CHAPTER 3(A): Into The COLD-WAR

- by Ritweek Singh
IIT(BHU) Varanasi , India

"INDIA is INDIRA, INDIRA is INDIA"

 The Tashkent Files

 Shastri died of a heart attack or Was it a state-sponsored murder?

Ans: Was poisoned by the CIA( my opinion after my research) and Soviet and then the Indian government had a silent support.

As I have mentioned in the earlier chapter USA and Russia  were already in their cold war. Famous incidents like "The Cuban Missile Crisis", have already occurred by now. This is an era known as the cold war. This was not a conventional war between USA and USSR. It was a war between The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and Komitet Gosudarstvennoy Bezopasnosti(KGB). It was the era of espionage. 

The world was divided into the western block( lead by USA) and the soviet block(lead by USSR), with the neutral countries battleground for dominance. Though India had communist parties and socialist policies, India had a policy of non-alignment. Both CIA and KGB had their contacts and agents working in Indian politics, but till now both had minimal effects on India's direct actions. Shastri was brought to power by Kamaraj as a surprise. Shastri would never allow foreign powers to dominate India, thus both wanted him dead. 

What happened in that cabin in Tashkent is not known but I would like to present some facts:

1. His(Shastri's) venue was changed at the last moment. He was a heart patient and had already suffered two strokes. Still, the cabin which was selected for his stay had no oxygen supply or cylinders.(critical for a heart patient). His room also lacked any emergency bell.
2.  While taking his last breaths he was pointing toward a fallen flask. His cook Ram Nath gave him milk every day in that flask but  Ram Nath was changed on that specific day. Jan Mohammad, T. N. Kaul's cook replaced Shastri's cook Ram Nath.  I know this can just be a coincidence but suspicion is raised as all belongings of Shastri ji were returned to his family but the flask. Its were about are still unknown.
3. There were 2 slightly different copies of his death report. Indian copy was signed by 6 doctors whereas Soviet copy was signed by 8 doctors. Russian doctor who was the first to reach Shastri had not signed on the Indian copy.
4. Shastri was given intra-muscular injection whereas in a heart attack intra-venal injections are to be given(as venal injections directly enter the bloodstream and show immediate effect).
5. When asked why doctors didn't try to revive him, doctors replied that "revival was possible if death was due to heart attack".
6. Shastri's postmortem was never done even after the request of his family. His family also claims that his body was bluish-black, swollen and had many cuts in his body from which blood was leaking. (At that time Russians removed organs from the body to hide traces of poisons). 
7. • Two witnesses were scheduled to depose before this parliamentary body. One was R.N. Chugh, Shastri’s doctor who accompanied him to Tashkent.  Chugh was travelling to Delhi by road along with his wife and two sons to testify before the committee and was hit by a truck and died.
   • The second was Ram Nath, his personal servant, who was also present on the day of his death. Ram Nath came to Delhi and visited Shastri’s widow before the deposition. According to family members, he told her, “Bahut din ka bojh tha, amma. Aaj sab bata denge (I have been carrying this burden too long. I will shed it today).” Ram Nath left the 1, Motilal Nehru, residence to make his way to Parliament. He was hit by a moving vehicle, his legs crushed (eventually amputated) and he lost his memory
    

 I will leave the interpretation up to the readers. I would not conclude but assure that above points are verified facts.

Just 13 days after this incident Homi J. Bhabha died in a plane crash. Thus India lost its nuclear pioneer. Former CIA officer ROBERT T CROWLEY in his interview with Gregory Douglas on July 11, 2008, claims that the CIA killed Shastri and Bhabha as India was showing fast progress towards nuclear development.

KGB and politicians in India had indirect benefits by Shastri's death. KGB gained the chance to infiltrate India and Politicians in India had a chance to gain power.

If the CIA claims then why the confusion?

Crowley was an ex-operative at time of interview. Ex agents are not credible as they may be looking for fame money or can be involved in the formation of propaganda. Since dots are connecting, therefore, I personally believe his claim. Readers view may differ.

