RB Sreekumar: The Ex-Cop & AAP Leader Who Framed ISRO’s Nambi Narayanan And PM Modi On False Charges
Former Director General of Police (DGP) of Gujarat RB Sreekumar was arrested on June 25, 2022 along with notorious ‘activist’ Teesta Javed Setalvad on charges of fabricating evidence, committing forgery, and criminal conspiracy.
The arrest came a day after the Supreme Court once again upheld the clean chit given to Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the 2002 Gujarat Riots case.
RB Sreekumar who is currently a leader of Arvind Kejriwal’s Aam Aadmi Party was also former Deputy Director of Intelligence Bureau.
Apart from being accused of foisting false cases and fabricating evidence in the Gujarat Riots case, the ex-IPS officer had also played an important role in framing Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) scientist Nambi Narayanan.
Nambi Narayanan Case Timeline
In November 1994, Narayanan and his other scientist collegues in charge of the cryogenic technology transfer from Russia, were arrested by the Kerala Police on false charges of espionage. They were physically under the custory of IB officers. The case was eventually transferred to the CBI which concluded that the case was a sham.
Although the CBI submitted a closure report in 1996 stating that the espionage case was fabricated, the Communist government in Kerala had kept the issue lingering for decades.
The then CPI(M)-led government ordered more investigations which was struck down by the Supreme Court in in May 1998.
In September 1999, the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) passed strictures against the government of Kerala for having damaged Narayanan’s distinguished career in space research along with the physical and mental torture to which he and his family were subjected.
The Supreme Court in 2018 ruled that Narayanan was not guilty of any of the espionage charges as accused by the Kerala Police and the bench called the case was “unnecessary” and that “he was implicated.” It also appointed a three-member panel headed by a former Supreme Court judge DK Jain to probe the arrest and torture of former space scientist Nambi Narayanan in the ‘ISRO spy scandal’ that turned out to be fake.
On 14 April 2021 the Supreme Court of India ordered a CBI probe into the involvement of police officers in the conspiracy after the DK Jain Committee report pointed out a conspiracy.
The Nambi Narayanan episode marks the darkest chapter in the history of Indian space as it curtailed India’s emergence as a space power by atleast two decades.
Role Of Sreekumar
RB Sreekumar has been named as one of the 18 accused in the FIR regsitered by the CBI along with former Kerala DGP Siby Mathews. Sreekumar was on deputation in the Intelligence Bureau during the espionage case.
The Kerala police had initiated the probe acting on inputs received from the IB.
Nambi Narayanan and D Sasikumaran were subjected to horrendous mental and physical torture by the then Kerala police and Intelligence Bureau officers.
Deposing before the CBI in August 2021, Nambi Narayan told the investigating officers about his encounter with Sreekumar where the latter had threatened him for not obliging to a personal favour.
“When Sreekumar was commandant at VSSC, he had requested me to appoint his niece or nephew to a post at Thumba, but since the process was fair, she/he could not be selected. Then Sreekumar had come to my office to express his anger to which I had asked him to go out else I would call the police. Sreekumar had said I will regret this in the future.”, Nambi Narayanan had told the CBI.
“I was taken into custody and thereafter, the real mental agony, physical torture which was endless, started. A lot of police personnel in their uniforms and civil dress were interrogating me and asking nonsense questions. If there was a delay in answering, they would start a physical assault by way of slaps and even kicks. When my interrogation was going on in police custody, two or three officers of the Kerala police along with Sreekumar, were present and were laughing.”, D Sasikumaran had told in his deposition before the CBI.
It is interesting to note that former Kerala Former Police chief Siby Mathews, the prime accused in the ISRO spy case had also accused former Intelligence Bureau deputy director RB Sreekumar of forcing him to arrest Nambi Narayanan.
Despite multiple reports and the Supreme Court vindicating Nambi Narayanan and other scientists, Sreekumar accused the CBI of acting like “defence lawyers” to them. He also called Nambi Narayanan as “not a great scientist” in an interview to Times Now in April 2021.
It is this RB Sreekumar who has been inducted into the AAP.
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Why Agnipath Scheme Is The Need Of The Hour
In February 2018, I had the opportunity to go to Israel to represent the BJP at the All Party Young Leaders delegation hosted by the Ministry of External Affairs, Government of Israel. It was an enthralling and an eye-opening experience both at a personal and professional level.
At that time, I had the privilege to interact with many Israeli youngsters from myriad backgrounds. One was working as a public policy specialist with the government. Another 28-year-old woman was leading a team at a start-up in Tel Aviv. There was another young man who was working as an engineer at Intel.
All of them had one thing in common – they all had served in the Israel Defense Forces as part of their conscription.
