Instead of threatening Pakistan...: Indian Army chief needs to put own house in order

LAHORE: Although the Indian Army Chief General Bipin Rawat, son of Lt General (retired) Laxman Rawat, has threatened Pakistan with a surprise action, he should rather be worried over numerous factors haunting his forces currently.

For example, as research conducted by the “Jang Group and Geo Television Network” shows, the unabated suicides within the Indian security forces is quite alarming. A total of 310 disgruntled Indian army personnel have intentionally caused their own deaths between 2014 and July 31, 2017.

According to the August 8, 2017 edition of the “Times of India,” the Indian Minister of State for Defence had told the country’s Senate that some 84 army personnel had committed suicide in 2014, while in 2015 and 2016, the number was 78 and 104 respectively. And till July 31, 2017, the number of army men taking their own lives had rested at 44.

The August 20, 2017 edition of the “Hindustan Times” had noted: “The jawans of the Indian force are deployed for long stints at inhospitable and harsh climate areas along the Indo-Pak and Indo-Bangla borders, where they cannot keep their families for years together.”

Similarly, the Indian Army Chief, General Bipin Rawat, should be more concerned over his country’s armed forces are facing a shortage of nearly 60,000 personnel with the Army topping the list with over 27,000 vacant posts.

According to the December 27, 2017 edition of the “Economic Times,” a reputed Indian daily newspaper with a circulation of 377,789 copies daily and hence the world's second-most widely read English-language business newspaper after the American “Wall Street Journal,” the country’s Defence Minister had informed her parliament that the total shortage of officers in the Army, Navy and the Indian Air Force was 9,259, while the number for lower officer ranks was 50,363.

Massive defence budget and cash-starved Indian Army:

According to the February 15, 2018 edition of the “Economic Times” and the latest “Military Balance 2018' report by the London-based “International Institute for Strategic Studies,” the Indian defence budget of $52.5 billion has broken the world's top five, beating the UK for the first time this year. But despite having a huge budget at its disposal, the Indian Army remains cash-starved.

A March 14, 2018 report of the “Economic Times” had maintained: “The Indian Army has informed the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Defence that it does not have enough money to pay for ongoing schemes, emergency procurement, and weaponry for 10 days of intense war, future acquisitions and also strategic roads along the China border. The development was shared by the Army’s Vice Chief Lt General Sarath Chand in his deposition to the Committee, according to a report tabled in Parliament by the latter. General Chand also said that the defence budget has dashed our hopes” and the marginal increase in it barely accounts for inflation and doesn’t cater for taxes.”

It thus goes without saying that neither has India succeeded in catering to the needs of its army, nor its people. 73 million Indians languish below poverty line:

On June 27, 2018, the “Times of India” had cited a report of American “Brookings Institute” that had stated that India housed about 73 million people below the poverty line of US $1.90 per day, second only to Nigeria with 87 million poor population.

The fairly recent September 1, 2018 report of prestigious British newspaper “The Independent” sheds adequate light on shortage of toilets in India,

$20 billion earmarked for 111 million toilets:

The “Independent” states: “Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s $20bn (£15bn) “Clean India” mission aims to construct 111 million latrines in five years. Besides promising to improve the health, safety and dignity of hundreds of millions of Indians, the national hygiene drive has spurred an 81 per cent jump in sales of concrete building materials and 48 per cent increase in bathroom and sanitary ware sales.”

In May 2012, according to the “BBC,”nearly half of India's 1.2 billion people had no toilet at home, but more people owned a mobile phone!

And then the Census data shows India has an estimated 2.1 million people living with HIV.

The Indian Army Chief, General Bipin Rawat, should also be wary of the fact that his soldiers are airing their grievances about food quality, inhuman attitude of bosses and uncivilized working conditions through the social media, as was reported on January 1, 2017 by the “Huffington Post,” a renowned American news and opinion website and blog having both localized and international editions.

Defections from RAW:

Instead of hurling threats against Pakistan, the Indian Army boss should rather spend time in isolation to analyse why his country’s premier spy agency, the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) has been attributed with some embarrassing fiascos and national security failures, especially the defections from within its ranks due to the unexplainable despair and despondency haunting its senior officials.

A few years ago, an eminent Indian scholar Dr. Prem Mahadevan, who is a senior researcher with the “Global Security Team” at the “Centre for Security Studies” in Zurich, had opined in his book “The politics of counter-terrorism in India” that fearing the American CIA might use counter-terrorism meetings to recruit Indian intelligence operatives, New Delhi had opted to restrict agency-to-agency contacts with Washington DC.

Prem Mahadevan’s book had revealed that since 2001, there have been at least two cases of penetration within RAW by the American Central Intelligence Agency.

The Indian scholar had further maintained that in pursuit of a more comfortable lifestyle, at least nine RAW officers had gone abroad without leave since the agency’s creation in 1968. Most of these agents had defected while they were posted in Western Europe or North America.

The book said that particularly damaging was the defection of Sikander Lal Malik, a personal aide to RAW chief Rameshwar Nath Kao, adding that agent Malik had defected during the 1970s, while he was posted in the United States and was alleged to have taken extremely sensitive information with him.

