It is strange that the exact meanings of the words ‘secret’ and ‘spy’ have not been given in the Official Secrets Act. As a result, almost anything can be graded secret. Intelligence agencies are particularly prone to this malaise. In RAW, even the circulars for tea parties are graded ‘secret’.

According to a recent news report in the Indian Express, RAW officials justified the crackdown on me, saying that the book referred to some projects that were either ongoing or delayed due to some technical or operational reasons. “Anybody in the business of intelligence will be able to figure out what these projects mentioned in the book refer to”. This is a strange argument. After all, the equipment was procured from foreign sources. Tender enquiries were sent to dozens of foreign vendors, informing them of the technical parameters of the equipment required by the RAW. Representatives of these companies visited the RAW offices to give presentations. If foreign vendors already know the technical details of the project, one can assume that the respective intelligence agencies of those countries also know about it. If the details are known to foreigners, how can their disclosure to the Indian public be considered harmful to national security?

From the same news item I learned that the RAW has decided to hold an ‘internal inquiry’ into the allegations of corruption cited in my book. This is unlikely to achieve anything. All cases of corruption detailed in the book were reported by me to higher authorities in writing. If action had been taken then, there would have been no need to bring them out in the book. If an ‘internal inquiry’ did not find anything wrong then, how will it help now? Does the RAW really expect the public to believe that those involved will find themselves guilty? If the government is serious about bringing the guilty men to book, it should hand over the investigation to the CBI. Given the past record of the RAW, this is probably wishful thinking. Even in a major incident such as the escape of Rabinder Singh, no FIR was lodged against him or any of the other officers involved.

... contd.