The practice of intelligence agencies floating and funding non-governmental organisations and even publishing houses for using them for PSYWAR purposes was born during the Second World War and extensively used during the subsequent cold war against the USSR and its communist allies.
In the 1960s and the 1970s, the US media highlighted this practice and revealed the links of many supposedly prestigious US non-governmental organisations to the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA).One of these organisations used to fund the visits of many senior Indian government servants to the US for some purpose or the other.
A senior official of our Ministry of Home Affairs, who was on a Congressional fellowship in the US at the invitation of a highly prestigious non-governmental organisation, was embarrassed when the US media identified it as funded and used by the CIA for softening public opinion moulders in other countries.
He immediately drew the attention of the government of India to this report and asked for instructions whether he should terminate his fellowship and return to India. The government of India advised him not to do so. It felt that he had not done anything wrong since he had no way of knowing that the CIA was behind that organisation.
This practice was also followed by the MI-6, the UK's Secret Intelligence Service, its external intelligence agency. In fact some years ago, in reply to a question in the House of Commons, the British government admitted that some of the anti-communist best-sellers were sponsored and funded by the MI-6.
After the end of the cold war, this practice has come down but has not been abandoned. Intelligence agencies continue to float and fund non-governmental organisations, seminars etc for PSYWAR purposes. In addition, they also seek to soften political leaders by making contributions to their election funds.
In the 1980s, during the jihad against the Soviet troops in Afghanistan, considerable money was spent by the CIA and the Saudi intelligence for carrying on a PSYWAR against the Soviet troops through non-governmental organisations. Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), which played a role in assisting in these PSYWAR activities, which were often in the Pashtun language, acquired considerable expertise in this field.
It has since been using this expertise for achieving its-Kashmir-related objectives. Since 1989, the ISI has either floated a number of non-governmental organisations or has been funding organisations which already existed in order to use them against the government of India. There are many such organisations in the West floated and/or funded by the ISI.
The more active amongst them is the Kashmiri American Council (KAC) of Washington DC headed by Ghulam Nabi Fai, a US resident of Kashmiri origin. For nearly two decades, the KAC has been organising activities such as printing and disseminating propaganda pamphlets and other literature on alleged human rights violations in Jammu & Kashmir, holding national seminars in the US to which only residents in the US are invited, holding international seminars to which the participants are invited from many countries including India, lobbying against the government of India in the US Congress and in the margins of international human rights conferences and softening US politicians by contributing to their election funds.
There were strong indications for many years that Fai and his organisation were promoting such activities at the instance of the ISI with funds provided by it. His activities were against US laws, but the US agencies chose to close their eyes to them and refrained from taking any criminal action against him because of what the US perceived as the useful role played by Pakistan as a frontline ally in the war against terrorism.
There are two kinds of activities which intelligence agencies indulge in foreign territory--secret, but declared and secret and undeclared. The liaison relationships for intelligence co-operation would come under the secret, but declared category. Unilateral HUMINT operations such as the one which ultimately led to the killing of Osama bin Laden and other clandestine activities, which are kept deniable, would come under the secret and undeclared category.
Since the beginning of this year, there have been complaints in Pakistan that since 9/11 there has been a mushrooming of the US intelligence presence in Pakistan due to an increase in secret and undeclared activities of the US agencies. After the Raymond Davis affair of January last, the Pakistan government has been trying to keep a greater check on such activities through measures such as asking the US to reduce its intelligence presence and tightening the procedure for the issue of visas to suspected, but undeclared intelligence personnel.
The activities of Fai and his organisation came under the category of secret and undeclared activities of the ISI in US territory. In return for the Pakistan government closing its eyes to the secret and undeclared activities of the US intelligence in Pakistani territory, the US closed its eyes to the secret and undeclared activities of the ISI in US territory so long as those activities were directed against India and were not considered detrimental to the national security of the US.
