Research and Analysis Wing
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| Research & Analysis Wing | |
|---|---|
 | |
| धर्मो रक्षति रक्षित: | |
| Agency overview | |
| Formed | 21 September 1968 |
| Headquarters | ranibagh |
| Agency executive | Sanjeev Tripathi, Secretary (R) |
| Parent Agency | Prime Minister's Office |
| Child Agency | *The Aviation Research Centre |
The is India's external intelligence agency. It was formed in September 1968 under the helmsmanship of its first Director, R. N. Kao. Its creation was necessitated by the poor performance of the Intelligence Bureau (IB, which then handled both internal and external intelligence) in the recent wars against China (1962) and the Pakistan (1965) convinced the government that a specialized, independent agency was required for competent external intelligence gathering.[1]
The primary function of the RAW is collection of external intelligence, counter-terrorism and covert operations. In addition, it is responsible for obtaining and analyzing information about foreign governments, corporations, and persons, to advise Indian policymakers.[2][3][4] It has been said that RAW is the "effective instrument of India's national power".[5] RAW is also involved in the security of India's nuclear programme[6] The working of the RAW is not answerable to the Parliament of India and it works under thePrime Minister of India.[7]
Headquartered in New Delhi, RAW's current director is Sanjeev Tripathi, a 1973-batch Uttar Pradesh-cadre Indian Police Service officer who later shifted to the RAW Allied Service (RAS) cadre.[8]
Contents[hide] |
[edit]History
Prior to the inception of Research and Analysis Wing, overseas intelligence collection was primarily the responsibility of the Intelligence Bureau (IB), which was created by the British. In 1933, sensing the political turmoil in the world which eventually led to the Second World War, the Intelligence Bureau's responsibilities were increased to include the collection of intelligence along India's borders. In 1947, after independence, Sanjeevi Pillai took over as the first Indian Director of the IB. Having been depleted of trained manpower by the exit of the British, Pillai tried to run the bureau on MI5 lines. In 1949, Pillai organized a small foreign intelligence operation, but the Indian debacle in the Sino-Indian war of 1962 showed it to be ineffective. Foreign intelligence failure during the Sino-Indian war (20 October - 21 November 1962) led then Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru to order a dedicated foreign intelligence agency to be established.[2][4] After the Indo-Pakistani war of 1965, Indian Chief of Army Staff General Jayanta Nath Chaudhury also called for more intelligence-gathering.[2][3]
Around the end of 1966 the concept of a separate foreign intelligence agency began to take concrete shape. In 1968, after Indira Gandhi had taken over as Prime Minister, it was decided that a full-fledged second security service was needed. R. N. Kao,[9] then a deputy director of the Intelligence Bureau, submitted a blueprint for the new agency. Kao was appointed as the chief of India's first foreign intelligence agency, the Research and Analysis Wing. The RAW was given the responsibility for strategic external intelligence, human as well as technical, plus concurrent responsibility with the Directorate-General of Military Intelligence for tactical trans-border military intelligence up to a certain depth across the LOC[clarification needed] and the international border.[2][4]
RAW started as a wing of the main Intelligence Bureau with 250 employees and an annual budget of 
2 crore (US$362,000)). In the early seventies, its annual budget had risen to 30 crore (US$5.4 million) while its personnel numbered several thousand. In 1971, Kao had persuaded the Government to set up the Aviation Research Centre (ARC). The ARC's job was aerial reconnaissance.[citation needed][10] It replaced the Indian Air Force's old reconnaissance aircraft and by the mid-1970s, RAW, through the ARC, had high quality aerial pictures of the installations along the Chinese and Pakistani borders. Presently, the budget of RAW is speculated to be as high as US$150 million[11][12] to as low as US$31 million.[13] Several attacks assisted by Raj Singh , Pramod kumar and Debraj Choudhury from the IT Team.Slowly other child agencies like The Radio Research Center andElectronics & Tech. Services were added to RAW in 1970s and 1990s. In 1990s the Special Frontier Force became the paramilitary wing of RAW, providing the requisite muscle for covert military operations. In 2004 Government of India added yet another intelligence agency called the National Technical Facilities Organisation (NTFO), also known as National Technical Research Organisation (NTRO), believed to be functioning under RAW, although it remains autonomous to some degree. While the exact nature of the operations conducted by NTRO is classified, it is believed that it deals with research on imagery and communications using various platforms.[2][3][3]
