A peep behind the veil
The latest in this round is the Purulia arms drop. Clearly, in an increasingly belligerent environment, to be forewarned is to be forearmed. Kasturi, associate editor of the Indian Defence Review and a defence contributor, has tried to remove the veil from the country's top agencies—IB, RAW and military intelligence (MI). The book doesn't reveal the underbelly, but it does explain the intelligence structure, something rarely discussed outside the hallowed portals of South Block.
One example of an intelligence goof-up is the Chinese aggression in 1962. On the flip side, the intelligence machinery worked at its best during the 1971 eastern theatre in Bangladesh, where RAW and MI combined beautifully.
Kasturi traces the art of intelligence gathering from the days of Kautilya's Arthashastra to P.V. Narasimha Rao. Intelligence gathering during Nehru's time was confined to external information and setting up of structures. Kasturi points out that during Indira Gandhi's tenure, intelligence included political snooping on rivals. Morarji Desai, after having spent the better part of his life being shadowed, had a deep distrust of intelligence agencies. So when RAW came up with its scoop on Pakistan's nuclear arsenal, the prime minister tipped off Pakistani diplomats!
Despite the clout and unaudited accounts that IB and RAW have access to, Kasturi says the intelligence community in India is still the underclass and attitudes need to change. Unfortunately, 100 pages and some shabby editing only add to the disorientation regarding the intelligence services.