Skip to main content

Modi adviser Doval in interview he doesn't "remember" giving: Pathankot attack was intelligence failure, but...

By A Representative
Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s national security adviser Ajit Doval, widely publicized as 007 James Bond of India, has run into yet another controversy following the Pathankot terror attack: After giving an interview to a top Indian media house, where he attacked the media once again, he has sought to deny he ever gave the interview.
In an exclusive interview to the Hindi daily Divya Bhaskar’s online site, http://www.bhaskar.com/, Doval said that one shouldn’t say “India’s security is weak” or that it was a “matter of providence that the terrorists were in a limited area”. The reason, he suggested, is not that this is may not be true, but that this kind of view would “demoralize” the armed forces.
Soon after the interview, @ANI_news quoted Doval as saying that “I do not remember giving any such interview”. This led Divya Bhaskar to release the audio clip of the interview to prove that the interview, was indeed given. Meanwhile, the top Modi man became a matter of ridicule. Senior journalist Shivam Vij ‏@DilliDurAst tweeted if “India's NSA now has memory problems”.
Doval said in the “interview” that, in fact, for the sake of “encouraging” the armed forces, the “effort should have been to point towards how the six terrorist fidayeen, despite entering into the territory, failed to damage the Air Force base because of efforts” and that “after collecting intelligence, we sent the forces on time and the Air Force base.”
Refusing to deny the allegations of failure, he said, this kind of interpretation was needed so as to “motivate both the country and our soldiers”, adding, “We should learn this from France. Following the attack in France, no leader spoke out in opposition. The media also did not show the dead bodies for increasing its TRP, even though it was also an complete intelligence failure.”
Doval's letter to Cabinet Secretary seeking action against NDTV
“If agencies had not responded late, a lot could have been done in order to save the situation. Yet, there was no negative comment to demoralize the effort”, Doval asserted, referring to the Paris terror attack.
Answering the question on how he interpreted the “loss suffered” due to the intelligence failure, Doval replied, “If there is a war, and one is in the boxing ring, whether you like it not, you will receive some blows.”
Asked what he had to say about adverse comments on his “personal and professional life”, Doval said, “Earlier, only 1-2 per cent of whatever has been noted about me in the media is true. Besides, I do not have time to react to media speculations.”
The most controversial part of the interview, which attracted immediate large coverage on news channels, of course, was where he declared that, following the Pathankot terror attack, the “Indo-Pak secretary level meeting has been cancelled”, and that there would not be “any peace talks” till Pakistan does not take action against those responsible for the attack and India is not “satisfied by its (Pakistan’s) action.”
This is not for the first time that Doval has sought to target media. He is known to be behind efforts to brand NDTV anti-national in a letter to the Cabinet Secretary in October 2014, where he said, “It has been observed that in the last few years, it has become a regular practice, particularly in the media, to violate secrecy laws with impunity. Firm action need to be taken in such cases that undermine the national security of the country.”
Especially referring to the NDTV report dated August 20, 2014, which carried a “report about INS Arihand Nuclear Sabmarine and associated VLF communication”, even as showing images of Prime Minister on INS Arihant at DRDO Award function on the same day, Doval said, the information was an “offense under the Official Secrets Act.”

Comments

TRENDING

Gujarat Information Commission issues warning against misinterpretation of RTI orders

By A Representative   The Gujarat Information Commission (GIC) has issued a press note clarifying that its orders limiting the number of Right to Information (RTI) applications for certain individuals apply only to those specific applicants. The GIC has warned that it will take disciplinary action against any public officials who misinterpret these orders to deny information to other citizens. The press note, signed by GIC Secretary Jaideep Dwivedi, states that the Right to Information Act, 2005, is a powerful tool for promoting transparency and accountability in public administration. However, the commission has observed that some applicants are misusing the act by filing an excessive number of applications, which disproportionately consumes the time and resources of Public Information Officers (PIOs), First Appellate Authorities (FAAs), and the commission itself. This misuse can cause delays for genuine applicants seeking justice. In response to this issue, and in acc...

A comrade in culture and controversy: Yao Wenyuan’s revolutionary legacy

By Harsh Thakor*  This year marks two important anniversaries in Chinese revolutionary history—the 20th death anniversary of Yao Wenyuan, and the 50th anniversary of his seminal essay "On the Social Basis of the Lin Biao Anti-Party Clique". These milestones invite reflection on the man whose pen ignited the first sparks of the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution and whose sharp ideological interventions left an indelible imprint on the political and cultural landscape of socialist China.