Then in June 2004, a key RAW official Rabinder Singh had defected to America. He was serving as a Joint Secretary and the head of RAW’s South East Asia Department. Despite being under surveillance for a very long time, Rabinder had managed to defect with some sensitive files he had allegedly removed from the RAW headquarters in New Delhi.

In his book “Mission Raw,” one of the Indian spy agency’s former officials, R.K. Yadav, had unveiled the fact that although the American CIA was found directly involved in compromising Rabinder Singh and other top office-bearers of this intelligence outfit, at least eight other RAW officers had managed to clandestinely migrate and settle in foreign countries like the US and Canada with the help of their spy agencies.

The September 28, 2009 edition of another top Indian newspaper “The Hindustan Times” had also broken a story about a Bangladeshi working for RAW for six long years, without being noticed!

In the early 1980s, K.V. Unnikrishnan was posted at RAW’s Colombo station. He was allegedly honey-trapped by the CIA.

RAW and Indian media houses had alleged that between 1985 and 1987, when Unnikrishnan was deputed as the station chief at Chennai and was co-coordinating the Sri Lankan operations, he had leaked a lot of information about the Indian government’s negotiating positions on the peace accord with Sri Lanka to his handler. He was caught in 1987, jailed and dismissed from service.

Some historic RAW bloopers:

Since its inception in 1968, RAW has not only committed monumental blunders, but at times, their slip-ups have proved extremely costly to their respective nations.

Tracking a few huge mistakes committed by RAW, one finds that despite having played a pivotal role in the creation of Bangladesh, the Indian secret agency never had a plan to annex it with India.

It also could not prevent Shaikh Mujib-ur-Rahman from being killed, even though it had prior knowledge of the plot.

It was RAW, which had supported the 1975 Emergency proclaimed by the then Indian Premier Indira Gandhi.

History later proved that this Emergency was a fatal mistake and that RAW had been giving Indira Gandhi wrong estimates about her public support and popularity.

During the Operation Blue Star against the Sikhs in June 1984, RAW failed again as it could not assess the strength of Sikh commander Bhindranwale’s forces at the Golden Temple in Amritsar. What was thought to be a five-hour operation later stretched to five days and tanks had to be brought in by the Indian Army to crush the rebellion.

This resulted in heavy casualties for the Army, courtesy incorrect RAW estimates.

Indira Gandhi had to pay a heavy price later and was gunned down by her Sikh bodyguards in 1983.

Despite having invested heavily to ensure that Sir Seewoosagur Ramgoolam continued as the Prime Minister of Mauritius in 1982, the Indian government had to face a lot of embarrassment as RAW had failed to deliver.

Known to have trained and funded the Tamil Tigers in Sri Lanka, RAW could not prevent former Indian Premier Rajiv Gandhi from becoming a victim of Tamil Tigers near Chennai in 1991.

Rajiv was killed in a suicide attack during a public rally and his female assassin had reached him without having to cross any security check or hurdle.

We all know that the December 2001 attack on Indian Parliament, the October 2005 Delhi explosions, the 2011 Delhi bombing and innumerable terrorist attacks in Mumbai during 1993, 2002, four incidents during 2003, 2006, 2008 and 2011 are glaring examples of RAW’s intelligence failures.

City of Pune was attacked twice in 2010 and 2012 and the armed insurgency in Jammu and Kashmir has killed tens of thousands to date.

The October 27, 2013 bomb explosions in Bihar during an election rally, the July 2013 blasts in this state, the March 2006 and December 2010 Varanasi blasts, the continuous unrest in various Indian states and separatist movements flourishing across the world’s second most populous country—-bear ample testimony to the fact that instead of putting its own house in order first, RAW continues to intrude, interfere and intervene in the affairs of its neighbours!

In its November 7, 2008 report, an esteemed 94-year old American think-tank “The Council of Foreign Relations” had stated: “India’s external intelligence agency, the Research and Analysis Wing, has long faced allegations of meddling in its neighbours’ affairs.”

The 4900-member “Council of Foreign Relations,” which is represented by senior American politicians, more than a dozen US Secretaries of State, CIA directors, bankers, lawyers, professors, and senior media figures, had gone on to view: “Islamabad sees India’s growing diplomatic initiatives in Afghanistan as a cover for RAW agents working to destabilize Pakistan. It accuses RAW of training and arming separatists in Pakistan’s Balochistan province along the Afghan border. RAW denies these charges and in turn, accuses the ISI of the July 2008 bombing of the Indian embassy in Kabul.” ISI had rejected charges against it.

RAW was also criticised at home by a mainstream political entity “Janata Party,” which had accused the agency of letting itself be used for terrorising and intimidating opposition during the 1975-1977 Indian Emergency.”

The “1975-77 Emergency” refers to a 21-month period between 1975 and 1977, when the then Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi had unilaterally proclaimed a state of emergency across the country.

Officially allowed by the then Indian President Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed under Article 352(1) of the Constitution for “internal disturbance,” the notorious Emergency was in effect from June 25, 1975 until its withdrawal on March 21, 1977.

