Followers of PGurus channel may be familiar with my repeated videos which are periodically being enabled by our anchor Shri Sree Iyer. After the recent exposure on PGurus, I have covered about the Tablighi Jamaat about its existence and its antecedents, the reluctance and laxity of police forces to act in time or act at all and the legal counter-terrorism architecture available to prosecute both the organisation as well as its members severally, in my previous videos[1].
But certain issues which I seek to bring before the public necessitates they’re being expressed on the written word and that is the underlying reason, which I decided to post in writing. Further given the background that in the previous video editions it is been bringing out certain facts in my knowledge, or deduced based on available media reports etc. But in this small piece, I am seeking to make a positive contribution drawing out from my experience in the civil service of about three-plus decades.
While the naysayers may expose themselves as an anti-Modi gang, whereas the others find themselves derisively called the Bhakts.
Ever since the protest of Shaheen Bagh, disturbances in the Jafrabad and other places followed by the onset of Corona Virus and exposure of Tablighi Jamaat there is a noticeable trend these days in several media channels has been that guests have invariably called into question the several actions of the government. While the naysayers may expose themselves as an anti-Modi gang, whereas the others find themselves derisively called the Bhakts. But in all these cacophonies on media day after day, not many positive constructive suggestions to strengthen the hand of the Prime Minister Narendra Modi has emanated that contains any merit. I too might have done this in my previous editions.
What is most intelligible in all this cacophony on the media is the National Security Adviser being drafted in to mitigate the situation, whether in Jafrabad or in Markaz Nizammudin. Surely he is a cabinet-level functionary of the government and his time and value is precious. Such a mundane thing should have been handled appropriately by other functionaries in the system. I don’t intend to call out designations and names in who rendered the situation to come such a pause.
Realising the importance and sensitivity of responsibilities of the National Security Adviser, I would humbly suggest he keep a panel of retired manpower who have records of outstanding accomplishments. Going by the record of their accomplishments, because one of the vices of our bureaucracy is that many serving and retired officers markedly show a tendency to market their illusory achievements and trigger that networks to land in such positions. I am not casting any aspersions on any officers professionalism and ability but this is borne out by the facts about the Tablighi Jamaat. We have a Union Home Secretary from a North East state cadre and in his tenure, the Tablighi consolidates to carry out one of the worst spread of the pandemic in India. It is a matter of record that Tablighi Jamaat has been on intelligence radar since 2005 active in the Indo Bangladesh Border. Further, about the Commissioner of Police in Delhi, the Principle Secretary (Home), and an IPS officer of AGMUT Cadre posted in Home Ministry, I have explained in my video. Can’t cry over split milk.
But at least for a future roadmap, I would suggest to NSA to kindly dig into vast experience available in the retired personnel tap this resource for future contingencies. Some of the officers have accomplished outstanding achievements. Not just in security apparatus but also in ancillary areas. There may be many more. But I am discussing some of them due to their accomplishment, which I have seen. Make no mistake. I do not hold any brief for any of these officers. Their own record speaks for them. If I don’t feel shy of naming officers who were found wanting, it is appropriate that I highlight the officers who have delivered.
I had detailed how the advisory sharing a possible attack on Chabad House in their jurisdiction were shared with the Government of Maharastra and the Government of Karnataka.
During my tenure in the Ministry of Home Affairs, the Naxal violence was at its peak. There was ambivalence in the strategy at the political level. Also there were discordant voices between state and centre. Then the lobbyist, left-liberals had been working both underground and overground propagating a doctrine of empathy for the Naxals who bombing and ambushing our security forces day and night. The centre of gravity of this was in Dantewada a place called Kanker, in the State of Chattishgarh. It was practically out of bounds for everyone except their sympathiser. However we had a true leader named Vishwa Ranjan, the then Director General of Police of Chattisgarh state, His forces were facing crossfire in the range from Naxals and this officer was facing political firing from the centre and the huge mass of supporters of Naxals call them urban Naxals, left-liberal or even academicians. Unfazed he did control the situation very professionally. He is one such potential asset.
Many readers, who might have read my book “Myth of Hindu Terror” may also recall that in connection with German Bakery Attack in Pune on Feb 13, 2010, I had detailed how the advisory sharing a possible attack on Chabad House in their jurisdiction were shared with the Government of Maharastra and the Government of Karnataka[2]. Karnataka due to the leadership of an able Director General of Police averted. During my tenure, the coastal Karnataka region like Bhatkal etc. were also becoming breeding and recruiting grounds for jihadis. This too was well controlled by appropriate use of bits of intelligence and counter strategy. The case of pre-empting an attempt on Kaiga Station has also been detailed in my book. All this was possible due to the leadership of Shri R. Srikumar. He did get tenure after his retirement as Vigilance Commissioner. But he is one asset, whose services could be harnessed by the government. He is also an officer who is attributed with really modernizing the police infrastructure in the state of Karnataka and making it a state of art force at that time which has withered away over the period.