'MGNREGA crisis deepening': NSM demands fair wages and end to digital exclusions

By A Representative   The NREGA Sangharsh Morcha (NSM), a coalition of independent unions of MGNREGA workers, has warned that the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) is facing a “severe crisis” due to persistent neglect and restrictive measures imposed by the Union Government.

Uttarakhand tunnel disaster: 'Question mark' on rescue plan, appraisal, construction

By Bhim Singh Rawat*  As many as 40 workers were trapped inside Barkot-Silkyara tunnel in Uttarkashi after a portion of the 4.5 km long, supposedly completed portion of the tunnel, collapsed early morning on Sunday, Nov 12, 2023. The incident has once again raised several questions over negligence in planning, appraisal and construction, absence of emergency rescue plan, violations of labour laws and environmental norms resulting in this avoidable accident.

Job opportunities decreasing, wages remain low: Delhi construction workers' plight

By Bharat Dogra*   It was about 32 years back that a hut colony in posh Prashant Vihar area of Delhi was demolished. It was after a great struggle that the people evicted from here could get alternative plots that were not too far away from their earlier colony. Nirmana, an organization of construction workers, played an important role in helping the evicted people to get this alternative land. At that time it was a big relief to get this alternative land, even though the plots given to them were very small ones of 10X8 feet size. The people worked hard to construct new houses, often constructing two floors so that the family could be accommodated in the small plots. However a recent visit revealed that people are rather disheartened now by a number of adverse factors. They have not been given the proper allotment papers yet. There is still no sewer system here. They have to use public toilets constructed some distance away which can sometimes be quite messy. There is still no...

Rally in Patna: Non-farmer bodies to highlight plight of agriculture in Eastern India ahead of march to Parliament

P Sainath By  A  Representative Ahead of the march to Parliament on November 29-30, 2018, organized by over 210 farmer and agricultural worker organisations of the country demanding a 21-day special session of Parliament to deliberate on remedial measures for safeguarding the interest of farm, farmers and agricultural workers, a mass rally been organized for November 23, Gandhi Sangrahalaya (Gandhi Museum), Gandhi Maidan, Patna. Say the organizers, the Eastern region merits special attention, because, while crisis of farmers and agricultural workers in Western, Southern and Northern India has received some attention in the media and central legislature, the plight of those in the Eastern region of the country (Bihar, Jharkhand, West Bengal, Orissa, Chhattisgarh and Eastern UP) has remained on the margins. To be addressed by P Sainath, founder of People’s Archive of Rural India (PARI), a statement issued ahead of the rally says, the Eastern India was the most prosperous regi...

As 2024 draws nearer, threatening signs appear of more destructive wars

By Bharat Dogra  The four years from 2020 to 2023 have been very difficult and high risk years for humanity. In the first two years there was a pandemic and such severe disruption of social and economic life that countless people have not yet recovered from its many-sided adverse impacts. In the next two years there were outbreaks of two very high-risk wars which have worldwide implications including escalation into much wider conflicts. In addition there were highly threatening signs of increasing possibility of other very destructive wars. As the year 2023 appears to be headed for ending on a very grim note, there are apprehensions about what the next year 2024 may bring, and there are several kinds of fears. However to come back to the year 2020 first, the pandemic harmed and threatened a very large number of people. No less harmful was the fear epidemic, the epidemic of increasing mental stress and the cruel disruption of the life and livelihoods particularly among the weaker s...

India's health workers have no legal right for their protection, regrets NGO network

Counterview Desk In a letter to Union labour and employment minister Santosh Gangwar, the civil rights group Occupational and Environmental Health Network of India (OEHNI), writing against the backdrop of strike by Bhabha hospital heath care workers, has insisted that they should be given “clear legal right for their protection”.

Targeted eviction of Bengali-speaking Muslims across Assam districts alleged

By A Representative   A delegation led by prominent academic and civil rights leader Sandeep Pandey  visited three districts in Assam—Goalpara, Dhubri, and Lakhimpur—between 2 and 4 September 2025 to meet families affected by recent demolitions and evictions. The delegation reported widespread displacement of Bengali-speaking Muslim communities, many of whom possess valid citizenship documents including Aadhaar, voter ID, ration cards, PAN cards, and NRC certification.