Former Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) Chief AS Dulat has made some startling claims – particularly about the Kandahar operation and the 2002 Gujarat riots.
The Kandahar “Goof-up”
Dulat claimed that in 1999, during the IC-814 operation in Kandahar, the response was goofed-up as there were no clear instructions. Dulat said the Crisis Management Group made a mistake by not immobilising the plane when it landed in Amritsar.
Speaking to India Today he said,
They lacked focus and leadership and therefore were unable to give orders for the plane to be detained in Amritsar. They carried on debating and the plane flew away.
– AS Dulat, Ex-RAW Chief
Dulat also said that he was co-ordinating with then Jammu and Kashmir CM Farooq Abdullah because two of the terrorists who were to be released were lodged in a jail in J&K. Dulat went on to reveal how Abdullah was “shouting for hours” because he felt it would be a grave mistake to release the terrorists –Mushtaq Latram and Maulana Masood Azhar.
After he ventilated his anger, he stormed off to meet Governor Girish Chander Saxena with an intention to resign. However, the Governor calmed him down and Abdullah eventually accepted the situation and agreed to the release of terrorists.
– AS Dulat, Ex-RAW Chief
The Grief of 2002 Gujarat Riots
Dulat also spoke about meeting with Former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee – claiming that the former PM always thought that the 2002 riots were a “mistake”. The “grief was clearly visible” on Vajpayee’s face, the ex-Raw chief explained.
Kashmir: The Vajpayee Years
Dulat also spoke about several other issues related to Jammu and Kashmir – including some claims that he made in his book Kashmir: The Vajpayee Years. He said that former PM Vajpayee had “grave doubts” about PDP leader and Mufti Sayeed’s daughter Mehbooba Mufti and was suspicious that she had links with Hizbul and Jamaat.
He also said that the target of the 1989 kidnapping was originally not Mufti Sayeed’s daughter Rubaiya but Abdullah’s daughter Saffia.
Some of these claims by ex-RAW Chief Dulat have also been made in his book Kashmir: The Vajpayee Years.
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