‘Vidya Daadthi Vinayam’. Meaning ability bestows modesty. I had in this piece recalled that many officers flaunt their unachieved and illusory accomplishments as real one through some excellent PR and lobbying. This is true of the corporate sector too but in bureaucracy this is profound. But the real outstanding ones seldom seem to resort to these types of PR lobbying. Second salient point is that generally Secretaries in the Ministry of Finance are generally appointed due to this tendency of self-promotion with all hogging of news headlines. A natural corollary is that most people who retire as Secretary in the Finance Ministry do get a post-retirement sinecure of prominence. In this context, not many know of Secretary in the Finance Ministry who retired recently. He never lobbied for the position but was brought into Ministry of Finance due to his mettle, ability, professionalism and handling which he had displayed during his tenure as Additional Secretary. A very erudite person he is not the person who would chase position. However, the filmi dialogue of Bollywood thriller “3 Idiots” that success will chase excellence was epitomised by him. He is Shri Ajay Narayan Jha, again an officer of North East state cadre. As we all know finance is the lifeline of terrorism, his experience could be harnessed by the present government in combating the challenges this country in the present hour. on is professionalism I am not detailing due to want of brevity, not substance.
There may be many other illustrious officers who have retired. But these officers’ records speak for themselves and these records are in my personal knowledge acquired in my years in Civil Service. The intent is more to suggest the idea while highlighting the illustrious case studies. It is for this reason that I desired to convey in the written word.
It is my earnest trust that these suggestions to strengthen the hands of the government in overcoming the multifold challenges facing the country feel to have the ear of the government.
References:
[1] RVS Mani on the origins of Tablighi Jamaat – Mar 31, 2020, Youtube
[2] The Myth of Hindu Terror: Insider account of Ministry of Home Affairs 2006-2010 – Amazon.in
- My musings on terror - November 23, 2022
- Tarun Tejpal case Judgment: Is it a symptom or a disease? - May 27, 2021
- Pillars of democracy should be partners in nation building - May 17, 2021
This was the suggestion I had been making to involve private players in monitoring and destroying internal rogue termites. There are three internal threats India is facing.
1) Economic sabotage. Instead of RBI, private players can identify and monitor rogues in banking system and report to Finance minister directly.
2) internal sabotage by jehadists, missionaries, NGOs,leftist. Instead of serving babus , private agency can prepare hot spots and advice HM directly.
3)Fake News. This is nuisance and can distort the truth and create fear psychosis among people and tarnish India’s image overseas. A private agency should monitor every out going and incoming message as in US and eliminate the mischief source.
Monotoring courts functionings. At the drop of hat PILs are being filed to discredit,defame and put a pause in functioning of government .Every PIL should be taken up after a cooling period of 6 months and source of funding should be monitored.Filing of PILs by NGOs ( foreign agents ) should be banned and only individuals or a group of 3 people can file PILs. Every judgement passed, should be scrutinised by private professional, technical committee, and assess the loss to exchequer. An efficient and honest person like Shri Gogoi, retired CJI can perform the task. The report should go to PMO directly.
In the above activities , no serving babu should be involved. Mr.Mani is right, we have highly efficient and honest retired IAS and IPS officers and coupled with economists who can be hired on 5 year contract,we can change the destiny of nation. In US, there is no term called retirement and every honest person is asset to the nation.
It looks like the author of this article is trying to make a cast for resurrecting the careers of retired bureaucrats. Agreed career bureaucrats would have gained knowledge in a given domain provided they have worked in that domain for a long time though a bureaucrat getting a reasonable tenure in a given domain is quite rare. The other aspect that needs to be considered when we talk of retired bureaucrats is the energy levels of a retired bureaucrat to continue to be interested and effective after 35-40 years of tovernment service. The problem India now is facing is a different one. The need of the hour is grassroots politicians and not IAS officers who have worked with the people, may be in village panchayats, or cooperative movements – somebody who can empathize with the common man. Politicians with experience of working for organizations claiming as intellectually elite and coming to power under the umbrella of an established political party and cadre using polarization politics, belonging to dynasties, having huge money seeking to make more money or power, unfortunately is what India has now. And these politicians who are not grassroots politicians and who run the administration using IAS officers cause things like “a circular a day for withdrawing money” during demonetization, innumerable glitches in GST and Aadhar implementations or the more recent migrant worker problem that completely escaped the attention of the powers that be, or Pulwama attack intelligence failure or Delhi riot intelligence failure. The need of the hour for India is the reduction of entry barriers such as huge election funds to become a MLA or MP to be removed for pragmatic youngsters raise from the grassroots to lead ministries both at the center and the states…