Ajit Doval: From Kashmir, Delhi riots to China, why are the medicines of every condition of the Modi government?

Posted on 13th Jul 2020 by rohit kumar

People who do not like Ajit Doval call him behind the back, calling him as 'Daroga'. His critics in the Ministry of External Affairs also criticize him as NSA (Pakistan).Perhaps the reason for doing this is that in the eyes of these people, Doval does not have as much understanding of diplomacy and foreign policy as is required of this post. So many years ago when Doval's two-hour videoconference with China's Defense Minister Wong Yi, when Chinese forces retreated from the area they had claimed a few days ago, many people raised eyebrows.

 

This was not the first time Doval had persuaded China to change its stand. Even in the year 2017, when the soldiers of India and China were standing face to face in Doklam, during the BRICS meeting, Doval had talked to his then counterpart Yang Jie Chi and saved the matter from catching up.Their conversation not only continued on the phone, but together in the German city of Hamburg, they had prepared a plan for the withdrawal of the soldiers on both sides. Amid this diplomatic conversation, Doval was also able to send the message to the Chinese that if it is not resolved, the participation in Narendra Modi's BRICS conference may be at risk.

 

Other intelligence officers who reached the post of NSA

Doval is the fifth National Security Advisor in India's history. In 1998, this post was made on the lines of America during the reign of the Vajpayee. The first appointment on this was that of former diplomat Brajesh Mishra, who held this post till 2004.Although the role of the National Security Advisor comprises the three of Defense, Intelligence and Diplomacy, but three of the five national security advisors so far, Brajesh Mishra, JN Dixit and Shivshankar Menon have come from the field of diplomacy.

 

Before Doval, MK Narayanan was the only intelligence officer to reach the post of National Security Advisor.

Doval's role in controlling the Delhi riots

Generally, the National Security Advisor used to work in the backyard to provide advice. His job was to sit in Delhi and collect information from everywhere and advise the government. But Narendra Modi has used Ajit Doval for non-traditional matters.When there were riots in Delhi, Modi sent Doval to control the law and order in the area. This was probably the first time that an NSA not only visited the area and took stock of the situation but also spoke to the victims.

 

Normally, the NSA is not expected to 'micro-manage' such things and become the face of the government. The move was also considered unusual because Amit Shah was the Home Minister of India and Delhi Police was reporting to him.

The Prime Minister took the unprecedented decision to send Doval because thousands of people in the capital of the country came to cover Trump's visit soon after the arrival of US President Trump in Ahmedabad by thousands of people. stood up.A former police officer believes that Doval was sent to control the Hindu Muslim riots because Amit Shah himself could not roam the riot-ridden areas and communicate with Muslims.

 

Doval went to the riot-hit areas not once or twice and not only gave instructions to the police officers but also tried to reduce the tension by talking to the leaders of both the communities.

Doval stayed in Kashmir for a fortnight after Section 370 was lifted

Doval's old track record was also behind this in stopping the Hindu-Muslim riots. Ajit Doval of the Kerala cadre of 1968 batch was also instrumental in overcoming the Thalassery riots in 1972 and normalized the situation within a week.This was not the first time that Doval was given the responsibility of doing something extra beyond his traditional role. When Section 370 was lifted in Kashmir in August, Doval camped in Kashmir for a full fortnight during the beginning of the lockdown. At the same time, a video of him went viral where he was seen eating biryani with locals in Shopian, one of the most stressed areas of Kashmir.

 

In another video, he was also seen talking with the personnel of Jammu and Kashmir Police and paramilitary forces. Both these videos sent a message to the people living outside Kashmir that there is peace in Kashmir and the situation is under control there.

 

After the recent outbreak of Corona, when Tarkigi Jamaat's Markaz became the hotspot of Corona at Nizamuddin in Delhi, Ajit Doval went there at two o'clock to convince the Jamaat's leadership to vacate the place. It did not come under the jurisdiction of Doval, but even then Modi chose Doval for this sensitive work.

Doval's role in preparing Laldenga for agreement

Even before this, Doval has successfully carried out many operations during his Intelligence Bureau tenure. Nikhil Gokhale, who writes on security matters, says that the credit of the Mizoram agreement that was signed in 1986 should be given to Doval.As a middle-level IB officer, Doval infiltrated the underground Mizo National Front and led a dozen of his top commanders to his side.

