Recently CIA declassified documents after a period of 25 years. The revelations made in them are shocking as they reveal how Soviets used money to influence India in 1970s and 1980s when Congress party was in power most of the time. It was a period of cold war and India although non-aligned was perceived as an ally of USSR.
According to the documents the USSR arranged funds for Congress leaders through Indian businessmen, direct cash transactions and bribes. The funding was not limited to congress only the other beneficiaries were Communist party of India (CPI) and Communist party of India (Marxist). The money was used in election campaigns by the political leaders of that time. The claims made by the report reiterate the claims made by former KGB operative Vasili Mitrokhin.
Figure CIA report
Vasili Nikitich Mitrokhin was a major and senior archivist for the Soviet Union’s foreign intelligence service, the First Chief Directorate of the KGB. During the Soviet era, Mitrokhin made no attempts to contact any western intelligence services. After the dissolution of the Soviet Union (in 1991) he traveled to Latvia with copies of material from the archive, and walked into the American embassy in Riga. Central Intelligence Agency officers there did not consider him to be credible, concluding that the copied documents could have been faked. He then went to the British embassy, and a young diplomat there saw his potential.
Following a further meeting one month later with representatives of the Secret Intelligence Service, (MI6) operations retrieved the 25,000 pages of files hidden in his house, covering operations from as far back as the 1930s.These works were collectively referred to as Mitrokhin archive and published in two volumes. The first volume was co-authored by Christopher Andrew and named The Mitrokhin Archive: The KGB in Europe and the West. It’s a massive account of Soviet intelligence operations in Europe. The second volume, The Mitrokhin Archive II: The KGB in the World, was published in 2005, soon after Mitrokhin’s death. While the KGB destroyed its actual archives the authenticity of the material by Mitrokhin was doubtful. But now CIA declassified reports back the claim made by Vasili Mitrokhin there is a reason to believe.
Vasili revealed the story of deep corruption in India and betrayal of her people by none other the Congress and Communist politicians in his archives. It reveals how evil regimes like USSR destroyed the truth and corrupted everyone to make their political gains. Indira Gandhi was perhaps the highest functionary funded by USSR. It may be possible apart from politicians, diplomats, intelligence officers and policemen were paid by the USSR. Amidst all this the question arises about the role of media during that period. The archives reveal that many Indian newspapers and one news agency were on the payroll of KGB. The nefarious spy agency used them as communist propaganda machines. It used to plant articles and columns that would suffice its aims. One important thing to note is that there were no signs of investigative journalism by Indian media on this matter.
The Congress and CPI need to be investigated by CBI for the violation of FCRA act (Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act). Although, today there is no USSR to manipulate the mainstream media the manipulation of news by media continues. Indians must seek answers from their political masters and question the role of media. May the truth seek the light of day!
Satyameva Jayate