Hindutva Brigade must break silence on spying allegations

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Recent revelations of alleged espionage involving Professor Pradeep Kurulkar of the Defense Research and Development Organization should have shaken the establishment. After all, Kurulkar would have managed crucial projects related to India’s defense and would have been the main designer or team leader of projects on missile launchers and subsonic cruise missiles.

Reports indicate that Kurulkar was in contact, via WhatsApp, with a Pakistani Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) agent late last year. His suspicious activities were reported to the police by DRDO, and in January his laptop and two cell phones were seized. The Maharashtra Counter Terrorism Squad (ATS) is now handling the case. The foreign travels of the Kurulkars are also under the scanner.

Such findings have long-term implications for India’s national security. Initial reports from ANI, a news agency known for its closeness to the ruling regime, did not mention Kurulkars’ name. The news agency did not initially mention his name in its tweets, although photos of his face circulated on social media and media. The sequence of events has left many wondering if the tweets deliberately concealed his name to create doubt about his identity.

No doubt Indian investigators will examine whether detectives from neighboring countries have penetrated India’s defense research sector and to what extent Kurulkar has compromised India’s secrets. But it should be noted that this case was not forwarded to the National Investigation Agency. Formed in the aftermath of the 2008 Mumbai terror attack and said to be more equipped and experienced in handling cases with cross-border ramifications, this agency has been busy clearing many cases, so why not this one?

It is another matter that the Maharashtra ATS does not have an outstanding track record of handling issues professionally and impartially. A state-level agency naturally has its limits, but it has notably botched so-called Hindutva cases, where majority supremacists or their foot soldiers have been alleged or admitted to have been involved in sparks of violence. The biggest blow to the Maharashtra ATS was after the death of its leader, Hemant Karkare. He exposed the national supremacist network after the 2008 Malegaon bombing, a case in which 37 witnesses have since gone rogue.

The official statement after his arrest highlighted how Kurulkar misused his position thereby compromising sensitive government secrets, which could threaten India’s security if he fell into the hands of the enemy nation. But the case is wider in scope and may have merited charges not only under the Official Secrets Act of 1923, which was used. No charges of treason, sedition or harm to national security would have been applied in this case.

Since Kurulkars’ arrest last week, the story of the honey trap has spread quite far, but while that may be accurate, it must not become a way to spin the case into a sensational and sordid trap. . Such cases demonstrate the lack of vigilance of Indian agencies, and it is worth considering whether he could be hiding in plain sight because he was active in Hindutva organizations. On the day his alleged interaction with a Pakistani agent was made public, the Marathi-language press revealed that he had attended programs organized by numerous Hindutva outfits. There are pictures of him addressing meetings to commemorate Hindutva icon VD Savarkar. On YouTube, there are videos in which he discusses his association with the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) since childhood.

If enough opposition pressure is mounted, Hindutva organizations may have a lot to explain about their supporters, their ideology and how such a suspect moved into their fold and concealed their intent behind their activities. There’s no doubt that thousands of people frequent RSS branches every day, but that alone can’t be an excuse to shirk responsibility when such serious allegations come to light. The RSS has always relied on the opacity of its members to deny responsibility for the wrongdoings of those apprehended, even in serious cases such as being caught with bombs and weapons. But he never fails to claim credit when it suits him. This will not be enough, and these trainings must explain how and why such figures could participate in its activities while allegedly plotting against national interests.

Kurulkar is not the only person who witnessed Hindutva events and was caught in a compromising position regarding the Pakistani ISI. Recall the Dhruv Saxena case of 2017, when the Madhya Pradesh ATS caught an alleged eleven-member pod who leaked information about the military move. Saxena, the so-called kingpin, is said to have served as the district coordinator of the Bharatiya Janata Parties’ IT cell in the past. A former BJP minority cell leader has also been accused of being nothing less than a Lashkar-e-Taiba agent, and the party has denied any involvement, but pictures of him have emerged with party leaders. Arguably, it’s easy enough to photograph yourself with leaders at public functions, but the list of damning revelations is too long to ignore.

Take the affidavit filed by Yashwant Shinde, who requested to appear as a witness in the District Court in the 2006 Nanded bombing case, in which members of Hindutva groups allegedly been involved. Shinde claimed he was trained for covert operations related to a larger plot to plant bombs across India. In 2003 and 2004, he alleged, the same group he had trained with was behind bombed-out mosques in the Maharashtra towns of Jalna, Purna and Parbhani.

As another individual who claims a deep connection to hard-line Hindu groups comes under the scanner, supporters of a majority Hindu nation must face the reality: Kurulkars’ arrest is not an isolated case but a possible symptom of what lurks inside. Those who speak loudly about nationalism cannot compromise national secrets or take actions that cost lives.

The author is a freelance journalist. Opinions are personal.

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