VEEKAY’S NEWSLETTER -2015

VEEKAY’S NEWSLETTER -2015

Dear Friends,

The year 2015 is almost done and the time has come to talk of ‘shoes and ships and sealing wax, and cabbages and kings’. With the advent of novel means of communications such as e-mails, Skype and WhatsApp, one would have thought that the British custom of annual newsletters would become passé. Fortunately, this did not happen. Lazy people like me find it much easier to write one long letter at the end of the year to let friends, acquaintances and loved ones know that they are still alive and kicking, instead of sending them regular updates every week or month. It also does away with the need of sending Christmas and New Year cards, thus saving paper and trees, and keeping our planet green

Like the previous years, 2015 has been full of ups and downs. Thankfully, the highs were more that the lows.  The case filed against me by the CBI at the behest of RAW in 2007 in connection with my book India’s External Intelligence – Secrets of the Research & Analysis Wing (RAW), is still going on, with no end in sight. But the number of court hearings was less than in previous years. For the record, there were seven in the High Court, 25 in the CMM’s court (sometimes, two or three on the same date), one before the CIC and five in the Consumer Forum. The main case in the CMM’s court has been stayed by the High Court, until the issue of the prosecution giving me the documents that I need for my defence is decided (the CMM allowed it, but the CBI has filed an appeal in the High Court). The case filed by Prashant Bhushan on my behalf in the High Court in 2008 to quash the FIR and charge sheet is also hanging fire – the last hearing was held on 1/5/2014, more than a year and a half ago! Two of the five cases filed by me – one concerning corruption in RAW and the other four against authors whose material I used in my book – have been dismissed, as previous sanction had not been obtained. As everyone knows, it is almost impossible for a private citizen to obtain Government sanction in advance for prosecution of a public servant. I now intend doing what Subramanium Swamy did – he wrote to the PM for sanction to prosecute Sonia and Rahul Gandhi and when he did not get a reply, appealed to the Supreme Court. (On 23^rd December, when I was on way back from Jaipur, a constable from the CBI came to deliver a summons to my house in Gurgaon. When I told him on telephone that I was out of town, he said he will come again next Monday i.e. on 28^th. Who knows, this may be the beginning of another case!)

A major event was the release of the History of the Corps of Signals, Volume III, covering the period 1947-72, by the COAS on 15^th February during the Corps Day party. With this ended the seven odd years of struggle – three to write it and four to get it published – with the project. This was the second time the book was released, the first being during the centenary celebrations of the Corps at Jabalpur in February 2011, when a ‘dummy copy’ was released. After four years of shuttling between MI, MO and Signals Directorates, clearance was finally accorded in 2015 and the book saw the light of day. Unfortunately, the entire chapter on the 1962 war had to be deleted, along with some portions of the 1971 war and the skirmish at Nathula in 1967. As I expected, the veterans who took part in the 1962 war and the other operations that were omitted, many of whom are still living and had contributed to the respective chapters, were severely disappointed. Hopefully, these maybe added once the records of the operations after 1961 are de-classified by the MOD. Those who are interested can read these chapters on my blog: veekay-militaryhistory.blogspot.com.

Just a few days ago, I received the welcome news that Maj Gen PK Mullick has accepted the assignment of writing the next volume of the Corps History. As most of you know, he is one of our most distinguished and erudite veterans, who has been writing on professional issues for several years. I am sure he will do an excellent job and Volume IV will be even better than the previous ones. Of course, he will need the support and cooperation of all of us. I wish him God Speed and all the very -best in this venture.

One of the high points of the year was the Golden Jubilee of our passing out from IMA, which we celebrated in Dehradun in June. Though it concerned only the Army officers, we invited our NDA course mates from the Navy and Air Force (the dam busters) after getting concurrence of the Commandant IMA. As usual, I was shanghaied into agreeing to produce the souvenir for the event. I thought it would be similar to the NDA souvenir that I had produced in 2011 for the Golden Jubilee of our joining the NDA. But as it turned out, this was a much more demanding assignment. The souvenir was to include the profile of each one of the 301 officers who were commissioned on 27^th June 1965, with details such as date of birth, IMA Company, appointment held, regiment, rank achieved, date of retirement, date of marriage, names of spouse and children, postal address, e-mail and telephone numbers etc. The officers who passed out from IMA belonged to several streams – NDA, direct entry, OTU, TA and technical graduates. Except the ex-NDA types, most of the others had almost gone underground after passing out and it was a herculean task to locate them.  With the help of several others who joined the hunt, we managed to get details of almost everyone, including the 45 who had passed away.

 It was a fantastic event that went off without a hitch, thanks to the meticulous planning by the staff of the IMA as well as Gurmeet Grover, the course coordinator and those among us who had been assigned various responsibilities. Most of us were thrilled to be back in Dehradun after 50 years, in familiar surroundings where we had sweated and fretted before getting that lone star on the shoulder. Thankfully, the gentleman cadets (GCs) live like gentlemen in two room suites with attached toilets, unlike the hutments that we stayed in during our time.  For the wives who accompanied their husbands, it was an unique experience. It speaks volumes for the spirit of the ladies, especially the widows who joined us for the event, some escorted by a son or a daughter.  

Thankfully, my visits to the hospital this year were not as frequent as in the past. My back does not give much trouble as long as I remember to do my daily session of extension exercises. The problem of swelling in the retina (BRVO) is still there, but does not cause much worry. I have already had 12 injections during the last three years – Avastin, Lucentis and Macugen – and there is very little improvement. Dr. Darius Shroff, who is taking care of it, has stopped the injections, but I go to him for a check-up once every two or three months. Of course, I have to take regular eye drops to keep the eye pressure under control and medication for blood pressure and sugar but I suppose these are universal for everyone at our age.