When those completing school in many parts of the world are busy making university-related decisions, students in Israel prepare themselves for something else – a service in the military.
For these youth, a short stint at the armed forces becomes an opportunity to develop their personality and acquire skills which they go on to carry with them for the rest of their lives.
Intrigued, I had asked them about their experience in the armed forces, what they do, where do they get posted, what opportunities open up after the conscription period and so on.
Their tales only made me envious.
I was able to realize that the conscription has made Israel become stronger with a young military and a more patriotic population which goes on to shine in whichever field they make their careers contributing to the country’s progress and development.
I had thought to myself – “if only such opportunities were made available for the youth back at home.”
The Youth Conundrum In India
But in India, students finishing school find themselves at crossroads where one way shows ‘medicine’, another way shows ‘engineering’ and another shows ‘commerce/accountancy’.
Most of them end up in the rat-race of either joining a medical or engineering college and others settle for doing a B.Com or a name-sake degree.
College too doesn’t became a space where these youth get to explore and unleash their talents. It becomes another 3-5 years of schooling. Herd-mentality sets in and everybody wants to get a job with a 5-6 figure salary or go abroad and settle down. Nothing wrong in that but it is time that youngsters in India ask themselves in what ways they can help in nation-building.
Be that as it may, there is another serious problem that is starting to rear its ugly-head – ‘wokeness’.
Wokeness is a problem that has started creeping inside young impressionable minds, thanks to social media. Poisoned by leftist media and influencers, many young minds today and are disconnected from their culture and lack a sense of patriotism. Sometimes, they even go the extent of antagonizing their own country for the sake of fame, like we see in cases like Disha Ravi, Safoora Zargar and many more. If this disease of ‘wokeness’ continues to spread, it will have serious implications for the country.
And that is precisely why the Agnipath scheme is the need of the hour which will induct more youth in the armed forces.
Busting The Myths Associated With Agnipath
Through the Agnipath scheme, young Indians in the 17.5 to 21 age group (a relaxation has been provided this year till 23) will be inducted into the army as ‘Agniveers’ and will serve in the armed forces for 4 years paving way for a younger armed forces.
One of the most common myth peddled by the Opposition and other naysayers of the scheme is about the insecure future of the Agniveers. But the truth is far from what they claim.
Upto 25% of Agniveers in a batch stand a chance to be inducted as permanent cadres in the armed forces after completing 4 years.
All Agniveers will be given a financial package of ₹11.71 lakh at the end of four years which will be exempted from income tax.
Those wishing to turn entrepreneurs are eligible to avail a loan and those wishing to study further will be provided with a certificate declaring that they have passed the Class 12 exam and can also take part in a bridging course for further studies.
Agniveers will also be given priority in recruitment of paramilitary forces like CAPF, CISF, etc.
States like Assam, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka, etc have already declared that Agniveers will be given preference in police recruitment and other government jobs.
The Finance Minister has also asked banks to explore ways to support Agniveers.
To put it in a nutshell, if a youth enrolls today as an Agniveer, his or her bright future is guaranteed after four years.
Another baseless myth that is being peddled is that inducting youngsters would hamper the effectiveness of our armed forces. In essence, they’re questioning the abilities of our youth and the credibility of our military officers.
The Indian Armed Forces have assured that with the infusion of technology and revamping of the training programmes, the Agniveers woud have all the skill sets required to meet the operational challenges.
The Agnipath scheme is not an untested experiment on our armed forces as many other countries like China, France, Russia, USA, and UK have such short-term military engagement for the youth. The Modi Government has held extensive wide-ranging consultation with the armed forces. Best practices from countries across the world have been studied and a tried-and-tested human resource managment system is being put in place to keep in tune with the changing dynamics of warfare.
Another ridiculous myths that is being peddled is that Agniveers will become a national security threat as they may be recruited by terrorist organizations.
This is not just an insult to the youth of the nation but also demeans the ethos and values of the Indian armed forces.
Even today, thousands retire from armed forces but there have not been any instances of them joining anti-national forces.
By blatantly peddling such disinformation the Opposition is not just politicizing the army but is also hampering the country from emerging as a strong military power.
A Much-Needed Timely Reform
Warfare today has become more complex. The man-to-man engagement between armies of two hostile countries is much lesser than what it used to be. The context of war has also changed with cyber warfare, biowar and so on. Reforms in recruitment has been a long-standing demand putforth by the highest echleons of the armed forces. In fact, this scheme itself was formulated by the Department of Military Affairs which comprises military officials and not civil servants.
The need of the hour is to have an army which is young, agile, and tech-savvy which is what the Agnipath scheme tries to achieve.
The youth of the country should realize that their insecurities are being played by vested interests to further their own political agenda.
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