Deep State in South Asia: How external forces topple democracies
“Whose turn is next?” This is the question being asked in hushed voices by many who follow geopolitical developments. Sri Lanka set the ball rolling, followed by Bangladesh and Nepal. The democratically elected governments of these countries were overthrown by so-called “uprisings” of the people. What makes these events alarming is that democratic institutions were crushed in an avalanche of riots and mayhem. The incidents in Nepal were particularly gruesome, as the wife of a former Prime Minister was set ablaze by rioters and ministers were chased away.
Whether it is Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, or Nepal, the arson, loot, and murders were not organized by any outfits or led by an individual. The crowd that went berserk lost all connection with reality and danced to the tunes of the leader, who is yet to make an appearance. If this is the trend, the world’s largest democracy too is in danger of getting wiped away by such mysterious leaders.
Let us take the example of Sri Lanka. This writer had gone to Colombo in 2018 at the invitation of Siri Fernando, former managing director of a British Multinational Corporation. During my previous visit, I had noted that there was a discernible change in the attitude of the Tamils towards the then-President Mahinda Rajapaksa. It was widely believed that Mahinda would win the 2015 mid-term election hands down. But Maithripala Sirisena, fielded by the Opposition parties, scored an upset win as he polled four percent more votes than Mahinda Rajapaksa.
“It was a shock defeat against the flow of politics. Forces that we did not take seriously did us in. The civil rights and human rights organizations, the Left liberals, and the media unleashed a blitzkrieg against us, and we did not take it seriously,” Gotabaya told me in a free-wheeling discussion at his magnificent house in a Colombo suburb. Since I had been asked by Fernando not to ask any questions on the upcoming Presidential election, I steered clear of the subject lest I disturb Gotabaya. (Colombo was agog with whisperings that Gotabaya, younger brother of Mahinda, is likely to contest the election).
Having finished off the LTTE once and forever in 2009, Mahinda had won the hearts of the Tamils in northern Sri Lanka as peace returned to the war-torn island nation after four decades. But someone, somewhere, did not like the idea of a peaceful Sri Lanka. Gotabaya won the 2019 election and was sworn in as President. His economic reforms lost rhythm, and there was an unprecedented hike in the prices of essential commodities. This was an issue that could have been addressed by the government, provided it was given some elbow room to work. But the island nation was swept away by a political tsunami in July 2022. The President’s House at Janadhipathi Mawata and Temple Trees, the official residence of the Prime Minister, was taken over by the rioters. Since the occupants had already left the houses, the agitators did not engage in any acts of arson.
This pattern continued in Bangladesh, where Sheikh Hasina, the Prime Minister, was overthrown, and she took refuge in India. The latest to join the list is Nepal. The landlocked sovereign country was the one and only Hindu nation in the country before the secularists and Maoists overthrew King Gyanendra in 2008 and seized power. The Hindu Kingdom came crashing down, and thus was born the secular federal democratic republic led by Maoist Prachanda, a stooge of the Chinese Communist Party.
Overthrowing of democratically elected governments started in this part of the world in 2010 when the Tunisian government of the day was derailed by rioters in what is known as the Arab Spring. The reasons given by the media are contradictory in nature and hence cannot be taken at face value. In India, the mainstream media and the news portals are being manipulated by mysterious forces. Deep State, a comparatively new term, is being used to describe this evil spirit. The Deep State, with deep pockets, has bought over a major chunk of the bureaucracy and media. The names of George Soros, CIA, IS, and ISI are being quoted as the moving force behind the Deep State.
The name Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) has become synonymous with assassination, counter-terrorism, subversion, and the overthrow of governments that do not toe the US interests. According to Henry Kissinger, the former Secretary of State, the US has no permanent enemies or friends. The country has only a permanent interest, and that is the US commercial interest. Governments, the policies of which are not in sync with those of the US, are pulled down either through civil strife or military coups.