 

As a result, the MNAF leader Laldenga was forced to hold peace talks with India. Doval became Laldenga's drinking partner and was completely successful in winning his trust.

 

Praveen Dothan wrote in his article 'Undercover - Ajit Doval in Theory and Practice' in Caravan magazine's August 2017, "During his tenure in Pakistan, Doval was working with Pakistani scientists from a barbershop near Pakistan's nuclear plant in Kahuta. Brought a sample of hair, which made it easy to decide which grade of uranium is being worked within Kahuta. "

 

Proximity to Modi and BJP

Some political analysts believe that Ajit Doval is currently the third most powerful person in India after Narendra Modi and Amit Shah.An official of the Indian intelligence department, on the condition of anonymity, said that Doval "keeps in direct contact with the field agents, bypassing the command structure of the Indian intelligence agencies."

 

His closeness to Modi began long before he became Prime Minister, when Doval was the head of the Vivekananda Foundation.

 

When BJP came to power in 2014, the names of former foreign secretary Kanwal Sibal, current foreign ministers Subramanian Jaishankar, former diplomats Hardeep Puri and Ajit Doval were considered for the post of National Security Advisor but Narendra Modi stamped the name of Doval. put.

 

On his appointment, Shishir Gupta wrote in Hindustan Times, "The Sangh Parivar has faith in Doval. After retiring from the Intelligence Bureau, he has helped BJP and Narendra Modi a lot by staying behind the scenes."

 

Swaminathan Gurumurthy, who was then close to the BJP, also tweeted, "Doval is a contemporary version of Chhatrapati Shivaji and Bhagat Singh." But in 2014, when Doval was asked about his closeness to the BJP, his reply was, "I am neither a member of any political party nor have I ever been. I don't think I will take any position in any government. "

 

Interestingly, Ajit Doval was made the head of the Intelligence Bureau during the tenure of the anti-BJP Congress. Despite his close association with Advani, he was very much made with the new National Security Advisor JN Dixit.

 

MK Narayanan, who became a National Security Advisor after JN Dixit, used to openly say that "Whenever I have to take a soft stand in a matter, I use Amarjit Singh Dulat and whenever I have to work with a stick. I call Doval. "

 

Modi's help in White House

There are many stories of increasing intimacy between Narendra Modi and Ajit Doval. For example, when Narendra Modi went to America for the first time after Donald Trump became President when Modi was about to read his statement in front of communicators on the lawn of the White House that the strong wind blew some papers of Modi's speech on the dias.

 

72-year-old Doval, sitting with the Indian Foreign Secretary and the Indian Ambassador to the US in the first row, ran and collected the flew papers, placed them neatly, and handed over to his boss. Before leaving from there, he also kept the glass cover of Modi blown away from the air at his assigned place.

 

Modi gave that speech without any disturbance. Most journalists who went with the Prime Minister did not get that attention, but a newspaper made a headline, 'How Doval Rescue PM Modi in White House Event.'

 

Modi's point person on Doval China

The general belief is that after Modi became Prime Minister, he would have been advised by an official of the Ministry of External Affairs to invite South Asian leaders to his swearing-in ceremony. But the fact is that Modi did this on the advice of Ajit Doval.

 

Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif also accepted this invitation and attended Modi's swearing-in ceremony and it was considered a major step towards improving relations with neighboring countries. Since Jaishankar had been India's ambassador to China and Doval had spent much of his career monitoring Pakistan's activities, it was expected that Modi would prefer Jaishankar's advice to China and Doval's advice to Pakistan. But the opposite happened.

 

Modi appointed Doval as his chief negotiator on the border dispute with China and it was discussed in diplomatic circles that Doval had taken up this role for himself by asking for Modi and if Doval was to be considered as an observer of foreign policy. In this context, the Prime Minister has not disappointed.

 

Doval has always been considered an 'Operation Man'. They are not used to seeing things from a long-term perspective.

 

Doval is not trained for the kind of diplomatic and political understanding that his current responsibilities require, nor has he had any prior experience in this field, but yet he has not let it become his weakness. The results of his talks with China are a testimony to this.