How was RAW treated during V P Singh regime ?

I rate him as the lowest rated Prime Minister India ever had. In my view He could do anything for his political interest. India is fortunate that he was India’s PM only for a year.

Exodus of Kashmiri Hindus. It was during his tanure as PM the Hindus of the Kashmir Valley, were forced to flee the Kashmir valley as a result of being targeted by JKLF and Islamist insurgents during late 1989 and early 1990. Of the approximately 300,000 to 600,000 Hindus living in the Kashmir Valley in 1990 only 2,000–3,000 remain there in 2016. And this guy was absolutely silent sitting absolutely tight doing nothing. He can never be pardoned for this.

V P Singh took over as the Prime Minister of the country on Dec 2, 1989 and Mufti Mohammad Sayeed was made the Home Minister. On Dec 8, 1989, Rubaiya Sayeed, daughter of Mufti Mohammad Sayeed, was kidnapped by terrorists belonging to Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF). The coalition govt led by VP Singh surrendered to the whims of these terrorists and 5 militants were freed in exchange of safe release for Mufti's daughter. The surrender boosted the morale of the terrorists and the rest, as we say, is history now.

By January 1990, the terrorists acting on the instructions of their Pakistani masters, decided to go for ethnic cleansing of Pandits as the first step towards setting up Nizam-E-Mustafa in the state. Between January 12-19, in these 7 days, Kashmiri Pandits were subjected to all kinds of persecution that included brutal killings of men and rape of women. The persecution became so intense that ‘Kashmiri Pandits' were left with no other choice than to move out of the state and the first mass exodus started on January 19, 1990,

Mandal Commission - It was during his tenure Mandal Commission report was implemented. Though the report had been completed in 1983 it was not implemented. But in August 1990 the V.P. Singh government declared its intent to implement the report to increase the reservation quota making the total number of reservations for SC, ST and OBC to 49%. The declaration led to massive student protests across the nation.

Minister for Finance (1984-87) and Defence (1987), Bofors and HDW - Many of today's generation may not be knowing that he was 2nd most important person in Rajiv Gandhi ministry and close confidante of Rajiv Gandhi. The Bofors deal was finalized when he was the finance minister and the consignment was received during his tenure as Defense Minister. He had every every knowledge of the deal, but he kept mum till the time of completion of the deal. He waited and allowed the deal to be completed. Thereafter he opted to talk about the deal to gain political mileage putting the entire blame on Rajiv Gandhi alone.

Rajiv Gandhi assassination -Rajiv Gandhi’s security cover was withdrawn by V P singh when he was the Prime Minister and this is inspite of knowing the grave threat he was facing. In a way Rajiv Gandhi was allowed to be assassinated, he was made soft and easy target. As if saying that I removed his security cover, now you do whatever you want to do. Facing threat from Lankan tigers with no SPG cover when he demitted office, he roamed around with just two cops; sadly, one was killed with him in the blast at Sriperumbudur where he was campaigning in the 1991 polls. Ironically it was Rajiv Gandhi who created the Special Protection Group(SPG) and the NSG Black Cat Commandos. He was not even given a Z+ security cover V P Singh used to make a hue and cry in 1990s, seeking to be free from SPG cover. The law then was that you have to be guarded, tailed, covered and secured by the SPG for ten years after ceasing to be Prime Minister.

R & AW -Rajiv Gandhi took great interest in the modernization and computerization of the R&AW. Under the modernization programme, its TECHINT capability was considerably increased. This was made possible through adequate investments for strengthening its capability for satellite communications monitoring, for aerial surveillance through the ARC and for the use of technical means in the collection of HUMINT. Prior to 1980, the R&AW’s capability for the collection of communications intelligence (C ..

The R&AW’s Pakistan Division was the main beneficiary of the improvements brought about by the fresh investments under Rajiv Gandhi. RAW was set up by Indira Gandhi in 1968 in line of CIA of US. It got excellent patronage fro both Indira and Rajiv. However the Janta Party Government was not in great favour of RAW. Prime minister Morarji Desai was full of hatred for the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW). Desai cut RAW budget by 30 per cent and forced its chief RN Kao, who helped to found the RAW to go on leave. But what Desai did after this was simply shocking. In a telephonic conversation, he revealed details of the RAW network in Pakistan to Zia-ul-Haq and told him that the Indian government also knew about its secret nuclear bomb-making facility at Kahuta. Resultingly the entire RAW network in Pakistan got eliminated soon after Desai’s revelation, several RAW men killed and the assets got neutralized.