In his widely-read book “The Kaoboys of RAW: Down the memory lane,” distinguished Indian spymaster and one of the founders of RAW, Bahukutumbi Raman, had written: “There was a widespread perception that the RAW was associated with many wrong-doings during the Emergency. This perception prevailed even in sections of the bureaucracy, including in the Foreign Service.”

Bahukutumbi Raman, who had served as an Additional Secretary of the Cabinet Secretariat of the government of India and as one-time head of the counter-terrorism division of the RAW, had also viewed: “The RAW also lost some of its shine as an intelligence collection agency because of the assassination of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman in August 1975 and the subsequent developments in Bangladesh, which had resulted in an erosion of the Indian influence there.”

Claiming to extinguish and douse the fire in Held Kashmir with their own blood, the Indian Army is the second largest standing army in the world with 1,237,117 active troops and 960,000 reserve troops stationed at 53 cantonments and 9 army bases, spread across India, but every now and then, its officers have often spilled away its darker side.

Blunders that could haunt India for a long time:

For example, Major General Mrinal Suman, Commander of an Engineers Regiment in the Siachen Glacier area and the man responsible for designing and sinking shafts for Indian nuclear tests, had written in one of his articles that there were many blunders that would always haunt India.

He had viewed that there could be no better example of shooting one's own foot than India's clumsy handling of the Kashmir issue.

He also criticised his country for handling the 1999 Kandahar hijacking incident, saying it would continue to rile India's self-respect for long because the eight-day long ordeal had ended only after India's National Security Adviser had allowed the release of all the hostages in exchange for three Kashmiri militants including Maulana Masood Azhar.The General wrote: “Sadly, the Prime Minister claimed credit for forcing the hijackers to climb down on their demands.”

Whisky, call-girls and unprotected Indian secrets:

The Indian Army Chief, General Bipin Rawat, should also pay heed to the recent revelations how Black Label Whisky was used to trade India’s Defence Secrets.

In his recent book ” The Anatomy of a Traitor: A history of espionage and betrayal,” award-winning British journalist, Michael Smith, had revealed that how unlimited supplies of Black Label whisky and expensive call-girls were used to obtain documents included top secret papers on India’s atomic energy programme, military satellites, government electronics systems and the country’s defence planning – including potential purchases of military aircraft, warships, weaponry, key issues relating to foreign policy, including relations with China and Pakistan, and on sensitive internal issues dealing with India’s ethnic divides.

Smith, the author of a number of bestselling books on spies, special forces and code breaking, further revealed the spy ring was finally broken in 1985 after investigators seized ‘trunkloads of confidential documents’ including ‘a photocopy of almost all the important files in the Prime Minister’s and Defence Ministry secretariats.

At the same time, a number of other senior civil servants, including three more members of the Prime Minister’s office, led by the deputy head of the unit, TN Kher, were being arrested at their offices or homes.

The next day, the-then Indian Premier Rajiv Gandhi stood up in parliament to announce the uncovering of a plot involving the sale of government secrets to a number of foreign countries.

The French Deputy Military Attaché, Lt-Col Alain Bolley, was ordered by Indians to pack up and leave immediately. He and his family were escorted to the airport and left on that evening’s Air France flight to Paris. Meanwhile, the French ambassador Serge Boidevaix was told that he was also no longer welcome and although the Indian authorities would not openly expel him, he should make plans to leave within a month.

Not fewer than 12 former senior civil servants, including four from the Prime Minister’s office and another four from the Ministry of Defence, were jailed for 10 years.

Legalised homosexuality to affect Indian forces?

And last but not least, the September 6, 2018 landmark judgment by India's highest court, which overturned a colonial-era law that criminalizes consensual gay sex, should also concern the Indian Army Chief, especially if he reads the recent report of Free Press Kashmir.

The Free Press Kashmir, a weekly published from Kashmir, has reported that the Supreme Court of India’s judgment legalising same-sex relations has the military worried over its underlying connotations and whether the judgment applies to Indian defence personnel and its impact.

The weekly writes: “The laws have ruled homosexuality as a punishable offence, although it does not say it in explicit terms. Indian Army chief General Bipin Rawat had earlier said, in a meeting with Colonels and their spouses to Manekshaw Centre in Delhi that “moral turpitude” was unpardonable. The apex court’s order has brought definition of “moral turpitude” into question. Section 45 the Army Act, 1950, talks about the “unbecoming conduct” of officers without detailing it. Section 46 (a) says any person guilty of any disgraceful conduct of a “cruel, indecent or unnatural kind” will, on conviction by court-martial, face up to seven years in jail.”

The Free Press Kashmir maintains: “Sections 45 and 46(a) of the Air Force Act, 1950, state the same. The Navy Act, 1957, says personnel guilty of any “indecent act” can be jailed for up to two years. One provision gives a jail term of up to two years for officers guilty of any “scandalous or fraudulent conduct or of any conduct unbecoming the character of an officer. The judgment will have to be read before seeing how the laws can impact the army, sources revealed. A few lawyers conveyed hope that order would legalise same-sex relations for the military too.”