The assassination of Patrice Lumumba, the first democratically elected Prime Minister of the Republic of Congo, is one of the earliest operations by the Deep State. The operatives of the CIA and Belgium military were behind this cruel act. The CIA and its henchmen, who were swindling the natural resources of the African nation, were asked to quit the country by Lumumba. “Global mining companies turned the mineral-rich African nation into their private jewellery box, with huge fortunes amassed in Brussels, London, and New York. Rubber and ivory were replaced by gold, diamonds, copper, and tin,” writes David Talbott in his book The Devil’s Chessboard, which profiles the life and times of the then CIA chief Allen Dulles and his brother John Dulles, the then Secretary of State. The brothers and the cartel of Belgian mining barons were the ones who plotted and executed the assassination of Lumumba, who had risen to the position of a cult figure among the people of Congo.
This was followed by the bumping off of leaders and heads of state in Africa, Latin America, and the Middle East who had emerged as thorns in the commercial interests of the USA. Over the years, even the Vatican and proselytizers joined these projects, which have been named as Deep State operations during the last decade.
India, too, figures in the radar of these anarchists. The Liberation Struggle of 1959 in Kerala, staged to dethrone the world’s first democratically elected Communist government, is an example of Deep State action. The Liberation Struggle was staged under the auspices of the Congress and financed by the CIA and the Vatican. This has been stated unequivocally by two leaders who played major roles in the Liberation struggle. Lonappan Nampadan, a Congress leader-turned-Kerala Congress chieftain-turned-CPI(M) leader, in his autobiography Sancharikkunna Viswasi (A Travelling Believer), has vividly portrayed the roles played by the CIA and the Vatican in the Liberation Struggle. Both the outfits pumped in money to the tune of lakhs of rupees to topple the Communist Government led by EMS Nampoothirippad. This was informed by the then Union Finance Minister in the Rajya Sabha on 23rd December 1959 as a reply to a question. During the period January 1959 to July 1959, US dollars worth Rs.13,96, 162/ – were sent to Kerala as part of the expenses to organise the Liberation Struggle. More than 100 persons who led the agitation were taken to the Moral Rearmament Movement (MRM) at Caux in Switzerland, where they were entertained with wining and dining for weeks,” writes Nampadan in his book.
He has named Sebastian Powathil (1930-2012), an Archbishop emeritus of the Catholic Church, as the one who worked 24/7 for the success of the Liberation struggle. Nampadan was not the lone leader to disclose the details of the people who played a crucial role in making the struggle a major success. Joseph Vadakkan, a Catholic priest, who was one of the top leaders of the 1959 agitation too has written in his memoirs (Ente Kuthippum Kithappum) that lakhs of US dollars had reached Kerala to sustain the struggle “In addition to that, a Catholic priest impersonating as Father Vadakkan and mobilized lakhs of dollars with the claim that it was to meet the expenses of the Liberation Struggle. Since major newspapers like the New York Times and the Washington Post had carried big reports about my anti-Communist agitation, all those who were approached by this fake character donated huge amounts. This was disclosed to me by some of the donors when I visited the US in 1965,” Father Vadakkan has written.
Daniel Patrick Moynihan, former US Ambassador to India, has given a vivid account of the Liberation Struggle in his best-selling book ‘A Dangerous Place‘. Ellsworth Bunker, the US Ambassador to India from 1956 to 1961, too, has said about the role played by the CIA in the 1959 Liberation Struggle. The agitation turned out to be a success because of the active support offered by Christofer Army, a collective of Christian youths who waged a war against the police. Not that the Communist government deserved a fair deal. The situation in Kerala was similar to what we see now in West Bengal under Mamata Banerjee. Police stations were converted into party offices, and the services of cops were utilized to beat up, torture, and silence political rivals. CPI officials functioned as commissars, and the policemen were asked to report to them.
The 2011 visit of the then Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to Chennai and her meeting with the then chief minister Jayalalithaa had a lot to do with the latter’s move to reintroduce the anti-religious conversion bill, said sources close to the chief minister. Since Jayalalithaa was at the receiving end of the disproportionate asset case against her, she was not in the mood to fight the US pressure.
These incidents and records prove that the dark clouds of the Deep State are hovering over the sub-continent and are given tacit support by members of a clan that has put up at Janpath in New Delhi.
The price of freedom is eternal vigilance. Wasn’t it Thomas Jefferson who said this?
Note:
1. Text in Blue points to additional data on the topic.
2. The views expressed here are those of the author and do not necessarily represent or reflect the views of PGurus.
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