The way Indian internal security has been strained due to internal conflicts, sponsored and sustained by outside forces, there is a need to rethink effective steps to be taken. Violent agitations planned and organised from outside are not spontaneous, whether it was farmers’ agitation or anti-CAA protests. It is true that chasm exists in Indian polity and it was openly being exploited by enemies by making use of fifth columnists. The only way to handle them is to use similar methods. It is known maxim that diamond cuts diamond.
I have been a long votary of use of the ‘moles’ for inside information to successfully handle insurgency/militancy operations. If you have the right informers in the right places, you do not have to conduct large-scale military operations, which become the cause of nursing resentment and hatred amongst the local populace against the security forces.
The use of moles prevents the disturbance of the population. Thus, security forces can snatch the initiative from the insurgents/terrorists. This is the primary requisite to defeat insurgency/militancy. Remember: GUNS DO NOT WIN BATTLES, IT IS THE ‘VIBHISHANAS OF RAMAYANA’ WHO DO IT. Unfortunately, India fails to learn this lesson from its own great epic. No wonder it grapples in the dark when it comes to deal with insurgency and terrorism.
Elimination of Abu Ismail and his colleague on 14 September 2017 in J&K, both Pakistani terrorists of LeT responsible for the killing of eight Amarnath pilgrims and wounding of 20 others, had undoubtedly highlighted the importance of actionable and pinpointed information in ‘War by Other Means’ (WOM). This can only be possible once security forces develop moles or ‘inside informers’ within militant organisations.
Big mistake
My battalion had successfully done this in 1990-92 against ULFA in ASSAM. We did it without causing any disturbance to general public. I called it finding a NEEDLE IN THE HAY STACK. This has been amply explained in my recent book, ULFA INSURGENCY IN ASSAM, published in March 2018. I have been advocating this strategy since then. Unfortunately, the army had dithered from this in the last few years.
It had committed a big mistake in dismantling Technical Support Division (TSD), which was doing an excellent job in the Kashmir valley. With the recent elimination of some top militant leaders in the valley, it seems the army operations are back on track. The role of moles in militancy-infested areas has been fully justified. Moles help you to avoid disturbing the population foliage in the urban jungles of concrete.
However, India has been a reluctant practitioner of this need. In fact, it had been persecuting its intelligent people who indulge in extracting such information. Ishrat Jahan’s elimination based on IB inputs in recent years had put the poor police offices in great difficulties. The case of DG Vanzara and others is well known. Indian politicians sacrifice national security for their short-term political gains. This was done in the case of Lt Col S Purohit who was deliberately entrapped in the Malegaon blasts and Samjhauta Express terror attack for political gains. The truth about his activities was well known to everyone in the power structure of the country. And the result was Lt Col Purohit had to incarcerate in jails without trial for almost nine years.
WIKILEAKS revelations
A WIKILEAKS revelation suggests that much hyped and honoured ex-Maharashtra Police ATS Chief, late Hemant Karkare, might have been on the payroll of the US Embassy in New Delhi. He might have been a CIA MOLE in the Indian establishment, with links with political masters. It has been revealed in an article that he had met a very senior US DIPLOMAT in New Delhi. When he got killed in MUMBAI 26/11 terror attack, it was resented by his handlers in US Embassy. The day Karkare was eliminated in a pre-planned ambush during the Mumbai attacks, a cable sent to the US read: “We have lost an important link and vital evidence”. This is how intelligence agencies rope in high officials of administration to get inside information.
While the whole nation has been mum on this revelation by WIKILEAKS, since 2010, Lt Col S P Purohit had to suffer almost nine years in Indian jails without a trial on trumped-up charges by the same police officer, who was allegedly on the payroll of US Embassy. There is no doubt that Lt Col Purohit being from military intelligence had penetrated some anti-national organisation but with high-up links in the Indian establishment. He might have collected information on some of these Indian collaborators. Was Hemant Karkare and some politicians along with some Indian military intelligence operators part of this collaboration? You never know.