2 crore (US$362,000)). In the early seventies, its annual budget had risen to 30 crore (US$5.4 million) while its personnel numbered several thousand. In 1971, Kao had persuaded the Government to set up the Aviation Research Centre (ARC). The ARC's job was aerial reconnaissance.[citation needed][10] It replaced the Indian Air Force's old reconnaissance aircraft and by the mid-1970s, RAW, through the ARC, had high quality aerial pictures of the installations along the Chinese and Pakistani borders. Presently, the budget of RAW is speculated to be as high as US$150 million[11][12] to as low as US$31 million.[13] Several attacks assisted by Raj Singh , Pramod kumar and Debraj Choudhury from the IT Team.Slowly other child agencies like The Radio Research Center andElectronics & Tech. Services were added to RAW in 1970s and 1990s. In 1990s the Special Frontier Force became the paramilitary wing of RAW, providing the requisite muscle for covert military operations. In 2004 Government of India added yet another intelligence agency called the National Technical Facilities Organisation (NTFO), also known as National Technical Research Organisation (NTRO), believed to be functioning under RAW, although it remains autonomous to some degree. While the exact nature of the operations conducted by NTRO is classified, it is believed that it deals with research on imagery and communications using various platforms.[2][3][3]
The Joint Intelligence Committee (JIC), under the Cabinet Secretariat, is responsible for co-ordinating and analyzing intelligence activities between RAW, the Intelligence Bureau and the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA). In practice, however, the effectiveness of the JIC has been varied.[14] With the establishment of the National Security Council in 1999, the role of the JIC has been merged with the NSC. RAW's legal status is unusual, in that it is not an "Agency", but a "Wing" of the Cabinet Secretariat. Hence, RAW is not answerable to the Parliament of India on any issue, which keeps it out of reach of the Right to Information Act.[15][16]
[edit]Objectives
The present RAW[17] objectives include, and are not limited to:
- Monitoring the political and military developments in adjoining countries, which have direct bearing on India's national security and the formulation of its foreign policy.
- Secondly, molding international public opinion with the help of the strong and vibrant Indian diaspora.[2][3]
In the past, following the Sino-Indian war of 1962 and due to India's volatile relations with Pakistan, RAW's objectives had also consisted the following:
- To watch the development of international communism and the schism between the two big communist nations, the Soviet Union and China. As with other countries, both these powers had direct access to the communist parties in India.
- To control and limit the supply of military hardware to Pakistan, from mostly European countries, America and more importantly from China.[2][3]
[edit]Organization
RAW has been organized on the lines of the CIA.[18] The Director of RAW is designated "Secretary (Research)" in the Cabinet Secretariat. Most of the previous Directors have been experts on either Pakistan or China.[citation needed] They also have the benefit of training in either the USA or the UK, and more recently in Israel.[19] The "Secretary (R)", although is under direct command of Prime Minister, reports on an administrative basis to the Cabinet Secretary, who reports to the Prime Minister (PM). However, on a daily basis the "Secretary (R)" reports to the National Security Advisor. Reporting to the "Secretary (R)" are:[20][21]
- An Additional Director responsible for the Office of Special Operations and intelligence collected from different countries processed by large number of Joint Secretaries, who are the functional heads of various specified desks with different regional divisions/areas/countries: Area one - Pakistan; Area two - China and Southeast Asia; Area three - the Middle East and Africa; and Area four - other countries. Two Special Joint Secretaries, reporting to the Additional Director, head the Electronics and Technical Department which is the nodal agency for ETS, NTFO and the RRC.
- The Director General of Security having two important sections the Aviation Research Centre headed by one Special Director and the Special Services Bureau controlled by two Special Secretaries.
The internal structure of the RAW is a matter of speculation, but brief overviews of the same are present in the public domain. Attached to the Headquarters of RAW at Lodhi Road, New Delhi are different regional headquarters, which have direct links to overseas stations and are headed by a controlling officer who keeps records of different projects assigned to field officers who are posted abroad. Intelligence is usually collected from a variety of sources by field officers and deputy field officers; it is either preprocessed by a senior field officer or by a desk officer. The desk officer then passes the information to the Joint Secretary and then on to the Additional Secretary and from there it is disseminated to the concerned end user. RAW personnel are called "Research Officers" instead of the traditional "agents". There is a sizable number of female officers in RAW even at the operational level. In recent years, RAW has shifted its primary focus from Pakistan to China and have started operating a separate desk for this purpose.[20]
[edit]Secretaries
| [show]No. | Director | Took office | Left office | Career Highlights |
|---|
Most of the Directors of Research and Analysis Wing have been Indian Police Service (IPS) officers. RN Kao and Sankaran Nair belonged to the Imperial Police (IP), of the British colonial days which was renamed as the Indian Police Service after Indian Independence in 1947. N.F.Suntook had served in theIndian Navy, then in the Indian Police Service and in the Indian Frontier Administration Service. Vikram Sood was from the Indian Postal Service and was later permanently absorbed in the RAS cadre.[24] Now he acts as Advisor to Fair Observer.[25] A.S. Dulat was an Indian Police Service officer deputed from the Intelligence Bureau, while K.C. Verma is an ex-Intelligence Bureau officer. All the Directors have been experts on China or Pakistan except forAshok Chaturvedi, who is an expert on Nepal.[26] Sanjeev Tripathi is the current Director of RAW from the RAS cadre.