The respite from visits to courts and hospitals has been offset with another activity that I mentioned in my last newsletter –construction of additional rooms in the backyard of our house and extension of the lobby and drawing room. This was followed by the construction of rooms for servants on the terrace that had been demolished when the second floor was constructed a couple of years back. We realised that unless they had a place to stay, no servant was ready to work for us on a permanent basis. We do manage to get some part time help to do the cooking, washing and cleaning, but one is never sure whether or not they will turn up to cook the next meal.  Kumud and I manage to do most of our own work ourselves but with advancing years, a helping hand is needed to shift heavy articles, move furniture and do sundry jobs around the house. Hopefully, in another month or two the project will be completed and we might be able to get a servant on a full time basis.

I am still trying to come to terms with the loss of all the data in my PC that crashed last year. Slowly, I have been able to build up some of it from back up disks made a few years back, e-mails that I had sent or received, CDs and various other sources. However, most of the files made during the period 2010-14 have been irretrievably lost. A similar problem occurred this year with Kumud’s Galaxy 2 mobile phone. Apparently, there was a virus that had made it slow. We took it to a mobile repair shop. The technician said he would remove the virus and asked us to leave the phone with him for about 30 minutes. When we collected it, the phone was working but all the data – phone numbers, photos, songs etc. – had been lost. He had formatted it without making a backup. We realised it only after reaching home. Next day his shop was closed and then we had to go out of station for a week. Kumud returned before I did and gave him a piece of her mind. Once I came back, I did the same. After I threatened him with a court case, he returned the money that he had charged us, but that was small consolation for the loss of data, especially the phone numbers. We could get the numbers of family members and close friends from others, but those of maids, cooks, tradesmen, shopkeepers etc. were lost forever. Kumud was inconsolable and blamed me for the fiasco. For once, I accepted my fault. I wish I had stayed on in the shop and made sure that a backup copy is made before formatting the phone.

This is not the only instance of bad luck visiting us this year. There were several others, some major and others minor. About five years ago 53 major generals including SPS Vains had filed a case in the AFT at Chandigarh to remove the anomalies in their pay with those who retired after 2006. This was based on a case that Maj Gen Vains and several others had won earlier, regarding the anomalies after the 1996 CPC. The AFT ruled in their favour but the Govt., as usual, went in appeal to the Supreme Court, which dismissed the appeal. About a month ago, a couple of my friends told me that they had received a large sum of money as arrears in their bank accounts. I had received a letter from the MOD, Department of Ex-Servicemen Welfare (DESW) a few months ago, directing the CGDA to pay the arrears, but there was no list attached. Since I was one of the signatories to this petition, I went across the DESW and got a copy. Lo and behold, the list attached to the letter did have my IC Number, Rank and address at serial 23, but my name was missing. I then spoke to the Joint secretary, who asked me to submit various documents, including a copy of the list of petitioners in the original petition, proof that I am indeed the same person as given in the petition i.e. IC 16318F Maj Gen VK Singh and that my address is the same. I have done all this earlier this month. Hopefully, they will issue an amendment soon and then I can pester the CGDA in Allahabad to pay me my dues. I am sure all this happened due a lapse by careless clerk, who was probably chatting while typing out the letter. Of course, none of the people who approved the letter or signed it had the time to read it. But why do such things happen only to me?

One thing that I have not been able to fathom is why a judgment of the Supreme Court, High Court or AFT in matters of pay and pension of Armed Forces personnel does not apply automatically to everyone who is similarly affected. As it stands, each affected individual has to file a petition in the concerned court for his dues, which he gets only after a favourable ruling. It results in a colossal waste of time and effort, and increases the workload of the courts that are already overburdened. Exactly the same thing has happened in the case of broad banding of disability pension. After the judgment of the Supreme Court in December 2014, the disability pension of all veterans who have less than 50% disability should have automatically been revised to 50%. But this has not happened. Each veteran has to file a separate petition in the AFT, which gives a half page order accepting his plea and the CGDA then issues a corrigendum PPO. The lawyer charges around 50,000 to 75,000 from each person to file his case in the AFT. I know several officers who have already done this and got their pensions revised. It appears to be a senseless waste of time and money. Of course, for the lawyers it is a bonanza. Due to various other commitments, I have still been able to file my own petition, but I intend doing this shortly, without engaging a lawyer.

This year we again missed our annual sojourn in the hills. But there were several other family outings that more than made up for this. In November, the whole family congregated at our farm near Sultanpur, where my mother lives with my brother and his family. To celebrate her 94^th birthday, her grandchildren – there are 18 of them – had organised a two-day family get-together. It was after several years that the whole family gathered at on place. The great grandchildren – there were more than 30 at last count - had a whale of a time, many of them seeing village life for the first time in their lives.

In December, we had a similar gathering at my brother-in-law’s place in Jaipur, which included a trip to his farm in Chomu, about 40 Km from Jaipur. As I had mentioned in one of my previous newsletters, my brother-in-law, Col Jitendra Singh, had to get his leg amputated after a surgical operation to remove a blockage in his leg  done in Apollo Hospital by Dr Trehan went wrong. In spite of his disability, his morale never waned. After retiring from service, he converted his ancestral bungalow in Jaipur into a hotel, which is now known as the Bharat Mahal Heritage Hotel. He late bought some farm land near Chomu where he has recently made a resort, mostly for family outings and picnics. He is always on the go and every time we visit, we find something new. Again, the children enjoyed themselves thoroughly and were it not for missing school, would not have come back so soon. Of course, we intend going back to Jaipur again, to ring in the New Year at Bharat Mahal Palace.  