 POWER VACUUM

 Gulzarilal Nanda was made the caretaker PM. At that time India had 14 states and all CMs had great influence in choosing the PM candidate. CM of then Madhya Pradesh Dwarka Prasad Mishra was a close ally of Indira Gandhi. He came to Delhi and took other CMs in confidence.

Kamaraj in this period was not giving clear signals whether he would become the PM or not. Other politicians of syndicate we advising him to become the PM but Kamaraj refused as he knew his limits. He was a Tamilian leader. His Hindi, as well as English, were extremely poor. Thus he could not become Priministorial face. 

D P Mishra with other Cms went to meet Kamaraj, there they offered that they were willing to support Kamaraj if he would not contest then they asked him to support Indira. He agreed to support Indira Gandhi.

This infuriated Morarji Desai. His claim was that he was more experienced and was a better administrator. Kamaraj tried to convince him to take back his nomination, even after series of dioalogues between both Morarji desai was determined for an election.

 

Why Kamaraj was trying to avoid election if Indira had majority support? 

Except for CM of Gujrat and UP(First female CM Sucheta Kripalani) all others were in support of Indira. At that time Anti defection laws and WHIP were non-existent. Thus each election(even though internal) was a threat to the stability of Gov.

Still, elections were held. All MPs of congress voted to choose their leader in parliament (leader of the majority party is PM).

A reporter from outside the parliament asked "ladka hei ya ladki/ is it a boy or a girl" .  To this answer came from inside "ladki/Girl". Thus Indira Gandhi became the first female PM of India and 2nd Female PM in the world.

INDIRA RISE TO POWER

 From Mitrokhin Archives vol II Chapter 17& 18 : Special Relationship with India clearly states KGBs involvement in Indira Gandhi's rise to power. Its a lengthy document thus I will not explain every thing. All facts about KGB which I will state are taken from Mitrokhin Archives which are available on the internet. Curious readers may verify the facts.

Vasili Nikitich Mitrokhin (Russian: Васи́лий Ники́тич Митро́хин; March 3, 1922 – January 23, 2004) was a major and senior archivist for the Soviet Union's foreign intelligence service, the First Chief Directorate of the KGB, who defected to the United Kingdom in 1992 after providing the British embassy in Riga with a vast collection of KGB files, which became known as the Mitrokhin Archive.

 

Indira was like Ivanka Trump for Nehru. She hosted all foreign dignitaries, she also visited other countries on diplomatic missions.

1st visit to the Soviet Union: Indira in her letter to Nehru describes her visit to Russa as one of the best experiences of her life. She tells how she was treated like a princess as if she was their own daughter. Since then only KGB started planting their agents around her. She wasn't the only one though. Russians always tried to gain influence over anyone who was or can be( in future) in power.  Thus Indira was just one of them who was on KGBs target. 

 2nd visit to the Soviet Union: This time she went there with Nehru. This visit was not very eventful but this time she received a very expensive coat which would become her favourite and she could be seen wearing it many of her photos. One female diplomat of India was expelled by Indira for receiving a similar coat.

 The coat mentioned is worn by Indira Gandhi in this picture(London)

She becoming the PM for the first time had no contribution from KGB. It was purely due to D P Mishra and Kamaraj, but things were going to change soon. Even at this point, her closed advisers were on KGB's payroll.

PROBLEMS FACED BY INDIRA GANDHI

She became the PM just after a war. If you remember the last chapter India was facing severe food and economic crisis. Indira Gandhi never had the experience of administration like Nehru. This could be seen in congress meetings and inside parliament. She was afraid to speak. Even if she tried to speak harsh opposition would bring her down. This lead to her getting the name of " GUNGI GUDIYA". 

At that time India imported most of its grains from the USA. US gave poor quality of grains and always made India realise that they are doing a favour. India was devastated after two consecutive wars in 1962 and 1965. To worsen the situation India also faced droughts in many parts of the country.

Indira Gandhi went to the USA to ask for more aid. Then-president Johnson forced Indira Gandhi to devaluate rupee from ~4 to ~7 in comparison to US$.  People were starving in India and Indira had no options. Opposition cracked down on Indira and she being new in politics could not defend herself. 

Things were about to change as KGB was strengthening its ties with Indira Gandhi.