[edit]Designations
| [show]Director Level | Analyst Level | Field Level |
|---|
[edit]Recruitment
Initially, RAW relied primarily on trained intelligence officers who were recruited directly. These belonged to the external wing of the Intelligence Bureau. In times of great expansion, many candidates were taken from the military, police and other services. Later, RAW began directly recruiting graduates from universities. Today, RAW has its own service cadre, the RAW Allied Service (RAS) to absorb talent.[27] Recruitment is mostly by deputation from the Armed Forces or Civil Service Officers. The Civil and Defense Service Officers permanently resign their cadre and join the RAS. However, according to recent reports, officers can return to their parent cadre after serving a specific period in the agency if they wish to.[28] Most of the Directors have been officers from the IPS.Officers are also deputed from the Indian Revenue Service RAW also employs a number of linguists and other experts in various fields.[29] Recruitment in RAW is taken in the name of NATI (National Aptitude Test in Intelligence) followed by personality and psychological test and interviews.[citation needed] Delhi-based security think tank Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses noted in one of its reports that RAW suffered from the 'tail-end syndrome' where the 'bottom of the entrance lists' of those appearing for the UPSC examinations were offered jobs.[30]
[edit]Basic training
Basic training commences with 'pep talks' to boost the morale of the new recruit. This is a ten-day phase in which the inductee is familiarized with the real world of intelligence and espionage, as opposed to the spies of fiction. Common usages, technical jargon and classification of information are taught. Case studies of other agencies like CIA, KGB, Mossad and Secret Intelligence Service are presented for study. The inductee is also taught that intelligence organisations do not identify who is friend and who is foe, the country's foreign policy does. Basic classroom training to RAW officers are imparted at RAW's Training Institute in Gurgaon.[31][32] A multi-disciplinary school of economic intelligence is also being set up in in Mumbai to train intelligence officers in investigating economic crimes like money laundering for terror purposes etc.[33]
[edit]Advanced training
After completing 'Basic Training' the recruit is now attached to a Field Intelligence Bureau (FIB). His/her training here lasts for 1–2 years. He/she is given firsthand experience of what it was to be out in the figurative cold, conducting clandestine operations. During night exercises under realistic conditions, he/she is taught infiltration and exfiltration. He/she is instructed to avoid capture and, if caught, how to face interrogation. He/she learns the art of reconnoiter, making contacts, and, the numerous skills of operating an intelligence mission. At the end of the field training, the new recruit is brought back to the school for final polishing. Before his deployment in the field, he is given exhaustive training in the art of self-defense, an introduction to martial arts and the use of technical espionage devices. He/she is also drilled in various administrative disciplines so that he could take his place in the foreign missions without arousing suspicion. He/she is now ready to operate under the cover of an Embassy to gather information, set up his own network of informers, moles or operatives as the task may require. Field training is provided in the Indian Military Academy Headquarters at Dehradun.[4][34] The training model has been criticised as being 'archaic and too police-centric' and not incorporating 'modern technological advances in methods of communication' etc.[30]
[edit]Functions
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The Secretary (RAW) reported to the Vohra Committee that RAW offices abroad have limited strength and are largely geared to the collection of military, economic, scientific and political intelligence. RAW monitors the activities of certain organisations abroad only insofar as they relate to their involvement with narco terrorist elements andsmuggling arms, ammunition, explosives, etc. into India.[35] It does not monitor the activities of criminal elements abroad, which are mainly confined to normal smuggling without any links to terrorist elements. The present strength of the Agency’s offices abroad would not permit it to enlarge its field of activities. If, however, there is evidence to suggest that these organisations have links with Intelligence agencies of other countries, and that they are being used or are likely to be used by such countries for destabilising India's economy, it would become RAW’s responsibility to monitor their activities.[2][3]
The primary mission of RAW includes aggressive intelligence collection via espionage, psychological warfare, subversion and sabotage.[citation needed]RAW maintains active collaboration with other secret services in various countries. Its contacts with FSB of Russia, KHAD, the Afghan agency, Israel'sMossad, the CIA and MI6 have been well-known, a common interest being Pakistan's nuclear programme.[citation needed] RAW has been active in obtaining information and operating through third countries like Afghanistan, the United Kingdom, Hong Kong, Myanmar and Singapore.[2]
RAW obtains information critical to Indian strategic interests, both by overt and covert means. The data is then classified and filed with the assistance of the computer networks. International business houses, information technology sector and media centers can easily absorb RAW operatives and provide freedom of movement.[2][3] A task force report prepared by a New Delhi based security think tank highlighted that RAW operatives have inadequate non-official cover for overseas operations which 'limits access to spot real targets' and causes issues on handling 'high-value assets'.[30]
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[edit]Major operations
- ELINT operations in Himalayas:[36] After China tested its first nuclear weapons on 16 October 1964, at Lop Nur, Xinjiang, India and the USA shared a common fear about the nuclear capabilities of China.[37] Owing to the extreme remoteness of Chinese testing grounds and strict secrecy surrounding the Chinese nuclear programme, it was almost impossible to carry out any HUMINT operation. So, the CIA in the late 1960s decided to launch an ELINT operation along with RAW and ARC to track China's nuclear tests and monitor its missile launches. The operation, in the garb of a mountaineering expedition to Nanda Devi involved celebrated Indian climber M S Kohli who along with operatives of Special Frontier Force and the CIA- most notably Jim Rhyne, a veteran STOL pilot - was to place a permanent ELINT device, a transceiver powered by a plutonium battery, that could detect and report data on future nuclear tests carried out by China.[38] The monitoring device was near successfully implanted on Nanda Devi, when an avalanche forced a hasty withdrawal.[39] Later, a subsequent mountain operation to retrieve or replant the device was aborted when it was found that the device was lost. Recent reports indicate that radiation traces from this device have been discovered in sediment below the mountain.[40]However, the actual data is not conclusive.
