Reema Shaukat
IN the era of information, social media is a key player too. Recently, Stewart Bell, a Canadian investigative journalist, wrote an article on social media website in which some shocking facts of sabotaging Pakistan via foreign hands were exposed. Finding no way out India tried to use foreign elements against Pakistan by buying Canadian politicians as one of the investigative report mentioned that Indian intelligence agencies attempted to use money and disinformation to covertly influence Canadian politicians. The report says that Indian spying agencies with the help of its citizens in Canada is trying to stimulate politicians to safeguard Indian interests. The Report while disclosing facts mentioned that India through its agencies RAW and IB tasked Canada-based Indian journalist that funding be sent to Pakistan to implement terror activities. RAW and IB used money and propaganda to secretly influence Canadian politicians into supporting its interests. It included its covert spy operations against Pakistan. The report claims Canadian intelligence authorities suspect Indian agencies of trying to use the chief editor of an unnamed Indian publication for this purpose. The document reveals that the accused Indian national met Indian intelligence officials more than two dozen times over a period of six years.
This report is exposed by Canadian website Global News which has also provided a court investigative document which proves how Indian agencies were carrying out covert operation against Pakistan and Canada by influencing Canadian leaders against Pakistan. While the court investigation raised some questions from the accused by saying, “You stated that you were tasked by RAW to covertly influence Canadian government representatives and agencies on behalf of the Indian government.” Further mentions, “You stated that the guidance from RAW included that you were to provide financial assistance and propaganda material to politicians in order to exert influence over them.” The accused however, denied the allegation saying that he only met the officials in his capacity as an editor.
It is important to mention here that India has always invested a huge amount in pursuing unofficial lobbying by various means in different countries. And while investing in the so-called lobbying, propaganda against Pakistan is its prime tool. Now with this report it is quite clear that it tried to sour relations between Pakistan and Canada which already are on same good pace in terms of trade cooperation, business and a great number of Pakistani community is living in Canada, enjoying ease given by their government to its nationals as well as expats.
It is interesting to highlight that India is always trying to manipulate Pakistan and its state of the art organizations. Pakistan has never remained involved in damaging sovereignty of any other country nor does it sabotage any other country’s authority. On the other side, India while neighbouring Pakistan is always there to create disturbance within not only Pakistan but other South Asian countries like Afghanistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Nepal. It was not first time when India’s spy Kulbhushan Yadav was arrested in Pakistan. Prior to that Indian National Security Advisor Ajit Doval who has always sputtered about Pakistan was working clandestinely for seven years in the Pakistani territory. Moreover cases of Ravinder Kaushik, Gopal Das and Kashmir Singh also tell the plotted tale of RAW. This shows that India has a well-established network of espionage in Pakistan and RAW keeps on funding certain elements to tremor Pakistan’s stability.
While Indian intelligence agency Research & Analysis Wing (RAW) may be [mis]using every evil trick and tactics to poke its nose in internal affairs of India’s neighbours, the agency has been faced with embarrassing messes and national security failures, especially senior officials are found in a state of confusion and hopelessness. It reports that on 17 April 2016, three officers of RAW willingly fled to a western country which has a history of accepting and facilitating such disappearances of Indian intelligence officers. All were posted on senior levels and had shifted their families to that western country much before they themselves disappeared. Two of the officers were handling two South Asian countries, while the third was handling a large East Asian country. It was later disclosed that all three were working on the agenda of western countries and before their disappearance, they disclosed many secrets of Indian agency to that hosting country. This was not the first time that officials left jobs without any notice and disappeared. As per official records, since the creation of the agency in 1968, nine such instances have been reported with the famous absconding case of Rabinder Singh who was Joint Secretary in RAW, and deserted to the United States in 2004.
RAW is also afflicted with other problems like bureaucratization of system, favouritism and corruption. Apart from this the whole India faces ethnic imbalances and religion based identity. Misuse of resources for taking families to excursions, complaints of harassment by females and inhumane treatment to lower class are a few other loopholes of organization. Another de-moralizing factor is low wages. RAW by overlooking its own systematic flaw, focused on sinister plotting always. For Pakistan, proof of RAW’s involvement in killing of Hazara community in Balochistan, sponsoring TTP and Daesh and ETIM are known facts. RAW-NDS and Indo-Israel nexus are no more hidden connexions to cause damage. The so-called spy agency which is often quoted as follower of “Ostrich-approach” must check themselves before pointing towards others and creating negative propaganda.
— The writer works for Pakistan Institute for Conflict and Security Studies, a think-tank based in Islamabad.
