RAW: Destabilizing South Asia
Mamoona Ali Kazmi
The Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) of India was created with a mission
to use and exploit political dissent, ethnic divisions, economic
backwardness and criminal elements within targeted states to foment
subversion, terrorism and sabotage. Further defining the role and
working of RAW, Dr Shastra Dutta Pant writes, “RAW is the creator
Brahma, the Supreme Being, who creates the nation. It gave birth to
Bangladesh. RAW is Yamaraj, the God of death. It has already killed half
a dozen countries including Goa, Daman and Diu, Hyderabad, Pondicherry,
Jammu, Kashmir and Sikkim. RAW is Vishnu who takes care of politics,
economy, religion, water policy and people’s policy of other countries”.
RAW is found to have been involved in promoting terrorism and
destructive activities in neighbouring countries. RAW is indulged in
creating instability and chasms in the politics of other countries and
sowing the seeds of dissensions and hostility in the realms of
ethnicity, religion and gender. Thus, it contributes to disturbing
communal harmony and ultimately disintegrating the country.
RAW was established at the end of 1950 to study international
activities. Interestingly, RAW is not a regular organ of the state
rather it is an unnatural organ hence it is not accountable before Lok
Sabha and Rajya Sabha of India. To the contrary, RAW enjoys the power to
supervise all levels throughout India. RAW creates huge pressure in
framing India’s external policies, especially relating to its
neighbouring countries. The Indian Ministry of External Affairs does
nothing more than implementing the policies worked out by RAW so in a
way RAW makes the foreign policy of India. The absolute power enjoyed by
RAW makes her more fearsome agency than its superior KGB, CIA, Mi-6, BND
and the Mossad. RAW is given a list of countries considered to be
India’s principal regional protagonist, which includes Pakistan, China,
Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan, Sikkim, Maldives etc. Its high
priority goal is the expansion of Indian Territory through
systematically crafted covert operations in all these countries to
coerce, destabilize and subvert them. It has annexed small and weak
states through deception. Merger of Bangladesh with India is RAW’s
ultimate goal. Another important goal of RAW is to turn India into a
super power by enhancing its strategic, political and cultural influence
in the Indian Ocean and by creating a long-lasting monolithic Indian
sub-continent. In order to fulfill its objectives RAW uses different
techniques such as destabilization, disintegration, secession Movements,
creating Anarchy, weakening neighbour’s economy, preventing neighbours
to have an independent foreign and defence policy.
Being the traditional enemy, India always tried to create chaos in
Pakistan and RAW performs this duty very efficiently. Since its
inception, RAW tried in one way or the other to destabilize Pakistan.
After East Pakistan started demanding autonomy from 1969 onwards, RAW
extended open and full cooperation to the movement leading to the
dismemberment of Pakistan and creation of Bangladesh. In fact, this was
more a war between India and Pakistan rather than the movement of
autonomy.RAW from time to time inflicts harm to Pakistan, sometimes in
the form of ethnic movements and sometimes in the form of sectarian
clashes. RAW has an extensive network of agents and anti-government
elements within Pakistan, including dissident elements from various
sectarian and ethnic groups of Sindh and Punjab. According to published
reports as many as 35,000 RAW agents have entered Pakistan from 1983-93,
with 12,000 are working in Sindh, 10,000 in Punjab, 8000 in North West
Frontier Province and 5000 in Balochistan. As many as 40 terrorist
training camps at Rajasthan, East Punjab, Held Kashmir, Uttar Pradesh
and other parts of India are run by the RAW ‘s Special Service Bureau (SSB).
Throughout the Afghan War, RAW with the assistance of KGB planned and
executed terrorist activities in Pakistan to deter her from supporting
the Afghan liberation movement against the Soviet Union.
The US attack over Afghanistan in 2001 provided a big opportunity to RAW
to accomplish its goal of destabilizing Pakistan. Since 9/11, Indian
influence has increased tremendously. RAW has established Consulates and
Trade Missions along the Pak-Afghan border to destabilize Balochistan
and North West Frontier Province (NWFP). Several agents of RAW captured
in FATA, Waziristan, and other Southern Eastern areas provided that
Indians had managed to penetrate deeply in collaboration with Indian
allies in the region. Recently a spy had been killed by Taliban in
Afghanistan. Reportedly that spy disclosed that an Indian intelligence
official named C. R. Garg working as Attaché and PS to Indian ambassador
had offered as much as US $ 2000-3000 per foreigner killed in Pakistan.
According to sources, the US authorities strongly believe that RAW and
some other Indian intelligence agencies have been the only source of
terrorism in Pakistan. Janes information group, the world’s foremost
source on intelligence information, reported in July 2001 that the
Indian spy agency RAW and the Israeli spy agency Mossad have created
four new agencies to infiltrate Pakistan to target important religious
and military personalities, journalists, judges, lawyers and
bureaucrats. In addition, bombs would be exploded in trains, railway
stations, bridges, bus stations, cinemas, hotels and mosques of rival
Islamic sects to incite sectarianism. Pakistani intelligence agencies
also said that RAW had constituted a plan to lure Pakistani men between
20 and 30 years of age to visit India so they could be entrapped in
cases of fake currency and subversion and then be coerced to spy for
India.
It is also revealed that India has given forty billion rupees special
fund to its intelligence agency (RAW) for creating instability in
Pakistan, China, Afghanistan and Bangladesh to achieve the target of
becoming a decisive power in the region. Moreover, not only RAW but
several other Indian agencies have also been given important assignments
to carry out subversive activities in Pakistan. It is an open secret
that India is unabatedly meddling in the internal affairs of
neighbouring countries through RAW. Apart from Pakistan and Bangladesh,
Nepal and Sri Lanka are also the victims of RAW’s wicked designs. India
engineered internal strife and conflicts in Nepal through RAW to
destabilize the successive legitimate governments and prop up puppet
regimes which would be more amenable to Indian machinations. In Sri
Lanka, RAW is the founder of Tamil Tigers and has been fomenting trouble
since the 1980s, keeping the island steeped in civil war.
There is a need that international community should check the activities
of RAW as it operates in a Mafia style, each time overstepping the
limits of Intelligence operations. It has not only indulged in
cross-border terrorism, but also played a very significant role in
creating and funding terrorist and extremist religious parties within
India and other countries of the region. The Hindu extremist parties
which are involved in terrorist activities in India such as the Hindu
Dharma Raksha Samiti (HDRS), Bajrang Dal (BD) Rashtria Sawayamsevak
Sankh (RSS) Shiv Sena (SS) etc enjoy complete backing and support of
RAW. For that matter, it allowed these parties to carry out violent
activities in India and throw onus on neighbouring countries. Fact of
the matter is that Indian RAW is responsible for the present fragile
situation of the South Asia. |