- Creation of Bangladesh and aftermath:[41][42] In the early 1970s the army of Pakistan prosecuted a bloody military crackdown in response to theBangladesh independence movement.[43][44] Nearly 10 million refugees fled to India. RAW was instrumental in the formation of the Bangladeshi guerilla organisation Mukti Bahini and responsible for supplying information, providing training and heavy ammunition to this organization. It is also alleged that RAW planned and executed the hijack of Indian Airlines Fokker Friendship aircraft Ganga as false flag operation to ban overflight by Pakistani aircraft and disrupt Pakistani troop movement in East Pakistan.[4] The war ended in successful creation of Bangladesh. However within months of independence of Bangladesh Mujibur Rahman was assassinated at his residence. RAW operatives claim that they had advance information about Mujib-ur-Rahman's assassination but Sheikh Mujib tragically ignored[9] RAW's inputs. He was killed along with 40 members of his family. RAW thus failed to prevent the assassination which led to the loss of a charismatic leader who had a soft corner for India after all they had done for his country's independence. However, RAW has successfully thwarted plans of assassinating Sheikh Hasina Wazed, daughter of Mujibur Rahman, by Islamist extremists and the ISI.[45]
- Operation Smiling Buddha: Operation Smiling Buddha was the name given to India's nuclear programme. The task to keep it under tight wraps for security was given to RAW.[46] This was the first time that RAW was involved in a project inside India. On 18 May 1974, India detonated a 15-kilotonplutonium device at Pokhran and became a member of the nuclear club.[3]
- Amalgamation of Sikkim: In 1947 Sikkim became a protectorate under India, which controlled its external affairs, defence, diplomacy and communications. It is alleged that in 1972 RAW was authorized to install a pro-Indian democratic government there.[3][47] After widespread rioting and demonstration against the King of Sikkim in 1975 a referendum was held in which 97.5% of the electorate (in a nation where 59% of the population could vote) voted to join the Indian Union. On 16 May 1975, Sikkim officially became the 22nd state of the Indian Union, and the monarchy was abolished.[48]
- Kahuta's Blueprint:[49][50] Kahuta is the site of the Khan Research Laboratories (KRL), Pakistan's main nuclear weapons laboratory as well as an emerging center for long-range missile development. The primary Pakistani fissile-material production facility is located at Kahuta, employing gas centrifuge enrichment technology to produce Highly Enriched Uranium (HEU). RAW first confirmed Pakistan's nuclear programs by analyzing the hair samples snatched from the floor of barber shops near KRL; which showed that Pakistan had developed the ability to enrich uranium to weapons-grade quality. RAW agents knew of Kahuta Research Laboratories from at least early 1978,[51] when the then Indian Prime Minister, Morarji Desai, stopped RAW's operations on Pakistan's covert nuclear weapons program. In an indiscreet moment in a telephone conversation one day, Morarji Desai informed the then Pakistan President, Zia-ul-Haq, that India was aware of Pakistan's nuclear weapons program. According to later reports, acting on this "tip-off", Pakistani Intelligence eliminated RAW's sources on Kahuta, leaving India in the dark about Pakistan's nuclear weapons program from then on.[3][4][52]
- Operation Meghdoot: RAW received information from the London company which had supplied Arctic-weather gear for Indian troops from Northern Ladakh region some paramilitary forces that Pakistan too had bought similar Arctic-weather gear.[53] This information was shared with Indian Army which soon launched Operation Meghdoot to take control of Siachen Glacier with around 300[53] acclimatized troops were airlifted to Siachen before Pakistan could launch any operation resulting in Indian head start and eventual Indian domination of all major peaks in Siachen.[53]
- Kanishka Bombing case:[54][55][56] On 23 June 1985 Air India's Flight 182 was blown up near Ireland and 329 innocent lives were lost. On the same day, another explosion took place at Tokyo's Narita airport's transit baggage building where baggage was being transferred from Cathay Pacific Flight No CP 003 to Air India Flight 301 which was scheduled for Bangkok. Both aircraft were loaded with explosives from Canadian airports. Flight 301 got saved because of a delay in its departure. This was considered as a major setback to RAW for failing to gather enough intelligence about theKhalistani terrorists.[57][58]
