Reds want to suppress truth about their perfidy

Reds want to suppress truth about their perfidy
By Ravi Shanker Kapoor

The reaction of communists to the expose in The Mitrokhin Archive II: The KGB and the World is a peculiar mixture of brazenness and bravado. On the one hand, they deny all the charges made in the book against them. On the other, they seem to be shamelessly justifying their traitorous role by acting as agents of the erstwhile Soviet Union by pointing out that ?even the CIA paid money to Indira Gandhi.? Commies have also exhibited conspicuous insolence by seeking revision of the book before its release in India.

However, the fact that the just-released book is based on classified material smuggled to the West in 1992 by Soviet defector Vasili Mitrokhin makes the commie denials even more unsustainable. Mitrokhin collaborated with Cambridge historian Christopher Andrew to produce The Mitrokhin Archive (1999), exposing the KGB network in the West. The Mitrokhin Archive II deals with the Third World.

The Mitrokhin Archive II is unambiguous in nailing communist perfidy. ?According to the KGB report, an investigation into Pramode Dasgupta, who became secretary of the Bengal Communist Party in 1959, concluded that he had been recruited by the IB in 1947. Further significant IB penetrations were discovered in the Kerala and Madras parties. By the late 1960s KGB penetration of the Indian intelligence community had enabled it to turn the tables on the IB.?

The book, is no less severe on the Congress. Congress leaders, including members of the Indira Gandhi cabinet, were regularly bribed.

The KGB, says the book, is no less severe on the Congress. Congress leaders, including members of the Indira Gandhi cabinet, were regularly bribed. The idea was to make India, in the words of KGB general Olef Kalugnin, ?a model of KGB infiltration of a Third World government… It seemed like the entire country was for sale.? So much for the greatness of the Nehru-Gandhi dynasty.

How communists used democracy in India to subvert the entire system was evident during the high noon of the Cold War era?as it is evident today as well. ?The openness of India'sdemocracy,? the The Mitrokhin Archive II claims, ?combined with streak of corruption which through its media and political system provided numerous opportunities for Soviet intelligence.?

The Mitrokhin Archive II has also charged V.K. Krishna Menon, the pro-communist defence minister in Nehru'scabinet, of receiving funds from KGB for his election campaigns in 1962 and 1967. He was persuaded to buy Soviet MiGs and not British Lightnings, says the book. We always suspected that he was a Chinese agent, for his anti-India activities leading to our defeat and humiliation in the India-China war of 1962. It seems he was a double agent, getting money from both communist powers.

The Mitrokhin Archive II, however, does not have a humbling effect on the commies. Former West Bengal Chief Minister Jyoti Basu was quote in The Indian Express (September 20) saying that Indira Gandhi received money from the CIA. As if that justified the receipt of money by communists from the KGB! His party, the CPM, wants the book to be revised before its release in India. The party has also decided to sue the author of the book and The Indian Express for ?tarnishing? the image of Pramode Dasgupta. The Express has been targeted for the excellent reporting and a scathing edit on the issue.

In Hindi, there is a saying, Chori, upar se seenajori, that is, the thief is not only denying his wrong-doing but also behaving impudently. It applies perfectly to the present situation: communists behaved as traitors, accepted bribes from the Soviet KGB, and tried to subvert the system (they are still doing it). And now they want these facts to be suppressed. Could anybody be more blatant than Indian communists?

The author is Editor, www.indiaright.org and can be reached at raviskapoor@gmail.com