IDHAR UDHAR KI BAAT 96- THINKING BEYOND Brig PS Gothra (Retd)

“I don’t think they should have arrested all those Youtuber spies,” I remarked, seated on a park bench surrounded by fellow veterans.

An older veteran turned to me sharply. “What nonsense are you talking about? You’ll be branded anti-national.”

“I agree, sir,” I replied. “On the surface, my statement sounds foolish. But I believe we lost a strategic opportunity.”

The group chuckled. “What opportunity?” they asked in unison.

“Emotionally, yes, I’d prefer a death sentence for those who betray the nation. But what will actually happen? A year or two in jail. Maybe even less. We could have used them instead—to feed misinformation to our enemies before busting them. If these Youtubers had been privately confronted, they might have cooperated. Fame is everything to them. The enemy handlers would’ve continued trusting them, not replacing them with fresh spies. Now that they’ve been arrested, new ones will be recruited, and we’ll be starting from scratch. Who knows—we could’ve traced entire sleeper cells through their activities.”

“So you’re accusing Modi?” asked a visibly agitated senior.

“Not at all. Modi operates at the political level, and there’s little to critique there. The issue lies with our military and intelligence leadership—they’re still thinking linearly.”

“But this was an intelligence matter, not military.”

“It should’ve been a coordinated effort. Let me give an example.”

I leaned forward. “In 2007, Pakistan provided satellite phones to terrorist leaders in Kashmir. By 2009, we cracked the software and began intercepting calls and pinpointing locations. Both the intelligence and military used the information to hunt  around a hundred terrorists. But then, Pakistan caught on. They brought in software experts who encrypted the data. One clever expert suggested that instead of denying the information they should spoof the location of the satellite phones. The result? Every time a satellite phone was used, we searched areas 10–15 km away from the actual location. It exhausted our forces and demoralized them.”

“That’s... smart,” someone muttered.

“Exactly. We gave them the time and clues to adapt. Had we kept those locations under discreet watch. We could have graphed  the existence of whole terrorist network. Thus we could’ve dismantled the entire network within six months. But our leadership chased short-term victories. Strategic and operational-level thinking was absent. It still is. The Youtuber spy case reveals that some people are still functioning like daily wage workers—short-sighted, transactional, with no inter-agency synergy.”

“You’re such a cynic. Don’t you see good anywhere?”

“Oh, I do. I don’t know their name, but I admire one anonymous soul deeply. Someone from the intelligence network found out about the cash stashed in a judge’s outhouse. He/She knew that they couldn’t officially access or raid it. Even if reported, it would’ve been buried at higher levels. So, this person staged a fire—and the stash got captured on camera. That was brilliant. This I feel is the bravest, smartest and most strategic act in the recent history. That one act probably will deter many others who think they have immunity.  It will also inspire officers to innovate when blocked by a dead end.”

“So, you give clean chit to the politicians?”

“Because I see strategic thinking there. When they get damning intel on someone, they use it strategically. I don’t need to elaborate. Somehow we have to make our other leadership think beyond,” I said pensively.

“That is simple. We must make all leader of Corps commanders level and above have lot of free time. They should not be involved in daily firefighting. They should be excused from the parties, golf, inaugurations, office and visits to the formations. It should be taken up by their number two. The commanders have a great reservoir of experience they should just relax, drink, swim, massage and think to come out with force multiplier ideas,” said the oldest among the lot.

“But sir this idea will be vetoed,” said someone.

I couldn’t resist saying, “by whom.”

“By Wawa,” he said and everyone nodded in unison.