[Mr. Durrani wrote “The Spy Chronicles: RAW, ISI and the Illusion of Peace” with A. S. Dulat, the former chief of India’s intelligence arm, the Research and Analysis Wing, or RAW. They were India’s and Pakistan’s top spy chiefs while both countries, archrivals that have fought four wars since independence, raced to become nuclear powers.]
By Maria Abi-Habib and Salman
Masood
 |
|
“The Spy Chronicles” is
set as a dialogue between the former
chiefs, where they expound on topics like the
American raid
to capture Osama bin Laden and whether the presidency
of Donald
Trump is good for their countries.
Credit Harper Collins
India
|
NEW
DELHI — At a packed house for the release of the book “The Spy Chronicles” in
New Delhi last week, the former Pakistani intelligence chief who is co-author
of the book jokingly thanked India’s government for denying him a visa to
attend the event.
“By
denying me the visa, they saved me from the wrath of our hawks at home,” Asad
Durrani, a retired lieutenant general who led Pakistan’s powerful
Inter-Services Intelligence, or ISI, in the early 1990s, said in videotaped
remarks sent to the audience in New Delhi from Pakistan.
That
was wishful thinking.
On
Monday, Pakistan’s military barred the former intelligence chief from leaving
the country and ordered an investigation into whether he violated the
military’s code of conduct by writing the book. If charged, Mr. Durrani could
face jail time.
Mr.
Durrani wrote “The Spy Chronicles: RAW, ISI and the Illusion of Peace” with A.
S. Dulat, the former chief of India’s intelligence arm, the Research and
Analysis Wing, or RAW. They were India’s and Pakistan’s top spy chiefs while
both countries, archrivals that have fought four wars since independence, raced
to become nuclear powers.
The
book is set as a dialogue between the former chiefs, where they expound on
topics like the American raid to capture Osama bin Laden in Pakistan and
whether the presidency of Donald Trump is good for their countries.
In
Mr. Durrani’s opening remarks by video chat last week, he described the book as
an effort to get India and Pakistan talking again, to forge peaceful solutions
to the seemingly intractable conflicts that consume the nuclear-armed
countries.
On
Monday, the spokesman for Pakistan’s Army, Maj. Gen. Asif Ghafoor, said that
Mr. Durrani had been placed on an “exit control list” and that a court of
inquiry, headed by a three-star general, would investigate whether the spy
chief had violated the military’s code of conduct.
Mr.
Dulat said of his co-author’s predicament: “This is very, very unfortunate.”
“What
we said in this book was that madness in between India and Pakistan should
end,” he added. “But I think madness in Pakistan needs to end first.”
Both
former spy chiefs have continued to be part of back-channel diplomatic meetings
between India and Pakistan.
Although
the book was released in India last week, it is still not available in
Pakistan, but has gone viral in a PDF format shared over WhatsApp.
The
views Mr. Durrani espouses in the book have raised eyebrows in Pakistan,
criticizing both civilian leaders and the military, revered inside the country.
The
former intelligence chief claims in the book that the Pakistani military knew
ahead of the 2011 United States raid to capture and kill bin Laden and had
received a payment for its cooperation, while feigning surprise. Pakistan’s
official stance — and the Americans’ — has been that Pakistani officials
learned of the raid only after it took place.
“For
political reasons, I said it will not go down well in Pakistan that we
cooperated with the United States to eliminate someone many Pakistanis
considered a hero,” Mr. Durrani said of the raid on bin Laden’s compound,
explaining why he thought the government denied prior knowledge of the
operation.
Other
statements made by Mr. Durrani include Pakistan’s role in fomenting popular
unrest in Kashmir, the disputed Himalayan region that is claimed in its
entirety by both India and Pakistan. Officially, Pakistan has always maintained
that it supports the population in Kashmir morally and diplomatically and
denies any role in the armed, anti-India insurgency in the disputed region.
India,
however, has directly accused Pakistani military intelligence of long
supporting militancy in Kashmir and the attack by Lashkar-e-Taiba militants
that killed more than 200 people in Mumbai in 2008.
While
Mr. Durrani has received sympathy in India for the scrutiny he now faces, in
Pakistan, he has been criticized.
Several
Pakistani civilian leaders have questioned Mr. Durrani’s actions and statements
attributed in the book. Raza Rabbani, an influential opposition senator, said
during a Senate session last week that any civilian teaming up with an Indian
would have been quickly branded as a traitor.
“It
is shocking that on one hand Pakistan and India relations are at an all-time
low and on the other hand, former spy chiefs of both the countries are teaming
up to write a book,” Mr. Rabbani said.
Adeeb
Z. Safvi, a retired Pakistani Navy captain and defense analyst, said Mr.
Durrani had shunned protocol by publishing the book without getting it reviewed
by security services first, as is the custom with many countries, including the
United States.
It
is rare for former powerful generals to be held accountable or questioned for
their actions. Mr. Durrani also served as the director general of military
intelligence and retired in 1993, but he has remained active in public life, having
later served as Pakistan’s ambassador to Germany and to Saudi Arabia as well.
For
many Pakistanis, Mr. Durrani’s chumminess with his Indian counterpart was as
problematic as his views.
At
the book release event in New Delhi last week, Mr. Durrani referred to more
peaceful times, before the countries were partitioned in 1947.
“In
the good old days, I could have crossed, but I don’t think I’ll take the
chance,” he said with a smile on his face.
The
audience, which included Manmohan Singh, India’s former prime minister,
chuckled. When the video of his prepared remarks was over, the audience clapped
thunderously.
The
Court of Inquiry’s proceedings will be closed to the public. It was not
immediately clear how long would the inquiry take.
Maria
Abi-Habib reported from New Delhi, and Salman Masood from Islamabad, Pakistan.
Hari Kumar contributed reporting from New Delhi.
Follow
Maria Abi-Habib and Salman Masood on Twitter: @abihabib and @salmanmasood.
