GREAT INDIANS

“He could move things with one call.” — Daruwala, former Chairman, Joint Intelligence Committee
Rameshwar Nath Kao was born in Varanasi in 1918. He joined the Indian Police [IP] in 1940, was deputed to the Intelligence Bureau [IB] in 1947 and given charge of VIP security. His work with agents from China and England in the investigations of the blowing up of Air India plane Kashmir Princess on April 11, 1955 was appreciated by the Chinese Prime Minister Zhou En Lai. Nehru selected him to head the Aviation Research Centre in Orissa which collected intelligence through technical means [TECHINT].
The failure to predict attack by China in 1962 and the intentions of Ayub Khan, the President of Pakistan, in 1965 led to a review of the Intelligence organisation. Kao’s proposal to bifurcate IB into two wings – domestic and foreign - was approved. He took over the Research and Analysis Wing [R&AW] responsible for foreign intelligence on September 21, 1968. The reorganisation was resented by the IB officers and a degree of non-cooperation continues.
His stellar services in the Indo-Pak war 1971 were well appreciated by the Defence Services, Para-military and the political leadership. He had built up a network with the political leaders and officers from East Pakistan. This helped in organising Mukti Bahini which constituted defected Para-military forces and students to participate in the war. Covert action directed by Kao destroyed the infrastructure of Naga and Mizo hostiles in Chittagaon. It was the finest hour of R&AW. His timely advice led to the merger of Sikkim into India. He provided covert assistance to the struggle against apartheid in South Africa. Kao had warned Bangladesh President Mujib of conspiracy against him and even gave him the names of the officers planning a coup. Mujib disregarded the warning. He and 40 members of his family were killed in the coup. Kao resigned in 1977 when Indira Gandhi lost the elections. The new Prime Minister Morarji Desai ordered an enquiry into his alleged role during the Emergency. He was cleared of all charges. He resigned and rejoined as Security Advisor when Indira Gandhi was voted back to power in 1980. He had personal relations with the high and mighty in many countries including with George Bush Sr., then Director CIA but never dropped names.
In early 1980’s, Indira Gandhi directed the Army to clear the Golden Temple of militants. Kao is reported to have advised against the use of Army. This operation alienated some sections of the Sikh community. Indira Gandhi was shot down by her own security guard in 1984. This was a shock to Kao. He felt let down by the IB and the Delhi Police. He helped Rajiv Gandhi in the transfer of power and retired to live in a heavily guarded house in Vasant Vihar. He died in 2002.
He had his shortcomings too. He failed to understand the developments in Kabul due to intervention by USSR and USA. Arming of LTTE was another mistake. He was blind to the faults of the people around him. Indira Gandhi had desired that R&AW should not become a police organisation. Therefore, Kao got the approval to recruit the cadre directly without going through the UPSC. This, however, resulted in a number of children of senior officers getting recruited and posted to plum posts overseas. A few of them stayed back there. It led to low morale. Fixation of seniority posed a major problem. An atmosphere of permissiveness and an undue emphasis on build up of personalities prevailed. He identified himself with Indira Gandhi too closely. It would have been more desirable if he had continued to serve under different Prime Ministers. He trained a generation of intelligence professionals and extended help to some of the countries in Africa to organise their Intelligence organisations. Count Alexandre de Marenches, the chief of French External Intelligence Agency named him as one of the five great Intelligence Chiefs of the 70s.

– Brigadier Suresh Chandra Sharma (retd)