Earlier also KGB had deep ties with major Indian politicians like Menon. V. Krishna Menon, as defence minister, was persuaded to buy Soviet MiGs and not British Lightning. His election campaigns in 1962 and 1967 were funded by the KGB. 

RAW: Research and Analysis Wing

Until 1968, the Intelligence Bureau (IB), which is responsible for India’s internal intelligence, also handled external intelligence. But after India’s miserable performance in a 1962 border war with China, the need for a separate external intelligence agency was clear. As a result, India established a dedicated external intelligence agency, the Research and Analysis Wing. Founded mainly to focus on China and Pakistan, over the last forty years the organization has expanded its mandate and is credited with greatly increasing India’s influence abroad.

KGB was active during the formation period of RAW and thus successfully infiltrated it. IB was already infiltrated by this time. KGB's arsenal was full of different kind of tactics, but in India, it relied on mainly two policies: 1). Honey trap & 2). bribery. 

Second step after infiltration is growth. This is not as difficult as infiltration. Infiltrators start recruiting other agents and growth continues. This is why India still has scars given by KGB. RAW and IB were not the only institutions. From universities to Civil services all institution in India during the 70s were infiltrated and transformed. By 1978, the KGB was running over 30 agents in India, 10 of whom were Indian intelligence officers.

RAW and IB were the first agencies to recover after 1991 as they don't have a public structure and recruiting procedure. This also led to covert murders of domestic politicians, diplomats and officers in the 1990s by these agencies. Armed forces followed next. Mostly public institution like universities and media houses have not recovered till date, as any attempt to alter them is encountered by mass-scale protests, eg JNU. I will talk in detail about recovery in Chapter 4.

ELECTIONS OF 1967

Relationship between Indira and Kamaraj has started to get soured by this time, but Kamaraj needed Indira as the face of Congress to win the elections. Her candidates were not even given a ticket by Congress. All possible measures were taken to weaken her.

Congress was not in a comfortable position. Left was the major opposition at that time, it was behaving in a typical communist manner. Congress rallies frequently saw violence. Indira Gandhi was injured by stone-pelting. 

 

Homi J Bhabha

Read more at:
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/59826686.cms?utm_source=contentofinterest&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=cppst

Homi J Bhabha

Read more at:
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/59826686.cms?utm_source=contentofinterest&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=cppst

Congress victory was marginal. The internal tussle began between Indira and Morarji Desai. Finally, they agreed on Indira as PM, Morarji as deputy-PM as well as finance minister.

Meanwhile, the KGB claimed, doubtless optimistically, that it was able to influence 30 to 40 per cent of the new parliament. Congress had lost 21 per cent of its seats.

SPLIT IN CONGRESS

Still, conflict continued inside congress. The presidential election became very important as it became a means to display power. Syndicate wanted Neelam Sanjeeva Reddy as president but Indira wanted Varahagiri Venkata Giri.

 While voting in the cabinet all voted for N S Reddy as congress's presidential candidate except Indira Gandhi. In response, Indira removed Morarji as finance minister. Desai angry from this decision resigned from deputy PM and the cabinet. 

This was a masterstroke by Indira which syndicate and others could not predict. This would also show that Indira's new political wit. As she had the finance ministry, in that period she nationalised 14 major banks of India.

Earlier banks were a place only extremely rich could go. Poor could not even think of it. After nationalisation bank branches were opened in every district across India. Poor can also open accounts, deposit money and take loans. Indira was also responsible for the promotion of the Green revolution. Though it was started by Shastri but was made a success by Indira Gandhi. The result had started to show effect on the ground.  Thus Indira Gandhi became extremely popular on ground. 

The syndicate had weakened by this time. Kamaraj himself lost elections.  Syndicate comprised of leaders mainly from southern states of TN, AP, Karnataka,etc. These states were also lost to regional parties.

You may think where is KGB. It was always there in the background. Decisions were taken by her, but positive editorials flooded Indian newspaper, people were made aware of her actions, propagandas were carried out. All this groundwork was done and funded by KGB. 