We are still staying at Abhimaur Vikum in Palam Vihar in Gurgaon. My son Abhimanyu lives on the first floor with his wife Jasmine and their two children Bhuvanyu (12) and Khushi (10), who go to the Sun City School. My daughter Mauravi and her husband Vaibhav live in Hextex Commune near the DLF golf course. Their two daughters Mriggya (12) and Eshaana (10) shifted last year from the Excelsior American School to the Kunskapsskolan School, which has recently been voted as the best school in Gurgaon. It is a Swedish school whose name is quite a mouthful -I still find it difficult to pronounce it correctly. Vaibhav is a captain in the Merchant Navy and is presently enjoying a break, having finished his last assignment in November. He is busy doing all his courses gain. Due to some strange reason, the DG Shipping has recently decided to de-recognise all certificates, so all sailors, including masters and mates, have to get new certificates again. These are given after short courses at various institutes that are run by retired merchant navy officers. Like the lawyers, they are smiling, if not laughing, all the way to the bank.

A matter of concern is the likelihood of all diesel vehicles being banned in the near future. Due to the problem of my back, the only vehicle that I find comfortable is the Innova, which does not have a petrol variant. I am now in a quandary. Should I change the vehicle, or modify it to run on CNG?  Or shift to my home state, UP, where these rules will probably never be enforced.  

  

This about sums it up for the year 2015. This is my tenth newsletter (the first one was sent in 2006).  Those who wish to read the previous ones can do so by logging on to my blog veekaysnewsletter.blogspot.com.

Let me close by wishing all of you a Merry Christmas and Very Happy and Prosperous New Year.

Vinay and Kumud Singh

G-31, Palam Vihar, Gurgaon – 122017

Tele: 0124-4074077, 9873494521, 9899110913

24^th December 2014

At Palam Vihar, on 7^th December 2015

VEEKAY’S NEWSLETTER -2014

VEEKAY’S NEWSLETTER -2014

Dear Friends,

As we approach the end of the year 2014, it is time to connect with friends, colleagues and loved ones. It is also time to take stock of all that has happened during the year. A New Year is around the corner, but I am not sure how many of us are looking forward to it. Unlike school children, who always yearn for holidays and want to grow up quickly, for most people of our vintage it only means another year. Another year when hairlines will recede, manes become whiter, the bones more creaky and the backache more painful. But life is God’s gift, to be treasured and enjoyed. The company of good friends and loved ones, especially one’s grandchildren, makes live worth living even when one is approaching the sunset of his life.

The spirit of Christmas has been marred by the ghastly massacre of school children in Pakistan. I don’t recall having been affected by any event as much as I was by this one. The attacks on 9/11 in New York and 26/11 in Bombay may have been worse in terms of numbers of people killed, but they were mostly adults, who had at least lived for some time. But snuffing out the lives of little children, innocent and defenceless, must surely rank among the worst of crimes. One literally shudders to think of what the little ones have gone through, including the ones who escaped alive. Their faith and trust in humanity has been broken, perhaps for ever. 

As has been happening for the last seven years, I still spend a lot of time in court rooms and lawyers’ chambers. For the record, I had 11 hearings in the High Court, 30 in the lower courts (Chief Metropolitan Magistrate and CBI Special Judge), 9 in the consumer courts and 2 before the CIC. That makes a total of 53, which is more or less the same as in previous years. Of course, there are lean periods interspersed by busy ones. February, July and September were lean months, with just one hearing in the month. Many of these cases were filed by me against various agencies for corruption and against authors and publishers who have published material that is more explicit than what is given in my own book. To refresh memories, my book India’s External Intelligence – Secrets of the Research & Analysis Wing (RAW) was published in June 2007 for which I am facing prosecution under the Official Secrets Act. The case is yet to start and will probably never end. Since there is no evidence, the CBI is not really interested in pursuing it. The lawyers get paid for every hearing and naturally wish to prolong it as much as possible.

In July this year another book on RAW was released. Titled Mission R&AW, it has been written by RK Yadav, who has served in the organisation for several years. In fact, he has created a records of sorts, by forming a union and organising a strike in RAW in 1980, after which several employees were dismissed from service, but later taken back. This book gives details of several operations of RAW, along with illegal activities, instances of misuse of the agency by the political leadership and corruption. If anything, it is ten times more explicit than any other book that has been written about the agency, including mine. I hope to make use of it in my defence. Incidentally, as I had mentioned in my last newsletter, the Office Memorandum of 12/09/1968 signed by the Cabinet Secretary for the creation of the agency uses the abbreviation RAW, while everyone serving in that agency insists that the correct abbreviation is R&AW.

The book by RK Yadav makes several tall claims, some of which cast aspersions on the Army and Air Force. It also contains many bloopers. Here is a sample:-

·         RAW was conceived by its founder RN Kao, who was its first chief. (In fact, it was Brig, later Lt Gen, MN Batra, Signals, the then DMI, who wrote the concept paper for RAW, under the directions of the COAS, Gen JN Choudhury).

·         The merger of Sikkim with India was engineered almost entirely by RAW, after approval by Prime Mistier Indira Gandhi. The MEA and Home Ministry were not even aware of this. 

·         The entire blame for the 1962 debacle rests on the Army, whose generals were timid and had no heart to fight.

·         Thimayya was timid. It was only after his retirement in 1961 when Thapar became Chief that things improved.

·         When the Chinese reached the plains of Assam the Army evacuated from (sic) Tezpur, leaving the civil population to their fate. Indira Gandhi stayed on in Tezpur, to boost the morale of the locals.

·         When the Chinese attacked our posts in Tsenge Zong, the military commanders did not reinforce them as they had made no preparations for this. 

·         The decision to throw out the Chinese in 1962 was a purely military decision. There was no political interference. 

·         The training and arming of Mukti Bahini in 1971 was done entirely by RAW.