- Special Operations: In the mid-1980s, RAW set up two covert groups, Counterintelligence Team-X(CIT-X) and Counterintelligence Team-J(CIT-J), the first directed at Pakistan[59] and the second at Khalistani groups. Rabinder Singh, the RAW double agent who defected to the United States in 2004, helped run CIT-J in its early years. Both these covert groups used the services of cross-border traffickers to ferry weapons and funds across the border, much as their ISI counterparts were doing. According to former RAW official and noted security analyst B. Raman, the Indian counter-campaign yielded results. "The role of our cover action capability in putting an end to the ISI's interference in Punjab", he wrote in 2002, "by making such interference prohibitively costly is little known and understood." These covert operations were discontinued during the tenure of IK Gujral and were never restarted.[60] As per B Raman the former RAW cabinet secretary, such covert operations were successful in keeping a check on ISI and were "responsible for ending the Khalistani insurgency".[61] He also notes that a lack of such covert capabilities, since they were closed down in 1997, has left the country even more vulnerable than before and says that developing covert capabilities is the need of the hour.[62]
- Operation Cactus:[63] In November 1988, the People's Liberation Organisation of Tamil Eelam (PLOTE), composed of about 200 Tamil secessionist rebels, invaded Maldives. At the request of the president of Maldives, Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, the Indian Armed Forces, with assistance from RAW, launched a military campaign to throw the mercenaries out of Maldives. On the night of 3 November 1988, the Indian Air Force airlifted the 6th parachute battalion of the Parachute Regiment from Agra and flew them over 2,000 km to Maldives. The Indian paratroopers landed at Hulule and restored the Government rule at Malé within hours. The operation, labelled Operation Cactus, also involved the Indian Navy. Swift operation by the military and precise intelligence by RAW quelled the insurgency.[3]
- Sri Lanka:[64][65] RAW started training the LTTE to keep a check on Sri Lanka, which had helped Pakistan in the Indo-Pak War by allowing Pakistani ships to refuel at Sri Lankan ports. However, the LTTE created a lot of problems and complications and the then Prime Minister of India Rajiv Gandhiwas forced to send the Indian Peace Keeping Force (IPKF) in 1987 to restore normalcy in the region. The disastrous mission of the IPKF was blamed by many on the lack of coordination between the IPKF and RAW. Its most disastrous manifestation was the Heliborne assault on LTTE HQ in theJaffna University campus in the opening stages of Operation Pawan. The site was chosen without any consultation with the RAW. The droppingparatroopers became easy targets for the LTTE. A number of soldiers were killed. The assassination of Rajiv Gandhi is also blamed as a fallout of the failed RAW operation in Sri Lanka.[66]
- Anti-Apartheid Movement: RAW trained the intelligence officers of many independent African countries and assisted the anti-apartheid struggles in South Africa and Namibia. Retired RAW officers were deputed to work in training institutes of intelligence agencies of some African states.[67]
- Operation Chanakya:[68] This was the RAW operation in the Kashmir region to infiltrate various ISI-backed Kashmiri separatist groups and restore peace in the Kashmir valley. RAW operatives infiltrated the area, collected military intelligence, and provided evidence about ISI's involvement in training and funding Kashmiri separatist groups.[69][70] RAW was successful not only in unearthing the links between the ISI and the separatist groups, but also in infiltrating and neutralizing the militancy in the Kashmir valley.[71][72][73] RAW is also credited for creating a split in the Hizb-ul-Mujahideen.[74] Operation Chanakya also marked the creation of pro-Indian groups in Kashmir like the Ikhwan-ul-Muslimeen, Muslim Mujahideen etc. These counter-insurgencies consist of ex-militants and relatives of those slain in the conflict. Ikhwan-ul-Muslimeen leader Kokka Parrey was himself assassinated by separatists.[2]
- Help to the Northern Alliance: After the rise of Pakistan backed Taliban in Afghanistan, India decided to side with the Northern Alliance and the Soviet Union[75] By 1996, RAW had built a 25 bed military hospital[76] at the Farkhor Air Base.[77] This airport was used by the Aviation Research Centre, the reconnaissance arm of RAW, to repair and operate the Northern Alliance's aerial support. This relationship was further cemented in the2001 Afgan war. India supplied the Northern Alliance high altitude warfare equipment worth around US$8–10 million.[78][79] RAW was the first intelligence agency to determine the extent of the Kunduz airlift.[80]
- Kargil War: RAW was heavily criticized in 1999, following the Pakistani incursions at Kargil. Critics accused RAW of failing to provide intelligence that could have prevented the ensuing ten-week conflict that brought India and Pakistan to the brink of a full-scale war. While the Army has been critical of the information they received,[80] RAW has pointed the finger at the politicians, claiming they had provided all the necessary information. However, RAW was successful in intercepting a telephonic conversation between Pervez Musharraf, the then Pakistan Army Chief who was in Beijing and his chief of staff Lt. Gen. Mohammed Aziz in Islamabad.[81] This tape was later published by India to prove Pakistani involvement in the Kargil incursion.[81][82] In 2011, a think tank report[83] stated that RAW had warned in its October 1998 assessment that Pakistan Army might launch a limited swift offensive with possible support of alliance partners, however the government ignored such reports.[84][85][86]