Kamaraj had made sure that N S Reddy won. He criticised Indira's move of nationalisation of the banks.  As elections came near Kamaraj requested the opposition to fill N S Reddy as their second choice. V V Giri stood as an independent candidate(though everyone knew he was Indira's candidate).

Indira turned these two moves against Kamaraj. Just before elections, she alleged Kamaraj of allying with fascist powers. On this note, she appealed all MPs to vote according to their inner voice.

V V Giri won the election by just 1%, but victory is victory. Indira Gandhi had shown her power. 

Again thinking of KGB. They are there in the background. There is no such thing as an inner voice in politics. Remember KGB's claim of influence 30 to 40 per cent of the new parliament members. Add CPI's percentage and Indira supporting MPs to it. You get 49.1%. This was the percentage by which V V Giri won. Readers can see the map to analyse rest of the story of support in states.

 

 Disciplinary action was taken on Indira Gandhi for anti-party activities and she was expelled.

 Congress was divided into two INC(O)- consisting of Syndicate and INC(R somewhere I)- Supporters of Indira Gandhi. As I said earlier Anti defection laws were non-existent. INC(R/I) proved their majority on the floor with the help of the left block. I think its too obvious to explain how KGB is involved here.

After a year India Gandhi announced General Elections. KGB funded Indira's campaign. INC(R/I).

At the elections of February 1971, Mrs. Gandhi won a landslide victory. With seventy seats more than the undivided Congress had won in 1967, her Congress (R) had a two-thirds majority. The Congress Forum for Socialist Action had the support of about 100 MPs in the new parliament. Mrs. Gandhi made its most vocal spokesman, the former Communist Mohan Kumaramangalam, Minister of Mines; one of his first acts was the nationalization of the coal industry. Kumaramangalam seemed to be implementing a 'thesis' which he had first argued in 1964: that since the CPI could not win power by itself, as many of its members and sympathizers as possible should join the Congress, make common cause with 'progressive' Congressmen and compel the party leadership to implement socialist policies.

 BANGLADESH CRISIS

 Today what we know as Bangladesh was earlier known as East Pakistan. Pakistan on both sides of India was a strategic disaster as it opened 2 fronts in any war with Pakistan.  But West Pakistan's atrocities on Bengali people ultimately led to their divide. East Pakistan dominated by Punjabis deemed themselves as superior. They spoke URDU and tried to impose them on East Pakistanis. Their military committed horrible crimes of loot & rapes in East Pakistan.

 The world was informed about this genocide by Pakistani journalist Neville Anthony Mascarenhas. who As a matter of fact he is the only reporter who reported that Pakistan has developed nuclear weapons. On 13 June 1971, his article in the UK's Sunday Times exposed the brutality of Pakistan's suppression of the Bangladeshi uprising. It forced the reporter's family into hiding and changed history. Nobody knows exactly how many people were killed, but certainly, a huge number of people lost their lives. Independent researchers think that between 300,000 and 500,000 died. The Bangladesh government puts the figure at three million.

Mukti Bahini 

Though the world came to know about the events in June 1971, India knew and was preparing for it for a long time. This was not the India of 1965. RAW was in existence and was very active. It trained, funded and gave weapons to Bengali Liberation forces. Gen JFR Jacob was given the task to train them. Mukti Bahini developed into a feared guerilla force. They also gathered strategic military intelligence.

Sheikh Mujibur Rahman aka Mujib led the Awami League to win the first democratic election of Pakistan in 1970. Despite gaining a majority, the League was not invited by the ruling military junta to form a government. As civil disobedience erupted across East Pakistan, Mujib indirectly announced the independence of Bangladesh during a landmark speech on 7 March 1971. On 26 March 1971, the Pakistan Army responded to the mass protests with Operation Searchlight, in which Prime Minister-elect Mujib was arrested and flown to solitary confinement in West Pakistan, while Bengali civilians, students, intellectuals, politicians and military defectors were murdered as part of the 1971 Bangladesh genocide.

