generation in particular.
It begins as to how the 'Thuggi and Dacoity' Department created by the British in 1904 took the shape of Research and Analysis Wing (R&AW) on September 21, 1968 which proved one of the most formidable intelligence agency of the world. Its founder RN Kao proved one of the most outstanding and legendary intelligence icon which has no parallel in the intelligence fraternity of the world.
He outclassed Richard Helms of CIA and many other contemporaries of MI6 of Britain and Mossad of Israel while merging a territory of 3000 sq. miles of Sikkim within the Indian territory. There is no other example in the world intelligence as to how R&AW and its icon RN Kao carried out this task in the face of an imminent threat by China on its border. This book also reveals Kao's heroics in the liberation of Bangladesh which was also a monumental contribution.
This book also unfolds as to how Article 370 was enacted for the ego problem of Sheikh Abdullah by Jawaharlal Nehru and how Sheikh betrayed him later and was arrested for treason by IB. There had been numerous stories criticizing IB for its failure to provide adequate intelligence during the 1962 War with China and 1965 War with Pakistan.
This book has given credible instances and information which indicate that there was no civil intelligence failure but the army bosses failed to use the inputs in the forward areas. Factual details as to how CIA hoodwinked the R&AW Joint Secretary Rabinder Singh and took him to USA through Nepal are also given in a separate chapter.
In addition to these achievements, the book has portrayed decline of the quality of intelligence which has now denigrated to a level which needs urgent reforms otherwise future of R&AW would be gloomy. Some insights of R&AW could be lethal to some individuals but in fact these are the real facts for which the author has no regret to reveal in national interest and for the attention of coming generation of intelligence officers.
These revelations make a strong case for bringing the intelligence agencies of India under Parliament scrutiny like CIA of USA and other such agencies of the world democracies otherwise the happenings like attack on Parliament or 26/11 terrorist act of Mumbai are unlikely to be thwarted in future. Another seasoned spy master B Raman used to write extensively on both internal and external security till his death, last year.
Another top RAW officer Amar Bhushan came out with his book ‘Escape to Nowhere’ in 2012. It is a fictionalised account of the real life escape of a CIA mole (a double agent) in the RAW Rabinder Singh in 2004. This books gives a detailed account of the RAW functioning and how Rabinder Singh hoodwinked RAW’s counter intelligence agents and escaped to America via Nepal.
Two years ago, speaking to ‘Outlook’ magazine he said “I am proud of my services to the nation. But I can’t talk about the operations I undertook or even my foreign postings. A spy’s family and friends are in the dark about his activities. Ninety five per cent of the office doesn’t know what he is doing. He is not supposed to share his joy, sorrow and exasperation even with his wife. The work culture can be really suffocating. Many spies become loners”.
Amar Bhushan who claims that he now leads a quiet retired life at his native village in Jharkhand stays away from the media and public. Not much is known about his whereabouts. He proves that most of them are once a spy, always a spy!
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