·         The wireless message regarding the meeting convened on 14 December 1971 at Government House in Dacca leading to the bombing by the IAF and the resignation of the Governor, Dr. AM Malik, was intercepted by RAW. (In fact, the message was intercepted by the wireless experimental unit at Lucknow, then commanded by Major DS Paode).

·         To facilitate the arms drop at Purulia in 1995, RAW had ensured that the Air Force’s radar was switched off so that the aircraft was not picked up when it flew in to drop the arms.

There is finally some good news about the History of the Corps of Signals, Volume III, covering the period 1947-72, which I wrote between 2007 and 2010. Though it was formally released during the centenary celebrations of the Corps at Jabalpur in February 2011, it could not be printed due to want of MI clearance. After more than three years of shuttling between various directorates, clearance was finally accorded early this year and the book is now in the final stage of printing. If all goes well, it should be released – for the second time – on 15^th February 2015, if not earlier. Of course, the entire chapter on the 1962 war has been deleted, along with some portions of the 1971 war and the skirmish at Nathula in 1967. These maybe added once the records of the operations after 1961 are de-classified by the MOD. For those who are interested,   I will be soon putting them on my blog: veekay-militaryhistory.blogspot.com.

The third activity that took up a lot of my time this year was visits to the hospital. Finally, the cataract in my left eye was removed, though I still have to wear spectacles for reading. Kumud also got cataracts removed from both eyes, with a gap of about a month and a half between the two operations. Unfortunately, she is still facing problems such as occasional redness and watering of the eyes. All the procedures were done at Shroff Eye Centre in Gurgaon. Now that my left eye is functional, I have resumed attention to my right eye, which has a swelling in the retina (BRVO). I have already had 12 injections during the last three years – Avastin, Lucentis and Macugen – and there is some improvement. I hope to get an OCT done next month after which it will be decided whether to get another injection or leave it alone for some time.

Another time consuming project that was initiated in the beginning of the year was the construction of some additional rooms in the backyard of our house and extension of the lobby and drawing room. After living in this house for ten years we realised the drawing room was rarely used. Unless the gathering is large, we usually sit in the lobby that extends into the dining room. So we decided to convert the drawing room into a bedroom, which can be used when our daughter and her children come over for the weekend. This necessitated the construction of an adjoining dresser and toilet. The lobby is also being extended, so that it can accommodate the sofas presently kept in the drawing room. Though the work is being done by a builder, he is abominably slow and even after one year, the project is nowhere near completion. Since Kumud is very particular about the choice of tiles, bathroom fixtures, electrical  fittings, locks, door and window fittings and the granite to be used on the counter, this entails frequent trips to the markets in Gurgaon where hardware and sanitary ware shops are located. I keep telling her that all this is only shortening our lifespans but she just shrugs it off.

A calamity that struck this year was the crashing of the hard disk of my computer. (My own PC, seized by the CBI in 2007, has still not been returned and I was using one given to me on loan from the Corps history cell. My application for return of my PC was turned down by the court because the seizure report mentions it as CPU, while my application called it a PC, as mentioned in the charge sheet)! It happened at about 10 pm on 4^th June, when the mains failed. When power was restored, the voltage was extremely low and I suddenly found my monitor blank. Next morning I took it to the Signals Enclave where a mechanic from the IT cell of 1 Army HQ Sig Regt tried to revive it. Since it also had a virus, he copied all the files that he could on CDs and then reformatted the hard disc. However, when he loaded the copied files back on the hard disk, it was found that many files pertaining to the period 2010-14 were missing. After several attempts to solve the problem in house failed, I decided to take outside help. I gave the hard disk to a highly recommended technician in Nehru Place who kept it for about a week and then raised his hands. I then gave it to Truth Laboratories, who are reputed to have considerable expertise in the field. They sent the hard disk to their laboratory in Bangalore. I got it back after two months but the missing files had not been retrieved. I am now trying to build up some of the files from emails that I have sent or received, CDs and various other sources.

A similar problem occurred when I had gone to Jaipur for a few days. I had carried my new laptop and borrowed a data card from my brother-in-law to see my e mails. It had a recycler virus that destroyed all the folders. My son-in-law gave it to a technician in Galleria market who removed the Windows 8.1 and loaded Windows 7, which created its own problems, since it was not the original version. Fortunately, I was able to locate the Dell service centre in Gurgaon, who not only formatted the laptop but loaded the original Windows 8.1 software again. Having learned the lesson, I now save everything on an external hard disk as well as on Google Drive. And I have vowed never to use a pen drive to transfer files from one device to another.

Thanks to my cataract operation being postponed twice, I missed out on a fabulous road trip that we had planned in September. Lasting almost 20 days, we intended to cover almost the whole of Kashmir and Ladakh and some parts of Himachal. The party was to comprise my son-in-law Vaibhav, one of his friends and myself. At the last moment, the doctor advised me not to go, since my cataract had been removed just a few fays earlier. Vaibhav’s friend also dropped out, so he decided to do it alone. A day before he was to leave, we heard about the floods in Srinagar. So he had to delay his departure by a day and go via Manali instead of Srinagar. He left Gurgaon on 9^th September and got back on the 26^th, after logging about 4500 Km in 18 days. The places he visited were Chandigarh, Manali, Karu, Leh, Kargil, Batalik, Partapur, Nurba, Tangtse, Pangong Tso lake, Chushul, Karzok, Sarchu, Tandi, Keylong, Kaza, Tabo, Sumdo, Karcham and Simla. It was a fantastic trip that I would have loved to do. Except for three days when my nephew Akshay who is posted at Karu accompanied him and when he had Akshay’s brother-in-law as a companion for the portion from Chandigarh to Karu, Vaibhav did the trip alone. And he is a sailor who spends most of his time on the water!