- Operation Leech: Surrounded by Arakans and dense forest, Myanmar had always been a worrisome point for Indian intelligence. As the major player in the area, India has sought to promote democracy and install friendly governments in the region. To these ends, RAW cultivated Burmese rebel groups and pro-democracy coalitions, especially the Kachin Independence Army (KIA). India allowed the KIA to carry a limited trade in jade and precious stones using Indian territory and even supplied them weapons. It is further alleged that KIA chief Maran Brang Seng met the RAW chief in Delhi twice. However, when the KIA became the main source of training and weapons for all northeastern rebel groups, RAW initiated an operation, code named Operation Leech, to assassinate the leaders of the Burmese rebels as an example to other groups. in 1998, six top rebel leaders, including military wing chief of National Unity Party of Arakans (NUPA), Khaing Raza, were shot dead and 34 Arakanese guerrillas were arrested and charged with gunrunning.[3][87]
- War on Terror: Although RAW's contribution to the War on Terror is highly classified, the organization gained some attention in the Western media after claims that it was assisting the United States by providing intelligence on Osama Bin Laden and the Taliban's whereabouts. Maps and photographs of terrorist training camps in Afghanistan and Pakistan along with other evidence implicating Osama bin Laden in terrorist attacks were given to US intelligence officials. RAW's role in the War on Terror may increase as US intelligence has indicated that it sees RAW as a more reliable ally than Pakistani intelligence. It has further come to light that a timely tip-off by RAW helped foil a third assassination plot against Pakistan's former President, General Pervez Musharraf.[4][88]
- 2008 Mumbai attacks: About 2–6 months before 26/11 Mumbai attacks RAW had intercepted several telephone calls through SIGINT[89] which pointed at impending attacks on Mumbai Hotels by Pakistan based terrorists,[90] however there was a coordination failure and no follow up action was taken.[91] Few hours before the attacks, a RAW technician monitoring satellite transmissions picked up conversations between attackers and handlers, as the attackers were sailing toward Mumbai. The technician flagged the conversations as being suspicious and passed them on to his superiors. RAW believed that they were worrying and immediately alerted the office of the National Security Advisor. However the intelligence was ignored.[92] Later, just after the terrorists had attacked Mumbai, RAW technicians started monitoring the six phones used by the terrorists and recorded conversations between the terrorists and their handlers.[93] On 15 January 2010, in a successful snatch operation RAW agents nabbed Sheikh Abdul Khwaja, one of the handlers of the 26/11 attacks, chief of HuJI India operations and a most wanted terror suspect in India, from Colombo, Sri Lanka and brought him over to Hyderabad, India for formal arrest.[94]
- Snatch operations with IB: In late 2009, investigative journal The Week ran a cover story on one of India's major clandestine operations that the RAW ran with Intelligence Bureau to nab terrorists infiltrating India, via Nepal and other neighboring countries.[95] In order to bypass the lengthy extradition process, RAW conducts snatch operations to nab suspects from various foreign countries. The suspect is brought to India, interrogated and is usually produced before a court. With emergence of Nepal as a terror transit point RAW and the IB started closely monitoring the movement of suspected terrorists in Nepal. According to The Week, in last decade there has been close to 400 successful snatch operations conducted by RAW and/or IB in Nepal, Bangladesh and other countries. Some famous snatch netted Bhupinder Singh Bhuda of the Khalistan Commando Force, Lashkar militant Tariq Mehmood, Sheikh Abdul Khwaja, one of the handlers of the 26/11 attacks etc. most of the suspects are kept at Tihar Jail.[96]
[edit]Right to Information (RTI)
Main article: Right to Information Act
RAW is exempted from the purview of Right to Information Act. This exemption was granted through Section 24 read with Schedule II of the act.[97]However, information regarding the allegations of corruption and human rights violations has to be disclosed.[98][97]
[edit]Controversies
