NEW DELHI: Knives are out for National Security Advisor (NSA) M K Narayanan after reports on leaked intelligence relating to the siege of Mumbai was carried prominently in the Delhi-based ‘Hindustan Times’, known to be sympathetic to the Congress, particularly Sonia Gandhi. Giving precise intelligence from the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW), the country’s transnational intelligence agency, the report stops short of directly blaming the NSA for failure to prevent the outrage, although the blame is laid substantially at his doorstep.
As per the pointed leak from the RAW’s top echelons, the agency had passed on satellite intercepts of conversations on September 18, 24 and November 19, that clearly said a hotel at the Gateway in Mumbai was targeted and the searoute would be used. A later transcript broadened the ambit of the targets by even naming the Taj, the Marriot, the Lands End and the Sea Rock - all sea front hotels eminently accessible by the sea - as well as the Juhu airfield.
Therefore the targets were broadly known, as were the terrorists’ access route. This intelligence was apparently passed on to the National Security Secretariat, charged with disseminating the information.
The report is sure to embarrass the Prime Minister, who reportedly rejected the NSA’s offer to resign the day after the siege of Mumbai was over.
The agencies have begun to pass the buck for the failure to prevent the Mumbai attack despite a warning far clearer than previous attacks. Sources say the RAW chief barely concealed his glee that his agency had exonerated itself.
The leak, they add, only scratches the surface of the frustration in the intelligence agencies over the fact that the NSA had amassed control of the agencies, going so far as to do away with the PM’s routine briefings from the RAW and IB chiefs, thereby controlling the intelligence available to the PM. They are angry that the agencies are being asked to pay the price for the NSA’s failure to ensure that intelligence was analysed and processed efficiently. They point out that the NSA had taken control of the agencies to precisely change their functioning to better streamline the intelligence processes to serve national security better.
Political sources point out that in the fateful CWC meeting that led to the ouster of ex-Home Minister Shivraj Patil, P Chidambaram pointedly remarked that the situation in Mumbai was the direct result of improper intelligence processing.
Intelligence sources add that Narayanan’s failure is made stark given that unlike his predecessors Brajesh Mishra and J N Dixit, the incumbent has also been IB chief not once but twice and, therefore, better placed to streamline the system.
What has happened is the opposite.
Others point out that at best the RAW can just pass on intelligence. The IB, the recipient of such information, has to act suitably. In 1985, for instance, the RAW had passed on precise information of a possible attack on Rajiv Gandhi, even disclosing the venue, Rajghat. Afterwards, Rajiv is said to have remarked: “Short of giving you the colour of their (the assailants’) trousers, the RAW has given you everything.” The RAW obviously senses an opportunity to seek to expand turf.
The question doing the rounds in the Capital is: will the PM now loosen his embrace of his NSA, or will he find more convenient scapegoats? Political sources familiar with the PMO’s functioning say the PM is sure to look for guidance to Sonia Gandhi, to whom the NSA is said to have unobstructed access. It remains to be seen how Mrs Gandhi, who set the tone for the post-Mumbai CWC meeting by sternly telling the gathered leaders “It’s time to act,” gives the cue.