Friday 22 June, 2007

Whither RAW?

Whither RAW?
- by Nitesh Pillai

India's external intelligence wing, Research and Analysis Wing, RAW was set up in the 1968, with much foresight and purpose। But, sadly, like all Indian enterprises, this major tool in the Indian security arsenal has been rendered almost ineffective। Talk of RAW does not return good feedback from the agency itself and the govermental bodies operating in close proximity to it। Here too there are quite a lot of disgruntled and dissatisfied officers and the rank and file too stands demoralised and without much of a direction or purpose! Morale in such an organisation cannot be low for it is accountable for the nation's security। Same goes for the the IB, the counter-intelligence agency। Such agencies cannot ever afford to have discontent or feelings of betrayal creep in among their staff।

Agencies like RAW and IB, being unconventional 'fighting' forces and more approporiately, gatherers of crucial information, disseminate the same, up the chain of command structure। If RAW and IB goof-up, we have a major crisis on our hands। The practice of inducting personnel from the Police cadres and offering them posts on deputation is another flaw in the machinery which need to be tackled. Personnel on deputation are usually found not to have the same zeal to work on cases and pursue matters as diligently as necessary. By the time they find their place/get used to the working set-up of the RAW or IB, they are either sent back to their parent department or they opt for their VRS, as appointments to RAW and IB have their own mighty share of oldies, about to retire. Sure, experienced personnel are a must and are a definite asset, but do they volunteer for that job in the first place, is the pivotal question. Other departmental and inter-services problems can be explored in detail, some other time, but let's see what happens when our intel, Human Intelligence, HUMINT or Electronic INT, fails. What happens is that we get a mole (within the agency)!!

And this isn't any beauty spot, a la Cindy Crawford, either. This mole is more on the lines of a CIA operative, an Indian who has switched loyalties to the US of A for whatever reasons. This being in reference to the arrest of one Rabinder Singh, an officer of high rank in the RAW, a few months back. The Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) has launched a major internal investigation for possible moles following the apparent defection of the senior officer recruited by the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA).

The Indian government fears that the defection of Rabinder Singh, who held the senior rank of joint secretary and who headed the agency's Southeast Asia department, is only the tip of the iceberg in a possible infiltration operation by the CIA and Mossad, Israel's foreign intelligence service. The focus of the investigation will be RAW, as well as the Intelligence Bureau, which handles counterintelligence and the Defence Intelligence Agency. The mole hunt is expected to extend to Indian embassies around the world where RAW personnel operate under diplomatic protection, particularly those who liaise with foreign intelligence agencies. Since early this year, many Indian operatives have already been suspended pending investigation. One senior intelligence official committed suicide on 13 June in New Delhi, although it is not yet clear whether this incident was linked to the current Singh investigation. The scandal, which broke on 5 June, risks damaging India's post-9-11 strategic alliance with the USA and an earlier one with Israel, Washington's key ally in the Middle East. It is also likely to result in New Delhi placing limitations on intelligence sharing with both the USA and Israeli, which could impact on the US-led 'war on terrorism'.

India has decades of experience in combating such militants based in Pakistan and Afghanistan. There is speculation that the current scandal, which could extend throughout the Indian intelligence establishment, will also result in a wide ranging shake-up and reorganisation of the Indian intelligence agencies.

Informed sources say that counterintelligence became suspicious of Singh about six months ago, putting him under surveillance and tapping Singh's telephones। It is not clear what alerted security authorities, but he was confronted by counterintelligence officials on 19 April (shortly after he had been in the USA) and questioned about 'sensitive files' he had allegedly removed from RAW's headquarters in south New Delhi.

RAW was heavily criticized in 1999, following the Pakistani incursions at Kargil। Critics accused RAW of failing to provide intelligence that could have prevented the ensuing ten-week conflict that brought India and Pakistan to the brink of full-scale war. While the army has been critical of the lack of information they received, RAW has pointed the finger at the politicians, claiming they had provided all the necessary information. Most Indian officials believe that in order to prevent another such occurrence, communication needs to be increased between the intelligence agencies, which would require structural reform.

Most recently, (2005) RAW has gained attention for providing the US with intelligence on Al-Qaeda and Taliban targets for the war on terrorism in Afghanistan। Maps and photographs of terrorist training camps in Afghanistan and Pakistan, along with other evidence implicating Osama bin Laden in terrorist attacks, were given to US intelligence officials.

Such incidents only bring to light how laidback India has become। And to think that India produced one of the greatest Strategists and Intelligence mastermind - Chanakya!

Of Godmen and Governance: Of Epithets, governance and Godmen

Of Godmen and Governance: Of Epithets, governance and Godmen

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