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| The ‘Spy' who spoke too much! | | | Nilesh Kunwar
It is customary for ev
ery army to issue
statements on important military events and the conclusion of a conference of its topmost commanders is one such occasion. Such statements are primarily meant to reassure the public that the armed forces continue to remain ever-vigilant and are fully capable of thwarting any evil designs of its adversaries. But on conclusion of the Pakistan army corps commanders conference last year the Pakistan army's Inter Services Public Relations (ISPR) came out with a rather unusual statement that "The conference took serious note of RAW's involvement in whipping up terrorism in Pakistan."
The danger of external aggression is influenced by many external factors like the political situation, economic condition and public perception within a country that is a potential adversary. For this reason non military matters concerning a foreign country that have a bearing on the threat perception are invariably discussed by Generals during military conferences. Nevertheless, while the military may be disturbed by some hostile actions of an 'unfriendly' nation, in democracies the army conveys its concern to its government for raising the issue at diplomatic levels instead of directly leveling accusations against another country.
Ever since the Pakistan army made this allegation Islamabad has claimed arresting more than half a dozen 'RAW agents' and treated the media to sound and video bytes of these spies making highly self incriminating confessions while exposing the 'dirty games' that India's premier spy agency was playing in Pakistan. Islamabad had also prepared dossiers that purportedly contained irrefutable evidence to prove the "destabilising role of Indian agencies in FATA, Balochistan and Karachi" and handed over the same to the UN Secretary General and Washington. Unfortunately for Islamabad both the UN and Washington didn't even consider asking New Delhi to clarify its position.
Neither the UN nor the Obama administration took any cognisance of the dossiers that Pakistan had handed over for a solid reason. Sartaj Aiz who is Advisor on Foreign Affairs to Pakistan PM himself subsequently admitted before Pakistan's Senate Committee on Foreign Affairs that these dossiers did not contain any "material evidence" and only gave out the "pattern and trend" of Indian involvement inside Pakistan. The inability to prove RAW's involvement in "whipping up terrorism" inside Pakistan became a huge source of embarrassment for both the Government of Pakistan and its army chief who was the first one to make this allegation.
But now that Islamabad has claimed to have arrested a serving Indian Navy officer named Kul Bhushan Yadav who has admitted being a RAW agent and has exposed its nefarious designs in Balochistan, the Pakistan army chief must have heaved a sigh of relief. To silence the critics Islamabad has released a six minute long video showing a relaxed but emotionless Yadav admitting being a 'RAW agent' who was in contact with and helping Baloch separatists. After seeing the video there is little scope to disbelieve what Yadav is saying as his unemotional demeanour, choice of words, immaculate structuring of sentences and extraordinary eloquence is not only convincing but absolutely spellbinding!
However after a second viewing one no longer thinks so and if you don't believe me, please do give it a try.
The problem with the video is not the omissions, contradictions and deficiencies in the 'voluntary confession' made by 'RAW agent' Yadav. On the contrary it is the complete absence of any shortcomings that makes this 'picture perfect' monologue appear completely unnatural. So do the inserted clips showing Yadav laughing and appearing to be much happier than what any other spy in his hopeless predicament would be. However what is the most fascinating is the portion where we see the inserted visual of a beaming Yadav as his voice in the background tells us that what he is saying is out his own volition and not under duress!
Yadav's explanation that he was revealing all as he had decided to "end the mess" he had landed himself into resembles a Bollywood plot where overburdened by guilt the 'villain' decides to spill the beans. Unfortunately as far as spying is concerned, while you can't "end the mess" by confessing, you can well land yourself into a mess by doing so. By his 'voluntary' admission Yadav becomes an "Enemy Alien" and under Section 2 (d) of Protection of Pakistan Act 2014 and becomes a "militant" under provisions of Section 2 (f) sub clause (c) he is guilty of encouraging, abetting and aiding "a violent struggle against Pakistan." I am sure that if Yadav was really in the cloak and dagger business, then he would surely be aware of the consequences of a 'voluntary' confessional statement!
There is something else that raises suspicions regarding the authenticity of what 'RAW agent' Yadav has revealed in the video. Director General ISPR Lt Gen Asim Bajwa had stated that in wake of Yadav's arrest Gen Raheel Sharif had taken up the issue of RAW's involvement in Pakistan with the visiting Iranian President Hassan Rouhani. However during a press conference this claim was outrightly rejected by the Iranian President. Why was President Rouhani being so dismissive about Yadav who was using Iranian soil for carrying out subversive activities against Tehran's 'friendly' neighbour? Furthermore if Islamabad's contention is correct then New Delhi is guilty of a very serious diplomatic botch-up of providing Yadav a passport with false identity on the basis of which he managed to obtain an Iranian visa. Under these circumstances President Rouhani's silence is baffling!
New Delhi has admitted that Yadav is an Indian citizen and has asked for counselor access to the individual but Islamabad has neither given any indication of facilitating the same nor assigned any reasons for dilly dallying on New Delhi's request. Islamabad is bound by international protocol to provide counselor access to Yadav and so by delaying this it is only weakening its own case in the eyes of the international community. One reason for this delay could be the possibility that Yadav may have been coerced into making his 'voluntary confession' on camera and fear that the same would emerge the moment counselor access is granted to Yadav. Islamabad will most certainly not want the truth to come out and this is where the danger lies!
Islamabad has a dubious record when it comes to prisoners' safety. Just last year, chief of banned sectarian outfit Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ) Malik Ishaq and his two sons Usman and Haq Nawaz were killed in what was described as a botched up rescue bid made by their supporters.
This allegedly happened when the trio was returning under a police escort after leading them to a huge cache of arms and explosives. During this unsuccessful rescue bid the police party managed to kill 11 attackers and while "at least" six policemen were injured, miraculously the only fatal casualties were the LeJ chief and his two sons that the police party was escorting! This is just one example to illustrate that a lot of 'accidents' involving prisoners can happen in Pakistan. Therefore New Delhi should mince no words and lose no time in warning Islamabad that any "accident" or "an untoward act of providence" involving Yadav will not be accepted! |
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