INDIAN GOVERNMENTS AND SOVIETS

The Mitrokhin Archives that was brought out as a book by Christopher Andrew is a revelation about many things that are unknown to many Indians. Let us take a look at the way things shaped up in the last seventy odd years since independence. The government of India that came into being in 1947 since country's independence from the British had been plagued by infiltration by many foreign intelligence agencies.  In the early years of the country as an independent nation, the most feared intelligence agency of USSR was slowly cultivating the people from the top in various levels of administration.  The diplomats and others who were posted to the Kremlin Embassy of India from that time were compromised using the age old trick of honey traps, bribes and un-manageable debts.  KGB managed to get the cipher codes and the books for decrypting the messages.  There was not a single message from the Indian embassy in Kremlin that went without the knowledge of the Soviets.  

Both M K Gandhi and J Nehru were held as reactionaries by the rulers of USSR.  Even Indira Gandhi was not spared in their contempt.  The title the Dumb Doll (Goongi Gudiya in Hindi) by Ram Manohar Lohia was even seen as an apt one by the Soviets.  However, the later day events post the split in congress and the sidelining of the hardliners in the new set up by Indira Gandhi brought the Soviets closer to the administration.  

The Soviets used their intelligence wing to bribe the Indian bureaucrats and politicians.  The bribes were ranging from INR 1000 to 4000/-.  Imagine the times when these amounts were paid - it was early 1950s when these were princely sums.   The Communist Party of India was extensively used by funding through their intelligence operatives in India and through Novosti, the printing house operated by the party in India paying 50% more than the charges for the publications. In the year 1959, this was expanded to a business of import-export with USSR and the profit was creamed off to the party in India.  Within a decade the profit of this unit increased to INR 3 million.  In the year 1972, the profit from this venture of the party contributed more than INR 10 million. Though the IB of the country was able to penetrate some of the CPI cadres and leaders to turn them away from Soviets, still the Soviets were able to continue their activities.   

Immediately on the death of J Nehru, the Soviets were trying to get G L Nanda, the interim prime minister to be confirmed as the premier of the country.  They were trying to avoid the right wing traditionalist Morarji Desai from taking over as the prime minister.  When L B Shastri was made the prime minister, the role played by the Soviets did not come to light.  When Indira Gandhi was made the prime minister post the sudden demise of L B Shastri in Tashkent, it was more of a design by the Syndicate who were not happy with the ways of Morarji Desai and nothing to do with Soviets. However, they were happy with Indira Gandhi as the prime minister.  The split in congress engineered by Indira Gandhi and the active behind the scene works of the Soviets with the communist parties of India spelt a doom to the Syndicate and the party of Indira Gandhi emerged victorious in the elections in 1969.  The subsequent war with Pakistan in 1971, cemented Mrs. Gandhi's position in the Indian political scene.  

During the period of Indira Gandhi, the bribe went to such an extent that suit cases filled with bank notes were sent to the prime minister's house; one of the senior members of the Syndicate mentioned even the empty suit cases were not returned by Indira Gandhi. The Soviet minister Andropov declined an offer from an Indian minister for information in exchange of USD 50000/-; as the Soviets had already well equipped with the info from the ministries of defense and external affairs.  It looked like the entire country was for sale.  The intelligence agencies of both USSR and USA had deeply penetrated the government. However, in the views of one of the senior functionaries of KGB, it was more successful than the CIA, as KGB skillfully exploited the corruption in the government, which became endemic under the Indira Gandhi's regime.

When Soviets realised that the operation of the sub-continent is going to be too crucial to be left alone, they set up a separate unit called Service A within the intelligence wing to monitor and control the events.  The Soviets to a large extent helped the administration from the time of J Nehru to Indira Gandhi in finalising many defense deals. Krishna Menon, the defense minister in the ministry of J Nehru, after having spent many years in UK, could not get along with the Indian mindset.  He was cultivated by the Soviets and the plan to buy MiG-21 was taken then overlooking the offer by the British.  The extraordinary hatred the countrymen had for British was one of the reasons that Menon mentioned for going for the MiG-21.  However, the misreading of the Chinese designs and later the humiliating defeat at the hands of China in 1962 conflict sent him home and he died a dejected man in 1974, though J Nehru, his leader, overtook him by a decade.

The archives brought out many unknown facts to the knowledge of the public.  In the year 2005, when the book was published, the leader of opposition in the parliament L K Advani demanded that the government bring out a white paper on this issue and file a suit against the author for defamation. The Congress spokesperson said that the book is nothing but sensationalism at its worst and not based on official records of the Soviets.  The claims of the spokesperson sound more an empty rhetoric as no government will issue any official confirmation of such revelations.  

The actions of the foreign intelligence agencies in most of the third world countries is a known fact. The CIA was reportedly involved in many assassinations of political leaders in many third world countries.  KGB was reportedly involved in many countries engineering the internal unrest and consequent revolt or coup in many countries. As for India is concerned, KGB had penetrated the country to such an extent that the entire education for two or three generations were totally what was dictated by the Soviets, which unfortunately continue even today.  What we see as the torch bearers of secularism as practiced in India is the result of the undiluted interference in the country's social and political life by the Soviets through their intelligence wing through decades since independence.