Now that there has been a change in Pakistan's policy and it has abandoned its hitherto permissive attitude to the secret and undeclared activities of the US intelligence in Pakistani territory, the US has decided to retaliate by giving up its permissive attitude and putting an end to the secret and undeclared activities of the ISI in US territory. That is the message from the arrest on July 19,2011, of Fai and another person for indulging in illegal activities as undeclared foreign agents and the decision to prosecute them.
While we should be gratified over the US action, we should avoid over-assessing its significance as an indicator of US solidarity with India or as a precursor to a possible change in the US attitude to Pakistani claims and designs relating to J&K. It is an opportunistic and tactical action to exercise pressure on Pakistan and its ISI to do the US bidding and nothing more.
B. Raman is Additional Secretary (retd), Cabinet Secretariat, Govt. of India, New Delhi, and, presently, Director, Institute For Topical Studies, Chennai, and Associate of the Chennai Centre For China Studies.
AUTHORS: B. RAMAN
PEOPLE: GHULAM NABI FAI
TAGS: INDO-US-PAK | ISI | PAK-US
SECTION: INTERNATIONAL
SUBSECTION: OPINION
PLACES: J&K
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JUL 22, 2011 03:57 PM 7 | I find it curious that the left-liberal lobby in India has immediately swung into counter-riposte to damage control their earnest foot-soldiers who are a part of the ISI junkets. Would they be so charitable had this been some Israeli Zionist foundation sponsoring some pro-RSS academicians on some pet cause of that lobby? Sad to see Mr Raman and his mentors at Outlook being so blatant in double standards. |
JUL 22, 2011 03:08 PM 6 | As detailed above, Pakistan is not the only country that engages in this kind of activity. Every major world power will view it as a legitimate extension of their foreign policy. It is nothing to be ashamed of, and if India is not doing the same then they are fools. I recall not long ago there was discussion on this forum about Indian politicians being suborned by American diplomats. Being so well acquainted with the art of bribery, our political establishment should be highly successful at this. |
JUL 22, 2011 11:29 AM 5 | A few points: The best efforts of ISI thru Fai and others haven't resulted in much benefit for the Pakistani cause. Since ISI and the Pakistan Army is funded largely through US grants it is US money being ploughed back. Something like the offset clause in our defence contracts :) The US authorities may have known about Fai for the last 4 years or 40 that doesn't matter. Had Pakistan remained a cooperative ally Fai may very well have continued his activities. The FBI didn't need to keep him under surveillance for 4 years to get to the source of funding. He is small fish. Could have been busted any time in the past but earlier there was 'no need' to do this. This is just CIA-ISI tit or tat operation. The 4 years story is just for mango junta to appreciate the hard work that went behind and that it was not a knee jerk retaliatory move. The US has no objection to Fai's message or his modus operandi. They have a problem with the non-declaration of his source of funding. There isn't a sea change in the US attitude towards Kashmir or ISI sponsored activities towards India. I don't see what direct "fayda" can we get out of it. Good analysis, Mr Raman. |
JUL 22, 2011 07:21 AM 4 | I tend to agree with the author. Fai's arrest has practically no significance for India except that he had occupied a large space in the Kashmir narrative dished out to US lawmakers and the public.His position was not entirely unchallanged by a more balanced view. His Pro Pakistan activities were known to the US authorities. His affiliations with the Pakistani ISI and his ideological slant towards the Islamic separatist elements is known to every child in kashmir. I can not imagine that it is any surpise to either the US government or to the Indian. His arrest is a tactic that is entirely adressed to the Pakistani establishment. We need not feel over elated. |
JUL 21, 2011 09:26 PM 3 | Mr Raman, you view everything American with suspicion. The investigation against Mr Fai, did not start in last few months. This investigation has been ongoing since 2007 and Mr Fai has been questioned severel times in the 2007-2011 period regarding his funding. So, while it may have surprised you that Mr Fai is now being prosecuted, it certainly would not have surprised Mr Fai as he knew he was under the scanner for past few years. The question is , which Indian reporters and journalists, are in the good books of ISI and are indirect beneficiaries of ISI money for serving ISI propoganda, willingly or foolishly. |
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