The main points brought out in the book are lack of accountability, leadership and transparency. I have made a case for parliamentary oversight for intelligence agencies such as the RAW and IB, on the pattern of other democracies such as the US and UK. This view is supported by almost everyone, including people in the intelligence community. The measure will actually help the agencies, since it will give them an avenue to put forth their views and counter false allegations that today go challenged. The reluctance of the government to introduce legislation towards this end is baffling.

Other than the RAW, not one person in government or out of it, has found anything in the book that has damaged India’s national security. If the government did not find reason enough to ban the book, is it justified in invoking the Official Secrets Act against me? In any case, this is not the first book about an Indian intelligence agency. Books have been written about the IB as well as the RAW, which are, if anything, more explicit than mine. Am I paying the price for being an ‘outsider’, or is it because of personal animus? Is this not a mockery of the Whistleblowers Act? Without even a shadow of accountability, our intelligence agencies have become a law unto themselves.