In August 1971 Mrs. Gandhi signed a Treaty of Peace, Friendship and Co-operation with the Soviet Union, According to the Permanent Secretary at the Indian Foreign Office, T.N. Kaul, it was one of the few closely guarded secret negotiations that India has ever conducted. On (the Indian) side, hardly half a dozen people were aware of it, including the Prime Minister and the Foreign Minister. The media got no scent of it. The Soviet Union seemed to be guaranteed the support of the leading power in the Non-Aligned Movement. Both countries immediately issued a joint communiqué calling for the withdrawal of US troops from Vietnam. India was able to rely on Soviet arms supplies and diplomatic support in the conflict against Pakistan.

Indira Gandhi also toured the western world to present Indian stance. India's diplomatic position was very weak at that time.  USA promised to give financial assistance for refugees but Mrs Gandhi took a tough stance exposing USA's hypocrisy.  Israel at that time agreed for military assistance.

INDO-PAK WAR OF 1971

As Operation Searchlight came into effect, refugees came to India in millions. This was huge pressure on our economy. Indira Gandhi wanted immediate military action. To this First Fieldmarshal, Field Marshal Sam Hormusji Framji Jamshedji Manekshaw told Indira Gandhi " It will take me 1 month to bring all troops in position. After that monsoon comes and it doesn't rains but pours in Bangladesh, the river become the sea. I can guarantee you defeat if we attack now". This made Mrs Gandhi infuriated. Some of Indira's close advisors had warned that Sam Manekshaw could do a military coup. Still, Mrs Gandhi believed and respected him. 

She asked Maneksaw how much time is needed, to which he replied 4 months. 

India was ready for war and when on 3 December 1971, after Pakistan launched preemptive air strikes on North India.  India was waiting for this moment. Though in 1965 navy and airforce were used, but their use was limited. Nany was not allowed to leave Indian territorial waters.

In contrast, all thee forces were used to the full extent in 1971, as there was strong leadership of Indira Gandhi and backing of USSR. India had advanced weapons. After PNS Ghazi was sunken by INS Rajput at Vishakhapatnam Navel base, INS Vikrant had no match. INSA Vikrant strike group was capable for a complete blockade of Bay of Bengal. Indian submarines and destroyers attacked Karachi. The Karachi port was reported to burn up till 3 days. Indian army along with Mukti Bahini easily marched towards Dhaka. Indian Airforce blocked complete airspace for Pakistan. This complete operation was named OPERATION TRIDENT. 

USA ENTERS THE WAR.

To save Pakistan US 7th pacific fleet entered the Indian ocean. As they entered Bay of Bengal Russian Submarines surfaced for just enough time that their presence was detected. Now the battle was on the international stage. Russian naval battle groups were present in the Indian ocean. Russia's defence minister was in India during the complete course of the war. USA was in no position to take on USSR. Thus USA was forced out of the battle. 

India recognised the gov of Bangladesh in exile to strengthen their stance.

India was desperate for surrender before ceasefire because if that wouldn't happen the complete war would be useless. India started deploying cardboard cutouts with parachutes shaped as soldiers. This was to give a false sense of Indian soldiers around Dhaka. General Niazi was scared when the governers house was bombed by India at the when a high-level meeting was going inside it. Gen JFR Jacob went in to enforce surrender. He threatened Niazi that Mukti Bahini would leave no one( women/children/etc) but if they surrendered now then Indian army would take full responsibility of their safety. Niazi agreed and we saw largest Public surrender of history.

This is the historic photo of Niazi signing the instrument of surrender. On ALL INDIA RADIO, it was announced that Dhaka was a free country of a free nation. India declared a unilateral ceasefire. Pakistan also declared ceasefire under international pressure. Thus India had its first true victory in a war. 
This is a dramatic representation of this historic surrender if someone is interested https://youtu.be/6bGdIAf2J_k

Chapter: 3(B) will mostly contain negative aspects of Mrs Gandhi as her bias for family and heavy Soviet influence will lead to a very dark period when democracy was brutally murdered. 

No matter what she did after 1971. Till 1971, in fact, till 1974 she was one of the best PMs to ever come. I am personally inspired by her. The way she against all odds gained power. She was one of the finest statesmen India will ever have.

 Due to the length of Chapter its divided into two parts. It will be online by 4/4/2020.