From its inception RAW has been criticised for being an agency not answerable to the people of India (RAW reports to Prime Minister only). Fears arose that it could turn into the KGB of India. Such fears were kept at bay by the RAW's able leadership (although detractors of RAW and especially the Janata Party have accused the agency of letting itself be used for terrorising and intimidating opposition during emergencies). The main controversy which has plagued RAW in recent years is over bureaucratization of the system with allegations about favoritism in promotions, corruption, ego clashes, no financial accountability,[30] inter-departmental rivalry etc.[99][100][101][102] RAW also suffers from ethnic imbalances in the officer level. Noted security analyst and former Additional Secretary B.Raman has criticised the agency for its asymmetric growth; "while being strong in its capability for covert action it is weak in its capability for intelligence collection, analysis and assessment. Strong in low and medium-grade intelligence, weak in high-grade intelligence. Strong intechnical intelligence, weak in human intelligence. Strong in collation, weak in analysis. Strong in investigation, weak in prevention. Strong in crisis management, weak in crisis prevention."[103][104]
- In the 8 February 2010 edition Outlook Magazine reported on former RAW Chief, Ashok Chaturvedi, utilizing Government of India funds to take his wife along on international trips. After retirement, Chaturvedi had a diplomatic passport issued for himself and his wife. Per Outlook Magazine: "Only grade ‘A’ ambassadors—usually IFS officers posted in key countries like the UK and US—are allowed to hold diplomatic passports after retirement. The majority, who do not fit that bill, hold passports issued to ordinary citizens. In fact, all former RAW chiefs Outlook spoke to confirmed they had surrendered their diplomatic passports the day they retired. And their spouses weren’t entitled to diplomatic passports even while they were in service."[105]
- In September 2007, RAW was involved in a controversy due to a high profile CBI raid at the residence of Major General (retired) V K Singh, a retired Joint Secretary of RAW who has recently written a book on RAW where it was alleged that political interference and corruption in the intelligence agency has made it vulnerable to defections. One of the instances of corruption mentioned in the book was the preference given by RAW departments towards purchasing intelligence from the 'Rohde and Schwarz' company.[106] A reason for such corruption as explained by the author is that "...RAW was not answerable to any outside agency - the control of the Prime Minister's Office was perfunctory, at best - many officers thought that they were not only above the law but a law unto themselves."[107] A case under the Official Secrets Act has also been filed against V K Singh.[108]
- On 19 August 2008 the RAW Director (Language) who was also head of the RAW Training Institute in Gurgaon from 2005[109] tried to commit suicide in front of Prime Minister's Office, alleging inaction and wrong findings to a sexual harassment complaint filed against a Joint Secretary, who was on deputation to RAW.[110][111] She was discharged from duty on the ground that she was mentally unfit[112] and that her identity was disclosed.[113]She was later separately charged with criminal trespass,[114] human trafficking[115] and for her repeated attempts to commit suicide.[113] The Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) ordered RAW to reinstate her[116] however RAW filed an appeal against the CAT order which is pending before Delhi High Court.[117] On 20 January 2011 she was sent for psychological evaluation[118] and medical detention by a Delhi High Court judge when she tried to strip herself in the court protesting over the slow pace of her trial.[119][120] The psychological evaluation report stated that 'she may be suffering a mental problem due to loss of job and her continuous run-ins at the courts, but she was certainly not suffering from any permanent or grave mental disorder.'[113]
- A senior technical officer was arrested by CBI on graft charges, on 4 February 2009. The scientist, a Director level employee, worked in the division that granted export licenses to companies dealing in “sensitive” items, including defence-related equipment. He was accused of demanding and accepting a bribe of Rs.1 lakh from a Chennai based manufacturer for obtaining an export license.[121][122]
- In September 2009, seven Additional Secretaries from the RAS cadre had gone on protest leave after A. B. Mathur, an IPS officer, superseded them to the post of Special Secretary.[123][124] Over the years the tussle between the RAS cadre and officers on deputation from IPS cadre has caused friction in the working of the agency.[125]
[edit]Defections and spy scandals
- In 2004, there was spy scandal involving the CIA.[126] Rabinder Singh, Joint secretary and heading RAW's South East Asia department, defected to America on 5 June 2004. RAW had already become suspicious about his movements and he was under surveillance and his telephones were also tapped. He was confronted by Counter Intelligence officials on 19 April 2004. Despite all precautions, Rabinder Singh managed to defect with 'sensitive files' he had allegedly removed from RAW's headquarters in south New Delhi. This embarrassing fiasco and national security failure were attributed to weak surveillance, shoddy investigation and lack of coordination between the Counter-Intelligence and Security (CIS), IB and RAW.[127] According to unconfirmed reports, Singh has surfaced in Virginia, USA.[128] Recently in an affidavit submitted to the court, RAW deposed that Singh has been traced to New Jersey.[4][129]