This year we could not go for our annual summer holiday to the hills. But we made do with a trip to the national park at Ranthambhore.  Kumud and I were accompanied by Vaibhav, Mauravi and their two children, Mriggya and Eshaana. We went for three jungle safaris in a gypsy. On the second trip, in the morning on 23^rd October we had a magnificent view of a tiger from a distance of barely 10 metres. For almost an hour, we watched him sleeping close to the track. Finally he got up and came on the track. There were several gypsies and canters on both sides and he could not find a route to get out. There was a near panic as the drivers reversed their vehicles, until a small track leading to one side opened up. The tiger strode off into the jungle, leaving everyone wonderstruck. That evening, we celebrated Diwali at the hotel where we were staying, leaving next day for Jaipur,  where we stayed for another two days before returning to Gurgaon after a short but memorable trip and an encounter with the king of the jungle. See the photos at the end.

During the winter months, we still continue the practice of a trip on Saturday or Sunday to visit a park, museum or monument. This year, we have visited the Doll Museum, National Gallery of Modern Art, Book Fair, Indira Gandhi Memorial, Lodi Garden, Nehru Memorial and the Palate food festival at Nehru Park. Usually, we are accompanied by the children and grandchildren along with Kumud’s nephew Ajay and his family who live nearby. We intend rounding off the year with a visit to the street food festival in the Nehru Stadium that is due next week, from Christmas onwards.

In November we celebrated the 20^th anniversary of completion of our NDC course (NDC 34). Incidentally, our course is the only one that has been having a monthly get together without a break for the last 20 years. It is usually held during lunch on the 1^st Sunday of the month, hosted by members in rotation at their homes or in a mess or club. Over the years, the Air Force golf course, Sabre mess and Kotah House have become hot favourites. For the 20^th anniversary, we had a lunch on 23^rd November, hosted by Surinder Singh (Arty) at his home. The next day, there was a contributory dinner at the NDC. Since Peter Cosgrove, now Governor General of Australia, could not make it on those dates, we had another dinner on the 30^th, hosted by Gulshan Kalra in his house (he was with Indian Oil when he did the course, later moving on to Coca Cola). Finally, Air Marshal Bindra hosted a lunch on 2^nd December at his home.

 One would imagine that four days of wining and dining was more than enough for a couple of weeks. But this was not to be. On 5^th and 6^th December I had to be in Hisar for the biennial reunion of the unit that I had raised in 1982. This was the ninth reunion and no less than nine ex-COs attended, apart from several other officers, JCOs and OR. I have always felt that having a reunion at unit level, as is the practice in the Infantry and Cavalry, is a better option than the one we have for the entire Corps once in five years at Jabalpur. I have attended three of them and except for a few officers, I did not know any of the JCOs or OR. In fact, we were literally rushing from one event to the other, without a break. It is a good idea for signal units to have an annual or biennial reunion, in addition to the one held every five years at Jabalpur.   To reduce the load on the unit, it can be kept simple, with just a barakhana or a cup of tea for all ranks, followed by dinner in the Officers Mess. To ensure that the officers are not taxed, one can follow the custom that I had started in my own unit – each ex-CO carries a bottle of Scotch to the party!

We are still staying in Palam Vihar in Gurgaon. My son Abhimanyu lives on the first floor with his wife Jasmine and their two children Bhuvanyu (11) and Khushi (9). My daughter Mauravi and her husband Vaibhav live in Hextex Commune near the DLF golf course, which is close to the school of their two daughters Mriggya (11) and Eshaana (9). Vaibhav is a captain in the Merchant Navy and is presently sailing across the Pacific. He expects to be home sometime in April next year.

Our routine remains the same as in yester years. I go to the gym in the DSOI at 0700 and return at 0745. Instead of walking on the treadmill, I now do a bit of cycling. The orthopaedic surgeon in the JRC at the RR Hospital told me to do this when I went to see him for pain in the knees. According to him, cycling and swimming are better than walking, since they take the weight off your knees. Kumud goes to the gym at around 0830 and returns only at about 1000. She also does a bit of walking in the evening when she gets the chance. I have to do some extension exercises for my back once I come back from the gym. Whenever I stop these exercises for a few days, the pain in my leg returns. This also happens if I sit on a low sofa or settee, or take a ride in a car with low seats. Once I had diagnosed the problem, I switched over to the Innova about six years back and that is the only car I prefer to sit in now.

  Sometime back, I went to a free spine camp at the Columbia Asia Hospital next door. After seeing my MRIs, they advised me go in for spine surgery straightaway. I went to my good friend KK Singh who had diagnosed my ailment – lumbar canal stenosis – way back in 1992. He was now Comdt of the RR hospital and advised me to not to go in for surgery. I went to the Spinal Injuries Centre and they told me the same thing. Since three vertebrae   - 3^rd, 4^th and 5^th - were involved, the surgery was a bit complicated and they advised me to carry on as long as I could.   

That about sums it up for the year 2014. This is my ninth newsletter (the first one was sent in 2006).  Those who wish to read the previous ones can do so by logging on to my blog veekaysnewsletter.blogspot.com.

Let me close by wishing all of you a Merry Christmas and Very Happy and Prosperous New Year.

Vinay and Kumud Singh

G-31, Palam Vihar, Gurgaon – 122017

Tele: 0124-4074077, 9873494521, 9899110913

23^rd December 2014

At Ranthambhore on 23^rd October 2014, shortly before we met the Tiger.

At Ranthambhore on 23^rd October 2014, face to face with the Tiger.

VEEKAYS’ NEWSLETTER – 2013

VEEKAYS’ NEWSLETTER – 2013

Dear Friends,

Another year has rolled past. At our age, another year may not bring about any perceptible change in our lives. But for a child, a year is quite large span of time. When we see our grandchildren operating ipads, connecting with their friends on Facebook and teaching us how to handle the latest android, we suddenly realise that we have grown older. Sometimes, I am left wonderstruck at the speed at which they learn. When we were eight or nine years old, we were not allowed to touch the gramophone or the radio set in the house. The kids look at us with disbelief when we tell them that we had no TV, transistor radios, air conditioners, gas stoves and microwave ovens. The only source of music was the gramophone, which one had to wind up manually. On Wednesdays, the whole family gathered round the radio, to listen to the Binaca geetmala on Radio Ceylon, compered by Amin Sayani.