In fact, in early 1978, RAW was offered the entire blueprint of the Kahuta nuclear plant just paying a mere sum of $10,000 to one of RAW’s Pakistani agents. However, as dictated by protocol, RAW needed the PM’s approval. Unfortunately in power Morarji Desai, was the Prime Minister then. The military dictator Zia-ul-Haq went about eliminating every single one of our agents and assets. Even CIA didn’t have any knowledge of Pakistan’s nuclear plan, what our RAW boys could do.

Rameshwar Nath Kao- a Kashmiri Brahmin who founded the RAW resigned from post “saying it was pointless working for an intelligence agency if the PM had no faith in the business.” how did RAW discover Pakistan’s nuclear secret (in fact, we had even managed to beat the CIA)? RAW actually found the answer lying on the floor of a barber shop! By analyzing the hair samples of the scientists (collected from the barber shop near the plant), RAW discovered they had indeed developed the capability to enrich uranium to weapons-grade quality. And thus, RAW managed to infiltrate the Kahuta plant in 1977.

B. Raman one-time head of the counter-terrorism division of RAW shared in his memoir, General Zia would often make “friendly” calls to Desai. Zia was aware of Desai’s deep-rooted devotion to urine therapy. He would often call the Indian Prime Minister, asking him innocuous questions like “Excellency, how often should one drink the urine in a day?” or “Excellency, does it have to be the first urine or can one drink it at any time of the day?” or “Excellency, how much urine should one drink?”

He was sold. And thus, in an unguarded moment, he told Zia all there was to know about Operation Kahuta. No wonder then, that Morarji Desai is the only Indian recipient of Pakistan’s highest civilian award, the Nishaan-e-Pakistan. V P Singh is follower of the political doctrine. I would not be surprised if RAW was kept at it low during the premiership.

Morarji Desai with General Zia-ul-Haq. Morarji Desai, India's first non-Congress PM, was the only Indian who won the Bharat Ratna & Pakistan's highest civilian award — the Nishan-e-Pakistan

Surprisingly in this great Indian blunder, the nationalist members of the former Bharatiya Jana Sangh were also unwitting partners as Atal Bihari Vajpayee was the foreign minister in the Janata Party government at that time and Lal Krishna Advani the information and broadcasting minister.

V P Singh coming from Janta Dal/Party he had his natural repulsion for RAW. V.P.Singh and Vinod Pandey, who had served under him, had shown a deep liking for relying more on private detective agencies such as Fairfax than the intelligence agencies of the Government of India for making confidential enquiries. This continued even after V.P Singh became the Prime Minister and appointed Vinod Pandey as his Cabinet Secretary. By making payments from the secret service fund of an intelligence agency, Pandey had the services of an European private detective hired for making enquiries about the Bofors payments. The reports sent by this detective—not independently verified or often unverifiable— were given by Pandey to journalists for publishing in their newspapers as coming from “privileged sources”. An action unthinkable by any nation.

THE INDIAN CONNECTION of Rajiv’s Assassination: Apart from deliberating of international angle Justice Jain devoted a separate chapter in his report on the Indian angle. Justice Jain opined that “it is amply borne out that there was an international plot to assassinate Rajiv Gandhi and that it was a Mossad/LTTE/CIA link." However has devoted separate chapters to three key Indian players who are suspected, one way or the other, to have had prior knowledge of the assassination. Nothing definitive or conclusive here, but Jain has woven in intriguing loops of circumstantial evidence—quoted and contained in the annexures—around godman Chandraswami, Janata Party leader Dr Subramanian Swamy and former PM Chandra Shekhar. The three are bracketed, prima facie, as either having a link with those who allegedly conspired with the assassins or at least having been privy to the fact of a plot. The link between Chandra Shekhar and Subramanian Swamy has been taken seriously by Jain in the light of Chandra-swami's deposition:

Now see the angle one Prime Minister cut down Rajiv’s security to almost NIL, and another PM was privy to the assassination plot, but didn’t take any action. VP Singh played his part silently without any one suspecting. Since he was not in power, no one can point the needle to him. But I will not be surprised if he also had prior knowledge of the plot as his predecessor Chandra Sekhar.

Rajiv Gandhi was corrupt or not is a different matter. But a Prime minister stooping so low to let or to set India’s ex prime Minister to be assassinated by external forces in Indian soil. Politics of such low could never be imagined. Unfortunately all the PM from Janta Dal/Party be it Desai, V P Singh or Chandra Sekhar all behaved in the same line.

Ref:

1. SPG cover was withdrawn from former Prime Ministers Rajiv Gandhi, IK Gujral and Deve Gowda too
2. Rajiv Gandhi and R&AW
3. R&AW and Bofors - Indian Defence Review
4. How Morarji Desai helped Pakistan become a nuclear state
5. How We Killed The Kaoboys
6. Finally All Fingers Point To A Foreign Hand | Outlook India Magazine.
7. What led to the exodus of Kashmiri pandits 26 years ago?