PM Modi Asks India's Intelligence Agencies To Help Make Bollywood Movies To Motivate Staff




Prime Minister Narendra Modi wants India's intelligence services to use movies to motivate their staff whose hard work and sacrifices go unsung due to the secretive nature of their work, even as they lead opaque, dangerous and often uncertain lives. He made these remarks during the annual Intelligence Bureau Endowment Lecture on 23 December, in Delhi. The event was closed to the media and this story is based on conversations with multiple people who were present at the event. They asked not to be named.

Apart from asking the security community to help produce movies depicting the work of its officers, the Prime Minister asked for better analysis, upgrade of its technology and development of case studies as learning guides.

The Prime Minister's Office (PMO) did not respond to an email seeking comment.

A senior PMO official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said the PM's remarks must be read in the right context. "The country celebrates the Indian Army for liberating Bangladesh, but the contribution of the Intelligence Bureau (IB) or the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) can never be talked about. How does one remember the faceless and nameless operator? The Prime Minister's suggestion should be seen in this context of making these people feel glamorous and worthwhile."

Hollywood has made many blockbusters showcasing the importance of intelligence work. Zero Dark Thirty showed how the Central Intelligence Agency went about getting Osama Bin Laden. Argo depicted an extraordinary CIA operation in Iran. Munich showcased the capabilities and doggedness of the Israel's Mossad. Salt projected the capabilities of the Russian intelligence. But Indian films have rarely showcased India's covert capabilities and achievements of the Indian intelligence agencies.

Indian intelligence agencies have spectacular operations to their credit. Many are quoted and cited as examples by their foreign counterparts, both friendly and hostile.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
For instance, in the late 1980s, when Khalistan militancy was at its peak in Punjab, an Intelligence Bureau officer walked into the besieged Golden Temple in Amritsar posing as a Pakistani agent months before the 1988 Operation Black Thunder and obtained vital intelligence on the militants holed up inside.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

The legendary B. Raman, who had a long association with the RAW, documented how a mole in the office of the then Pakistani President, Yahya Khan, informed India about the exact date and time and location of the first Pakistan airstrike signalling beginning of hostilities in the 1971 Bangladesh Liberation War. The list of such operations is long.

"Intelligence can be soul destroying," former Secretary of the RAW, K.C. Verma, told HuffPost India. Jayadeva Ranade, a China specialist who has spent many years in the RAW, said that films showcasing the profession will surely help and bring back the focus on the classical intelligence work. "Projection surely help people appreciate intelligence agencies better," Sanjeev Tripati, former Secretary, RAW

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

AMCA ~ India's indigenous 5th Gen Fighter : A Brief Overview

Image
Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft (AMCA) is an Indian programme of a fifth-generation fighter aircraft. It is being developed by an aerospace industry team which consist of Aeronautical Development Agency as a design firm and to be manufactured by Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL). It is a single-seat, twin-engine, stealth supermaneuverable all weather multirole fighter aircraft. Unofficial design work on the AMCA started in 2008 with official work started in 2011 and completed in 2014. In 2008 Indian Navy joined the programme for the naval variant optimized for the aircraft carriers operation. The first flight is scheduled to occur in 2023–2024. It is a multirole combat aircraft designed for the air superiority, ground attack, bombing, intercepting, Strike and other types of roles. It combines supercruise, stealth, AESA radar, maneuverability, and advanced avionics to overcome and suppress previous generation fighter aircraft along with many ground and maritime defences. T...
Read more

Reliance Defence, Israeli company to make Kalashnikov weapons for INDIAN ARMY

Image
Reliance Defence and Engineering Ltd of the Anil Ambani Group is planning to manufacture Kalashnikov class of weapons for Indian armed forces in a joint venture with an Israeli company . The Israeli arms maker, Kalashnikov Israeli Company, has agreed to jointly make Kalashnikov and other small arms with Reliance Defence, according to industry sources. The manufacturing facility could come up at the Pipavav shipyard. Reliance Defence will hold 51 per cent stake in the joint venture, while the rest of the stake will be held by Kalashnikov Israel. Kalashnikov Israel is a subsidiary of the CAA Company of Israel. Industry sources said the tie-up could be formalised during the ongoing visit of Israeli President Reuven Rivlin. The small arms requirement from the three armed forces, paramilitary forces, and states police is in the range of about two million units over the next 10 years.                            ...
Read more

After AGNI 5 test, AGNI 6 creates BUZZ among hostile neighbours of INDIA

Image
While Agni-V is yet to become fully operational with Indian Strategic Forces Command (SFC) which manages countries tactical and strategic nuclear weapons stockpile but many countries in India’s immediate neighbourhood are already rattled at growing range of India’s missiles which allows India to project its power beyond its regional rivals. With murmurs of nervousness and uneasiness found among countries who India classifies has Allies/ friendly due to India’s growing missile range, Government of India for a while has been hesitant to openly talk about Countries next Big missile and kept long-range missile away from its annual republic day parade to create positive perception of the country as responsible Nuclear power to gain entry into elite Nuclear Suppliers Group. Agni-VI might be last Big Land-based intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) coming out of India, since India in future increasingly will be shifting focus on developing longer ranged submarine-launched ballistic...
Read more