The fight between the two premier agencies of our country -- the Intelligence Bureau and the Central Bureau of Investigation -- over the Ishrat Jahan fake encounter case appears to be far from over. It’s not surprising that this tussle, alongwith the latest revelation by an officer that the Indian government was involved both in the 26/11 and Parliament attacks, has been lapped up very willingly by the Pakistan media. Will this hurt our security especially since there appears to be a lot happening which favours Pakistan? Amar Bhushan, former special secretary with the Research and Analysis Wing, says that the country’s leadership is to be blamed. In this interview with Rediff’s Vicky Nanjappa, Bhushan says this hurts our fight against terror very badly since Pakistan will do nothing but laugh at us and throw papers back when we seek a terrorist from their soil. What is to be done in the case of hardcore terrorists? When you are gunning for a terrorist and going in for an assault, it is quite likely that innocents also get killed. This is the price that we have to pay when fighting terror. It is sometimes very difficult to isolate innocents and we all know how terrorists have used such persons as a cover. Firstly I cannot believe that they were killed in such a manner. There are 100 different ways of carrying out an encounter and if the CBI is to be believed then this possibly is the crudest way of doing it. If at all the officers have carried out the encounter in such a manner, then they are unfit to be cops. The problem is the Ishrat Jahan case. Whether the IB was involved in it or not is one thing. I am not suggesting that the guilty should get away. But this is not the way to do it and the CBI has handled it all wrong. In the case of an officer from the secret services, the CBI has to approach the director of intelligence and the Union ministry of home affairs first. If the director then feels that the ends of justice are not met after exhausting these two fora, then the evidence needs to be gathered and the court should be approached. First exhaust all avenues against the officer secretly and only then go to court and seek that he be summoned. However, what needs to be ensured is that the court proceedings are held in camera. There is a basic difference between the working of the IB and the CBI. The CBI looks for evidence which means something can be seen and produced in the court of law. The IB, on the other hand, has information which cannot be seen or produced in a court of law. You must remember that the IB cannot reveal its source. Even if the government insists on it, the director of intelligence cannot give it out. Ethics demand that if a DIB is under pressure to reveal his source, then he has to tell the government to remove him from the leadership post. The IB or the RAW cannot betray their sources at any cost. The sources give us information without even knowing our real names. I cannot betray their trust. The government has to tell the CBI in real terms that the RAW and the IB will not give out their sources. The Pakistan media is having a gala time with these developments. How does this impact our war on terror? First and foremost let me tell you, in the Pakistan set up there would never be a problem like this. The Inter-Services Intelligence rules and there is no questioning them. These developments in India are indeed being lapped up by Pakistan, and why won’t they? What Pakistan wants is to hit us and not get blamed. These developments especially the one blaming our government for the 26/11 and Parliament attacks will only encourage them to hit us more. Trust me they are laughing at us. This is a sign of a very weak state. In such an event when our officers are blaming our government, with what face can we go up to them ask for (Lashkar-e-Tayiba chief and 26/11 attacks mastermind) Hafiz Saeed? Earlier they would seek more evidence and avoid the topic, today they will blatantly throw the papers back at us with a smirk. This is just a case of deliberate and selective leaks. The NIA knew about the Ishrat Jahan issue and they also knew that Headley had spoken with the FBI about her. No interrogator worth his salt will leave out such an important angle come what may. rediff/news/slide-show/slide-show-1-pakistan-is-laughing-at-our-weaknesses/20130717.htm?sc_cid=fbshare
Posted on: Thu, 18 Jul 2013 06:18:28 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015