Media is agog with
reports of proceedings against Colonel Hunny Bakshi being dropped, but not
about commendations for covert operations undertaken. The Latter is rightly so
because covert operations should never be publicised. Even as RAW has declassified some missions for whatever reasons, India
has not declassified official records of the 1962 India-China War, whereas the official records of the 1971
India-Pakistan War are not so official and sans inputs from HQ Eastern Command.
For inexplicable reasons, author of the book, India's External Intelligence
— Secrets of Research and Intelligence Wing (RAW) is reportedly being
subjected to pressures.
One prominent national
newspaper headline reads ‘Army drops all charges against Col Hunny’. The report says
that the Army has called off the general court martial (GCM) against Baksi, a
former CO of Technical Support Division (TSD), a secretive military
intelligence unit, which was set up in 2010 under former army chief General VK
Singh, and disbanded after he retired in 2012.
TSD faced allegations
ranging from misuse of secret funds, using off-the-air interceptors to tap
phones of Ministry of Defence (MoD) officials, attempt to topple Jammu and
Kashmir government, and change the line of succession in the Indian Army.
The cases against TSD
began after a Havildar from the outfit was “allegedly” intercepted with
classified information by the Department of Revenue Intelligence in Kerala
during May 2012.
But the manner in
which the UPA II government orchestrated the sordid affair of shutting
down TSD — which was giving ISI sleepless nights — and moulded perceptions
through disinformation would put even the capabilities of Cambridge Analytica
to shame. The TSD was sanctioned by the Ministry of Defence when General VK
Kapoor (VK Singh’s predecessor) was the army chief.
The 'mobile interceptors', around which the
whole story was cooked, were neither procured nor held by the TSD. These were
imported by the director general of Defence Intelligence Agency (DIA) which
functioned directly under Defence Minister AK Anthony and had nothing to do
with the Indian Army or the army chief. If mobile interceptors were deployed in
Delhi in 2012, it would be on orders of Anthony, then prime minister Manmohan
Singh and Congress president Sonia Gandhi. The story of bugging Anthony’s
office was cooked up to give credence to the ‘mobile interceptors’ narrative.
The same director
general of DIA offered bribes of Rs 14 cr to General VK Singh in the latter’s
office to push a defence deal, and when jailed later, a prominent lawyer from
the ruling party went rushing to get him bail.
The UPA II wanted to place this director general of DIA as director
general of National Technical Research Organisation (NTRO) but called it off
after the mobile interceptors scandal emerged in the media. The worst part was
leaking classified military intelligence to the media by the Ministry of
Defence, which again could not have been without Anthony’s indulgence. Whether
the higher-ups were under ISI blackmail due to the hawala transactions or
feared exposure to the narcotics mafia, the entire episode amounted to high
treason involving the highest level political dispensation of that time.
Significantly, several Indian politicians are known to be in the net of Dawood Ibrahim.
There is jubilation about charges being
dropped against Colonel Bakshi, some even attributing the movie Aiyaari replicating
the affair in an outstanding manner to the public at large. But the real reason
is that GCM was impossible without letting Colonel Bakshi cross-examine the
witnesses, which would have brought scores of skeletons tumbling out. For the
same reason, he was also not provided with copies of documents used against
him, not even a copy of the board of officers implicating him — which he is
authorised by law. His wife, Aparna has alleged in an interview recently that
it was not just her husband but that she too faced problems because of two former army chiefs.
It is obvious that the UPA II used the army hierarchy to shut down the
TSD but posts on social media question why some senior officers became a party
to political maneuvering despite adverse impact on army capability and national
security.
The 1993 Vohra Committee Report pointed to mafia virtually running
a parallel government: money power used to develop a network of muscle-power,
also used by the politicians during elections; rapid spread and growth of
criminal gangs, armed senas, drug mafias, smuggling gangs, drug peddlers and
economic lobbies, having developed extensive network of contacts with
bureaucrats/government functionaries at local levels, politicians, media
persons and strategically located individuals in non-State sector, some having
international linkages and foreign intelligence; various mafias operating with
impunity due links with governmental functionaries, political leaders, and
others; any leakage of linkages of this crime syndicate with senior government
functionaries or political leaders in the states or at the Centre could have a
destabilising effect on the functioning of government.
The above mafia is what some refer to as
‘Hamam’. Having infiltrated all institutions in the country, the ‘Hamam’ found
a simple solution to make the military to fall in line. The Intelligence Bureau
(IB) was ordered to initiate annual confidential reports (ACRs) on senior
officers that went directly to the party high command. Those with whatever
misdemeanors were tagged for future placements (and blackmail if needed), not
that only they were promoted. But these ACRs certainly helped crucial placement
at crucial times in all three Services.
The army cannot
proceed against Bakshi though justice has come by default on legal grounds,
with his career ruined. He will probably be posted to an obscure appointment
from where he would probably resign. There are many write-ups that Prime
Minister Narendra Modi hasn’t done enough against corruption. But here is a
case of high treason that requires the Hamam to be shattered. The least
requirement is speedy trial by a special court for all the traitors.
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