But revelations being made by LT Col S Purohit after his release on bail by Supreme Court do suggest that such a collaboration existed and his frame-up in the Malegaon blast case was a cover-up for some big fish. He has now alleged that Dawood Ibrahim, the noted underworld gangster, responsible for the Mumbai blasts in 1993 was in Mumbai in 2005. He has also stated that a top Kashmiri leader, while in the government, used his red beacon vehicle to ferry Kashmiri militants and fake currency. This needs investigations because the recent arrest by the NIA of some Kashmiri separatists for hawala money do point towards such a possibility.
It has now come out that the Army Court of Inquiry had cleared Lt Col S Purohit of the allegation of possessing RDX as was alleged by the Maharashtra ATS under Hemant Karkare. Even the ATS witnesses have retracted and stated that they were forced to make statements by the ATS boss. Why did Hemat Karkare do this? Was he covering his CIA connections and exploiting the need of some politicians to rake up ‘Hindu Terror’ bogey to garner Muslim votes. Were the politicians and ATS chief complementing each other’s need to survive? It was definitely a marriage of convenience with gaping holes that are now emitting stinking gasses.
We also need to know what was Lt Col Purohit doing before he was splashed with Malegaon blast conspiracy accusations. I do not blame the CIA or the USA, it is their job to create MOLE in our administrative structure. And as an ATS boss in Maharashtra, if true, HEMANT Karkare was a good catch for the USA.
Shocking claims
In Fact, the revelations by Pakistani journalist Nusrat Mirza about the ex-Vice President of India, Hamid Ansari, are really shocking. It seems Pakistan’s ISI has been able to penetrate deeper into the Indian establishment. Mirza claims that he had worked for ISI and managed his trips to India through the good offices of Hamid Ansari. Why is he saying so, is not known? Maybe he was deliberately doing it to widen the gulf between Hindus and Muslims. But explanations by Hamid Ansari and the Congress party (then ruling party) are not convincing. Mirza’s claim that he had visited seven big cities of India, does prove that some big mole existed in the Indian establishment, who was facilitating his visits. Ironically Hamid Ansari claims to know the journalist. And articles in some Indian media are pushing up a theory to say that Mirza was considered a controversial figure in Pakistan. It is nothing but an attempt to deflect the charges against Hamid Ansari. In fact, the other day, a Congress spokesperson, threatened News X, TV anchor, Medha Sharma with defamation for debating this.
The story of R&AW agent Rabinder Singh is also revealing that the national security in India is a joke. He defected to the USA when he was exposed. In the world of spies, such moles are very common. One should not forget the story of Ravindra Kaushik, an Indian RAW agent, also known as ‘The Black Tiger’, who had infiltrated the Pakistan army and served as a Major before he was caught due to the folly of another RAW agent. It is believed that the Bollywood movie ‘EK THA TIGER’ is based on his life. However, his story is hardly known to Indians. He had done a yeoman’s service to the nation.
Moles provide real-time information for effective actions by security forces. Most intelligence agencies use moles to carry out their covert operation. CIA of the USA and FSK (Federal counter-intelligence service) of Russia, earlier version was KGB, are known for such covert operations. Israel’s Mossad follows this with computerised precision. Therefore, it is important for the military to evolve the concept of moles in CI/CT operations. It is very essential to do so now because land warfare now taking the shape of exploitations of the internal vulnerabilities of your adversary. This comes under the name of WOM (war by Other Means). WsMD and BVR weapon systems have made monkey dancing of armies across the borders a difficult proposition.
Bihar exposé
India abounds in such vulnerabilities from religion to region to be exploited by its enemies. And add to it economic imbalances and unemployment caused by population explosion. Therefore, India would see more and more anti-national organisations, sponsored from outside, who would like to balkanise India. A recent exposé from Bihar comes about a planned operation called ‘Gazwa-e-Hind’ by 1947 by an anti-national organisation. The Indian military and intelligence agencies should, therefore, be concerned about such threats to internal security. Moles would be the answer to tackle them effectively.
-An ex-NDA and Wellington Staff College graduate, Col Rajinder Singh is a renowned author and security analyst. He has authored four books, two individually and two in collaboration. His best-selling books are Kashmir – A Different Perspective and The ULFA Insurgency. The views expressed are of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Raksha Anirveda