Like the last six years, a considerable portion of my time in 2013 was spent in visits to various courts and clinics. To refresh memories, the case filed against me pertains to my book India’s External Intelligence – Secrets of the Research & Analysis Wing (RAW), which was published in June 2007.  The case is yet to start and I now feel that the CBI, having realised that there is no evidence, is not really interested in pursuing it. In fact, the CBI lawyer is quite happy to prolong it as long as he can – he gets paid for every hearing. I have begun to realise that this is the main reason for such cases dragging on for years. The cases are given to lawyers who are related to or have a nexus with officials in the prosecuting agencies, such as CBI, Police etc, for whom it becomes a perpetual source of regular income.  Another reason for the long time taken in deciding cases is the fact that almost 100 cases are listed before the judge, in the High Court as well as the subordinate courts. It is impossible for any judge to devote adequate time to each case, and adjournments are granted even before they are asked for.

In addition to the case filed against me in the court of the CMM, and the one filed in the High Court to quash the proceedings, which Prashant Bhushan is handling, there are several others in the High Court and lower courts, stemming from cases filed by me, requesting for similar action against the authors of books and articles that I have used as reference material for my book and against the corrupt officials of RAW and SPG mentioned in my book.  Compared to the previous year, there were fewer hearings this year - 16 in the court of the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate, 16 in the High Court, four in the Information Commission and seven in the consumer forums. There is also a case in the Supreme Court, which is not directly connected to my own case. 

Last year, a case PIL was filed in the Supreme Court regarding the intelligence agencies – IB, RAW and NTRO- which are in fact functioning without any constitutional mandate, since none of them were created by an Act of Parliament. There is no parliamentary or judicial oversight and their funds are not audited. I had worked on this for almost two years and the draft was revised several times, in consultation with Prashant Bhushan, before it was filed in December 2012, on behalf of the Centre for Public Interest Litigation (CPIL). The then Chief Justice, Altamas Kabir, was most reluctant to admit it and raised trivial technical objections on three occasions before it was admitted in the fourth hearing on 11 February 2013.  A notice was issued to the Government to reply within six weeks. The MHA has filed the reply on 12 November, after nine months. The reply was entirely along expected lines, claiming that the organisations were not illegal, even if they had not been created by an Act or Ordinance.  However, some very interesting facts have come to light:-

·        The IB was created by a telegram dated 23/12/1887 from the Viscount Cross, the Secretary of State in London, to Lord Dufferin, the Viceroy in India, granting approval to a proposal to ‘collect secret and political intelligence in India’.

·        The RAW was formed on 12/09/1968 through an Office Memorandum, signed by the then Cabinet Secretary, DS Joshi. It was established as a wing of the Cabinet Secretariat and no Gazette Notification was issued on the subject. (Incidentally, the OM uses the abbreviation RAW, while everyone serving in that agency insists that the correct abbreviation is R&AW).

·        The expenditure on the head of RAW and his personal staff is met from the budget of the Cabinet Secretariat. The remaining expenditure, including that on cover posts in foreign countries, is met from the general budget of the MEA. For audit purposes, a certificate of proper utilisation is furnished by the Cabinet Secretary to the Foreign Secretary, who then certifies the utilisation of the entire amount. (This is akin to a CO giving a certificate to a company commander).  

·        The NTFO (later designated as the NTRO) was created vide a Cabinet Secretariat Notification dated 15/4/2004.

·        The budget of the NTRO is embedded in the overall budget of the MHA. An officer of the CAG posted to NTRO on deputation supervises the internal audit. There is no external audit.

In our petition, I had mentioned that the concept paper for the creation of RAW was written by Lt Gen MN Batra, who was then the DMI. I have written about this my book INDIA’S EXTERNAL INTELLIGENCE. Naturally, I had written this after discussions with Gen MN Batra, who went through the draft. This has been contradicted by the MHA, which claims that the blue print for the agency was submitted by RN Kao, then Deputy Director in the IB, and became the first Director of RAW. I am not surprised, because they rarely give credit to others even when there is documentary evidence to the contrary. According Gen Batra, the IB was not happy about the creation of RAW, as it resulted in curtailment of their powers as well as size. Until then, IB was responsible for external as well as internal intelligence. With the creation of RAW, external intelligence went out of their domain. Hence, their claim that RN Kao was responsible for the creation of RAW does not appear to be valid.

The genesis of the decision to create RAW lay in the 1962 conflict with China, when Indian intelligence failed to detect the Chinese build-up for the attack. Brig (later Lt Gen) MN Batra, who was then the DMI, recalls that he faced a lot of flak on this account and had quite a job explaining to everyone that the responsibility for strategic military intelligence across the border lay with the IB and not the Army. He argued that there was an urgent need to for an external intelligence agency and convinced the COAS, Gen JN Choudhury. Accompanied by Batra, Choudhury visited the UK and USA to see the functioning of their intelligence agencies. On their return, Batra was asked to write a paper on the subject.

MN Batra’s paper, which proposed the establishment of a foreign intelligence agency under the MOD, was put up to the PM through the Defence Minister, YB Chavan. She approved the creation of the agency, but decided to keep it under her own control instead of the MOD, as recommended in the paper. Incidentally, MN Batra was the DMI for 10 years, from 1961 to 1971. During this time, his cousin, Maj Gen (later Lt Gen) RN Batra was the Signal-Officer-in-Chief, from 1961 to 1966.

