kakatiya Posted June 18, 2013 Report Posted June 18, 2013 WASHINGTON: His [color=#0000FF !important][u]last tweet[/u][/color] on May 30, as he battled [color=#0000FF !important][u]the final stages[/u][/color] of terminal cancer, read, ''Hanumanji willing, shd be back home coming Saturday.'' But as his life ebbed away over the last fortnight, [url="http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/topic/Bahukutumbi-Raman"]Bahukutumbi Raman[/url] might have noted, in his usual dry and dispassionate manner, that (1) [color=#0000FF !important][u]Hanumanji[/u][/color] was not around (2) Hanumanji must have had other pressing matters and (3) One should prepare for scenarios without Hanumanji. That's the standard government memo template he used for many years to convey matters of great strategic pith and moment to his fans, friends, and followers. He was not given to hyperbole or emotion or drama. Through the months of his cancer treatment, he tweeted about it in a matter-of-factly tone, once chastising someone who was persuading him to eat -- ''Affection for terminal cancer patients shd be simple and normal, not instructive.'' Through pain, medication, and therapy, some of which he disdained, he kept up a steady feed of advice, counsel, guidance, and inquiry to his constituents in the strategic sphere. It included telling the Government of India on the eve of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's recent visit to [url="http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/topic/Tokyo"]Tokyo[/url] that ''Ind-Japan shd make China's seeming strengths into strategic vulnerabilities.'' On Sunday evening, the 77-year old Raman - Raman mama to some of his acolytes - one of the founders of India's spy outfit Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) and the public face of its underrated and understated analysts community, passed away in Chennai. In the arcane world of espionage, where practitioners generally keep a low profile (particularly in India), Raman became a prolific contributor to public discourse on intelligence matters, often challenging conventional wisdom, and going upstream of establishment flow, especially on [url="http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/topic/Pakistan"]Pakistan[/url] and the United States. In a political establishment that is increasingly in thrall of Washington, he repeatedly counseled caution and vigilance, a result of what he saw as repeated American betrayal of Indian interests. This book deals largely with those aspects of the working of the Research and Analyses Wing ( RandAW is the equivalent of CIA in India) of which the author had personal knowledge while serving in the organization for 26 years. The book traverses through India's contemporary history- importantly the 71 war; insurgency in the Northeast, Punjab and Kashmir; the Emergency; the war in Afghanistan and the intelligence imperatives and dispensation under Indira Gandhi, Morarji Desai, Rajiv Gandhi, VP Singh, Chandra Shekhar and Narasimha Rao. Written with the purpose that knowledge of the role played by RandAW in those events would possibly enable a better understanding of its strengths and weaknesses, it painstakingly avoids overstatements, exaggerations and spins. The organization has been given credit where it is due. And it has been criticized where such criticism was warranted. Known for his candor, the author provides rare insights into the functioning of RandAW. This book is objective in its commentary and assessment. A prolific writer like Raman waited for 13 years after he retired from RandAW in 1994 to come out with an insightful book. READ his book [img]http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/81xmtBa51SL._SL1500_.jpg[/img] In India, retired intelligence officers have written books on general aspects of intelligence and security. However, there has been a reluctance to write on the functioning of our intelligence agencies by its retired officers. Such reluctance was there even in other countries till the early 1960s. This has since disappeared. The public in general and the research scholars in particular have benefited from such writings. This book seeks to break the reluctance in India in public interest, so that the nation as a whole may benefit from awell-informed debate. Kaoboys of the RandAW, first attempt by an insider, who belonged to the permanent cadre since inception of RandAW and was not merely a bird of passage, hopefully, would encourage others to share their experience and insights with the public and research scholars.More »
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