COMPARISON OF BOOKS ON RAW

COMPARISON OF BOOKS ON RAW

India’s External Intelligence
by Maj Gen VK Singh

1. RAW purchased VHF/UHF antennae from a German firm at prices several times higher than in the international market.

2. SPG bought communication equipment from an American company without following laid
down procedures and getting the mandatory security checks on the secrecy equipment, thus endangering the security of the PM.

3. Attempts by personnel in RAW to stall and delay the new communication project based
on a secure VSAT network, so that the existing insecure systems continue to be used.

4. The involvement of other officers in RAW in the escape of Rabinder Singh, suspected to be an
American mole.

5. Mr. Ashok Chaturvedi, the present chief, did not attend office for eight months when he was superseded for promotion from additional secretary to special secretary.

6. Mr. Amar Bhushan continued to occupy the office of Special Secretary (Pers) in RAW even
after he was promoted and posted as Special Secretary (SR) in Bikaner House, and later as
Special Secretary, ARC.

7. A CSD (Canteen Stores Department) canteen was opened in RAW in 2001 to cater for ex-servicemen. However, all personnel of RAW were permitted to buy items from the canteen, violating existing orders and evading sales tax and excise duties. (The canteen has recently been ordered to be closed).
8. Plans were made by RAW to intercept the submarine cable connecting Western Europe to the Asia Pacific, in gross violation of international agreements and the laws laid down by the ITU (International Telecommunication Union), the UN body which regulates telecommunication traffic throughout the World. It could have also caused severe embarrassment to India in the international
community.


The Kaoboys of R&AW- Down Memory Lane
by B Raman

1. RAW could not prevent the assassination of Sheikh Mujibur Rehman in 1975, though it had advance information about the threat to his life.

2. RAW did not share with IB the advance information it had which could have prevented the arms drop in Purulia.

3. In 1999, warnings from IB regarding unusual activity in Pakistan’s Northern Areas were ignored by RAW, leading to the Kargil fiasco.

4. RAW gave incorrect advice to Rajiv Gandhi in the Bofors cover up, resulting in severe erosion of his image.

5. RAW was partly responsible for the assassination of Indira Gandhi in 1984. After Operation Blue Star, Kao, then Senior Adviser, decided that no Sikhs would be deployed for the PM’s close proximity security. When she expressed her misgivings, the orders were cancelled. If Kao had stood his ground, perhaps the tragedy could have been averted.

6. In 1991, the intelligence agencies knew that Rajiv Gandhi was under threat from Khalistani terrorists as well as the LTTE. Yet, nothing was done, on the pretext that the SPG Act did not cover security of an ex-PM. After the assassination, RAW’s monitoring division was able to track down the conspirators by intercepting LTTE communications. If the earlier monitoring had been as systematic, Rajiv’s death could have been prevented.

7. Indiscipline, nepotism and corruption were rampant in RAW. Trade unionism led to a strike in 1980 when officers ‘gheraoed’ by the strikers had to be rescued by the Police. Nepotism in recruitment and promotions was common, and the agency was facetiously called the Relatives and Associates Wing. RAW officers posted abroad lived in style and were the only ones who could afford Mercedes cars.

8. Based on inputs from the RAW and IB that Khalistani terrorists would disrupt the Delhi Asiad in 1982, all Sikhs entering Delhi were stopped and searched for hidden weapons. The humiliation suffered by the Sikhs of Punjab and Delhi drove many of them into the arms of Khalistani terrorists. The situation rapidly deteriorated, culminating in Blue Star, Indira Gandhi’s assassination and the anti Sikh riots that followed.

Inside IB and RAW
by K. Sankaran Nair

1. India paid $6 million as kickbacks in the mid-1970s for a loan of $250 million from the Shah of Iran. The money was paid to Rashidyan, a local financier who was a close friend of the Shah's sister Ashraf Pehlawi. The amount was paid from MEA funds with the approval of the Prime Minister, Indira Gandhi. Nair personally deposited the amount in a Swiss Bank.
2. BN Mullick, Director IB; Lt Gen BN Kaul, the Chief of General Staff; and Krishna Menon, the Defence Minister, let down Nehru by advocating the ‘forward policy’ and their erroneous assessment of the Chinese strength and intentions leading to the 1962 debacle.
3. Indira Gandhi was was seriously considering sending Rajiv Gandhi and his family to Kathmandu, in response to an offer of asylum by the King of Nepal following her defeat in the 1977 elections.
4. During the Asian Games in 1982, VC Shukla asked army doctors to go to East Germany to study the use of drugs to enhance the performance of Indian athletes.
5. Indira Gandhi used the services of an ex-IB chief to bring down Janata government
6. RAW was created by Indira Gandhi to undermine IB, and reduce the power of the then home minister, Y.B. Chavan..