Another activity that I am involved with is the History of the Corps of Signals, Volume III, covering the period 1947-72, which I wrote between 2007 and 2010. It was formally released during the centenary celebrations of the Corps in February at Jabalpur in February 2011, but has still to be printed. Frankly, it has been a frustrating experience. For the last three years, the book has been going up and down, between three directorates – Signals, MI and MO. Now, it is not MI but MO that is dragging its feet. Last week, they have returned the manuscript again (for the umpteenth time), with some observations, including a few that pertain to the 1947-48 Kashmir operations!  The way things are going we may find history repeating itself – Volume I, written by Brig Tery Baretto in 1965, was published in 1975, ten years later.

The problem with my right eye still persists, with very little hope of improvement. As mentioned in my last newsletter, I had suffered from a haemorrhage in my retina in 2011, technically called BRVO. Even after nine injections – Avastin, Lucentis and Macugen – there is little improvement. An infected injection administered in RR Hospital caused almost total loss of vision, necessitating a PPV (pars plana vitrectomy). It was finally controlled with steroids, which have created other problems - increase in eye pressure and blood sugar levels. I still visit the RR Hospital and Shroff Eye Centre about once a month for check-ups. The left eye is also developing a cataract but I have been asked to delay its removal till the right eye shows some improvement.

 This year, we decided to go to Kashmir for our annual sojourn to the hills. I had served in J&K as the DAA&QMG of a brigade in 1978-79, but my daughter was then only a toddler and her own children had never seen Kashmir. The initial plan was for everyone to travel by air. But my son-in-law, Vaibhav, who is in the merchant navy, was very keen to do trip by road. Finally, the party was split in two – Kumud, Mauravi and her two daughters, Mriggya and Eshaana - decided to go by air, while Vaibhav and I went by road. To ensure that we reached before the girls arrived, we started a day earlier in my Innova. Starting early in the morning, we reached Udhampur in the evening at about 2000 hrs. We should have made it at least two hours earlier, but we missed the road to Pathankot at Jalandhar and reached Amritsar, from where we went via Gurdaspur. So, instead of 670 Km we had to do about 750 Km. Starting after breakfast next morning we made the remaining 240 Km to Srinagar in the afternoon, well in time for the flight from Delhi carrying the B Echelon.

Knowing the problems of security and movement restrictions, we had decided not stay in the cantonment and booked three rooms in a house boat on the Nagin Lake. We spent five days on the house boat, which was quite comfortable, except that every day, one had to navigate through the old part of the town with narrow streets to reach the place where it was berthed. The food served was very spicy, and even after several injunctions to the cook, things only improved marginally. We spent the next few days taking in the local spots, such as the Shalimar and Nishat gardens, Chasma Shahi, botanical gardens etc. We also made a day trip to Yusmarg, which was nothing to write home about. A couple of shikara rides and some shopping for spices in Lal Chowk rounded off the visit.

The next stop was Gulmarg, where we stayed for three days in a sub unit of Signals. The rooms were comfortable and since we were dining in the Officers Mess, we could get food of our choice. Of course, we did the mandatory gondola ride up to the hill top. It takes hours to buy a ticket and then wait in a queue to board, but thanks to a separate quota for the Army, we did not have to wait very long. The top was covered with snow and it was an enjoyable trip, especially for the kids. The next day was spent in a trip to Aasha and Budh Pathri, located close to the LOC, where the local units treated us with the ubiquitous tea and pakoras. The last day was spent at the Children’s Park, where we found that most of the swings and merry go rounds were occupied by adults, with the children standing around with long faces. My daughter finally had to intervene, pointing to the sign boards that read that they were only to be used by children.

From Gulmarg we went to Pahalgam. Since the Amarnath yatra was on, the place was heavily crowded. We had booked three rooms in a hut in a complex about 7 Km from Pahalgam on the road to Aru, called River Front. It comprised a cottage with 5 rooms located on the bank of a fast flowing stream which joins the Lidder River. There were no other guests and we had the whole cottage to ourselves. There was almost no habitation nearby and the girls were a little worried. But I was carrying my .30 Winchester carbine, which I do on most trips, especially while camping or trekking.

Except for one day when it was raining, we spent most of the time outdoors. It was a wonderful place and one could spend hours just sitting on the river bank. We made trips to the Betaab Valley and Pahalgam town for shopping, pony rides as well as lunch (the cook at River Front was terrible and so was his food). We tried to light a camp fire at night but the wood being wet, there was more smoke than fire and we had to give it up and go indoors.

On the last day, we moved to Srinagar, from where the flyers were to catch an early morning flight. We spent the night in the signal regiment located next to the airport and after seeing off the others in the morning, Vaibhav and I left by road at about 1000 hours. We had made arrangements for a night stay at Udhampur but decided to drive on to Pathankot, where my nephew was posted in a mechanised infantry battalion. After spending the night with him, we left next morning for Gurgaon. The journey was uneventful, except a mysterious object that hit the windscreen when we were driving from Hoshiarpur towards Chandigarh. Since the road had almost no traffic and we were doing more than 100 Kmph, we could stop only after travelling 50-60 metres. Fortunately, the windscreen had not shattered, and the damage was on the left side. Since the driver’s vision was not blocked, we decided to carry on. We tried to find out the reason but could not. There were no stones in the vicinity, and neither was there any hut or shop from where someone could have thrown a stone. This is not the first time this has happened to me. During the Himalayan Rally in 1983, the windscreen of our jonga was smashed when a miscreant pelted a large stone and then vanished in the darkness. We spent precious rally time at the next halt trying to get it replaced by the EME detachment. Finally, failing to fix it in the slot, they just placed the windscreen in front and welded metal clamps on the corners to hold it in place. In 1995, while driving from Delhi to Simla for a holiday, the windscreen of my Maruti Omni was broken by a pebble kicked up by the rear wheel of a truck in front. I had to stop in Panipat and get a new windscreen, which took a couple of hours.  