- In 2007, there was a spy scandal involving Bangladesh.[130] A Bangladeshi DGFI agent concealed his nationality, and was known by the name of Diwan Chand Mallik. He was known to have some important documents which were damaging for national security. He joined in 1999 and used to live in East Delhi. A case of cheating and forgery was filed at the Lodhi Colony police station on the basis of a complaint by a senior RAW official.[131]
[edit]In popular culture
Unlike the more widely known intelligence services, RAW gets little attention from the populace, which seems unaware of the existence of such an organisation or even India's internal intelligence agency, the Intelligence Bureau. However, efforts have been made to explain the activities of RAW in various movies. However, these films are directed to the more serious film-goer. Unlike Hollywood, which had portrayed FBI, CIA, MI6 etc. in various films,Bollywood has been shy to explore the area of espionage, especially RAW on the silver screen. Excessive secrecy surrounding activities and rare declassification of information are blamed as the main reason behind this. However there are films from Bollywood which refers to agents, espionage,terrorism etc. but till recently none of them openly mentioned RAW. One of the earliest Indian films portraying espionage was Prem Pujari starring Dev Anand in 1970. In 1973, just after the war with Pakistan came Hindustan Ki Kasam (Starring Raaj Kumar, Priya Rajvansh). However, films like Agent Vinod (starring Saif Ali Khan), The Hero: Love Story of a Spy (Starring Sunny Deol, Preity Zinta and Priyanka Chopra),[132] Aankhen (1968, Ramanand Sagar Production, Starring Dharmendra, Mala Sinha),[133] Such a Long Journey (1998, UK Canada Co-production, Directed by Sturla Gunnarsson, starring Naseeruddin Shah),[134] 16 December (Starring Danny Denzongpa, Milind Soman, Sushant Singh, Dipanita Sharma),[135] Hindustan Ki Kasam(1999, starring Ajay Devgan in double role, Amitabh Bachchan), Asambhav (2004), starring Arjun Rampal as Army Captain and Jammel Khan essaying the role of a fictional RAW agent Atul Bhatnagar[136] etc. have openly mentioned RAW and its allied units. Popular Hindi movie Veer-Zaara has mentioned the intelligence agency RAW, when the lead character Veer (portrayed by Shahrukh Khan) was accused by Pakistani police of being an undercover spy for RAW. In Mission Istanbul, model actress Shweta Bhardwaj played the role of Lisa Lobo, a RAW agent in Istanbul, who helps journalist Vikas Sagar, played by Zayed Khan, in foiling the anti - India terrorist attempts by a terror group. In Maan Gaye Mughal-e-Azam Rahul Bose plays a RAW officer (Arjun Rastogi) who attempts to thwart explosives delivery in the city. In Chamku RAW is shown as undertaking a covert program much in the lines of theBourne series to build up an assassination team.Aazaan is also a 2011 film featuring Sachiin J Joshi as a RAW officer who plays an informant, who has to go undercover beyond enemy lines to save the country from the threat of biological warfare. The film Ek Tha Tiger portrays Salman Khan as a RAW officer.
Apart from Bollywood, the other film industries of India have also cashed in on the patriotic appeal of espionage. Telugu movie star Krishna's film titledGoodachari No. 1 explores the life of an undercover agent working to thwart ISI activities in India. Cine star Bala Krishna's latest film in the direction of Swarna Subba Rao, titled Vijayendra Varma is based on a real life story of a RAW agent, where he donned the role of the RAW officer in the film.[137] The Tamil movie Ottran casts Arjun Sarja as a RAW officer. A 1990s Malayalam film Highway portrays Suresh Gopi as a RAW agent investigating a bomb blast. Kamal Hasan in a film titled Dasavathaaram and later a dubbed Hindi version titled Dashavatar[138] essayed the role of a Telugu (in original film)/Bengali(in Hindi version) RAW operative.[139][140]
The thriving entertainment channels in India have also started to tap into the theme of Intelligence agencies. Time Bomb 9/11, a series aired on Zee TV, features Rajeev Khandelwal in the role of a RAW field officer who attempts to defuse a nuclear bomb set in India, as well as saving the life of the Indian Prime Minister. Zee Bangla also featured a serial named Mohona where the chief protagonist is a RAW officer.Sajda Tere Pyar Mein a series on Star Plus,features Shaleen Bhanot in the role of a RAW officer who asks a girl named Aliya for help in catching a spy named Mahendra Pratap
In Anthony Horowitz's book Crocodile Tears, reluctant teen spy Alex Rider is assisted multiple times by RAW agent Rahim.
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