The James Bond in the Himalayas

Ajit Doval, the current NSA has had an illustrious life as a public personality prior to his appointment. Even Youtube is not spared from the numerous videos of his exploits such as “WHY AJIT DOVAL IS CALLED THE JAMES BOND OF INDIA?”. One story that has often been reported in several places is about his involvement in the ‘merger’ of Sikkim. It has been claimed that Ajit Doval at the time an IPS officer of the 1967 batch was posted to Sikkim from Mizoram to handle the entire operation.

Firstly, Ajit Doval was born in 1945, when he was ready for posting he was 22 years old, at the time of the ‘merger’ he would have been 30 years old. According to Sunanda K. Dutta Ray as well as Andrew Duff, the ‘merger’ was being overseen by the then fledgling Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) under R. N. Kao was the agency credited with the ‘merger’. RAW was created in 1968, by bifurcating the Intelligence Bureau. Ajit Doval had joined the IB in 1974. In which universe would anybody appoint someone with around one year of experience to head essentially an operation to destabilize a country and overthrow its government?

Secondly, by stating that Ajit Doval handled the entire ‘merger’ of Sikkim, nationalistic Indians are openly admitting that the Sikkim ‘merger’ was an occupation which then became an annexation, and at no point was any attempt at democracy undertaken since intelligence agencies were involved, any democratic voice for independence would be squashed.

Thirdly, the ‘merger’ of Sikkim took place during the ‘emergency’ of Indira Gandhi. RAW was her creation. By association, Ajit Doval would then have been a tool of repression if it were true that he handled the entire operation.

The ‘merger’ of Sikkim is a contested episode in India’s history since independence. Former Prime Minister Morarji Desai referred to it as an ‘annexation’ and a ‘wrong step’, despite the opposition lambasting him for it in Parliament. Politicians have defended the ‘merger’ referring to the referendum carried out as proof that the merger is what the people of Sikkim wanted.The Constitution of India has barred all Courts in India, including the Supreme Court, from reviewing any documents or agreements related to the ‘merger’. However, Nar Bahadur Bhandari, who was elected Chief Minister of Sikkim in 1979 in a landslide victory, won on the basis of ‘restoring Sikkim’s status’, or ‘reversing the merger’.