We are still staying in Gurgaon, in Palam Vihar. My son Abhimanyu, his wife Jasmine and their two children, Bhuvanyu (10) and Khushi (8) live on the first floor. My daughter Mauravi had shifted last year from Icon to Hextex Commune opposite the DLF course, because her two daughters, Mriggya (10) and Eshaana (8) go to the American Excelsior School which is located nearby. Her hubby, Vaibhav is now a Captain in the merchant navy. He is presently sailing but may be home for the New Year.

There is little change in our routine. I go to the gym in the DSOI, which is a stone’s throw from my house, at 0700, returning at 0745 or so. Kumud goes at 0830 and returns only when the gym closes at 1000. By this time I have gone through my newspapers, had my bath and my breakfast and am ready to leave for the Corps History Cell in Signals Enclave, the hospital or on some other errand. I find that with the increase in the number of gadgets we use in the house, every week one or two go off road and need repairs.  On the days I have a court hearing, I have to give the gym a miss.

Two major events that have taken place in December are the passing of the Lokpal Bill in Parliament and the arrival of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on the political scene after the Assembly Elections in Delhi. Since I was associated, in a small way, with both, I cannot resist the urge to say thing about these development. From 2010 to 2012, I used to go to the rallies and meetings organised by Parivartan and IAC for the Lokpal Bill. I attended almost all the rallies held at Jantar Mantar and Ram Lila Maidan including the ones when Anna Hazare came on board. Incidentally, the first major rally organised by Arvind Kejriwal was in Ram Lila Maidan on 30 January 2011, where the salient points of the proposed Lokpal Bill were explained by Prashant Bhushan and others. I recall that Shanti Bhushan, Justice Hegde, Ram Jethmalani, Swami Agnivesh, Medha Patkar,  Kiran Bedi and several others spoke from the dais, where I was also sitting.  From there, we marched to the Jantar Mantar, where the Rally ended. It was only after this that Arvind Kejriwal decided to involve Anna Hazare and invited him to Delhi to become part of the agitation. The rest, as they say is history. So, the agitation for the Lokpal was started NOT by Anna, as most people think, but by Arvind Kejriwal, Prashant Bhushan, Shanti Bhushan, Justice Santosh Hegde etc, who also drafted the bill. Of course, the movement got national recognition and support only after Anna came on the scene.

I would also like to mention some details of the meeting that was held in the Constitution Club on 19/9/2012, which led to the break between Anna and the Kejriwal’s team. It was a closed door meeting, so the media was not allowed inside. After the meeting, the horde of journalists surrounded Anna and questioned him about what happened. Though he had agreed to the formation of a political party after the fast by Kejriwal, Sisodia and Gopal Rai in July-August 2012 (which Anna joined after a few days), it was only after the Constitution Club meeting that he clearly stated that he was against forming a political party but others were free to do so if they liked. However, he stressed that they should not use his name anywhere, including their caps, which everyone had been wearing since his fasts. I was present at both venues, and I found his volte face surprising.

There were about 50 people in the meeting, which started at 1000 and finished at about 1900. The aim of the meeting, as announced by Yogendra Yadav, who was conducting it, was to apprise Anna of the views of the members, and obtain his decision on whether or not to form a political party, which had been announced a month earlier, after the fast at Jantar Mantar. The prominent persons who attended the meeting were Justice Hegde, Shanti Bhushan, Prashant Bhushan, Dharmadhikari, Anupam Kher, Prasoon Bajpai, Kiran Bedi etc. There were also a few army veterans – Major Katoch, the MLA from Dharamshala (HP), Colonel Baisla and me. In addition, there were a few independent MLAs and some people from Maharashtra who were close to Anna. In this meeting, Kejriwal sat on the side lines, like the rest of us, and spoke very little.

Everyone was given about five minutes to speak, and give his views and his vote. Most people were of the view that we must form a political party. The prominent exceptions were Justice Hegde, Kiran Bedi, Dharmadhikari and Admiral Tahliani. The people from Maharashtra were also against it, as they felt that the ongoing agitations at district and taluka level would peter out if Anna left the State. Anna also said that if he joined politics, he would be going back on his word that he would not join politics, and his standing among the people of his home state would go down. There were also objections on the grounds of non availability of funds, shortage of time, lack of infrastructure and so on. Finally, Shanti Bhushan, who had been one of founder members of the Janata party that came to power in 1977, described his own experience, setting at rest all such doubts. He explained how the party was formed, even through JP was unwilling and voiced the same fears that Anna was doing today. Yet, they managed to raise the party without spending any money in a matter of six months and swept the polls. All that was needed was a wave like the one that happened in 1977, which swept everything before it. Very few people believed him, but in hindsight, Shanti Bhushan was not wrong, as the Delhi elections have shown.

It was not my intention to make this a political newsletter, but once you start, it is difficult to stop. If Anna had shown some courage and agreed to the formation of a political party, or least given it his blessings, I am sure the Aam Admi Party would have done even better and got a clear majority in Delhi. In any case, their performance has been unprecedented. This must be the first instance of a person becoming the Chief Minster of a State after his debut as an MLA.

Incidentally, this is my eighth newsletter (the first one was sent in 2006).  Those who wish to read the previous ones can do so by logging on to my blog http://veekaysnewsletter.blogspot.com.

Wishing all of you a Merry Christmas and a Very Happy and Prosperous New Year.

Vinay and Kumud Singh 

G-31, Palam Vihar, Gurgaon – 122017

Tele: 0124- 4074077, 9873494521, 9899110913

25^th December 2013

Pahalgam, Kashmir, July 2013