There are no direct allegations against him except that the Sangh Parivar often accuses Chief Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav of having ISI connections and points to a book which suggests so. Mulayam, who has always ignored them, on September 18, suddenly took the bait, announcing at a meeting in Rampur that the person the book refers to is none other than he.

Mulayam referred to the book Fulcrum of Evil ISI-CIA-Al Qaeda Nexus written by Maloy Krishna Dhar, a retired joint-director of the Intelligence Bureau. Narrating instances of the penetration of the KGB and CIA in the country, Dhar writes, in the book's sixth chapter called Mission Based Operations: "In Central-Northern India, Pakistan had achieved spectacular success in penetrating over a dozen legislators and a provincial chief minister, who had come under the scanner for maintaining questionable clandestine links."

The book doesn't elaborate on the "provincial chief minister" but Mulayam said: "He (Dhar) has not mentioned my name but I know he is referring to me." He added: "I had been blamed for letting terrorists run away from the Nadwa College. Nobody knows they were not terrorists but students of the College."

He may be trying to take the bull  largely invisible in this case  by the horns, but in the process Mulayam revisited a chapter closed over a decade ago. The incident dates back to 1994-95 when the Intelligence Bureau (IB) informed the state government about two terrorists hiding in Nadwa College. The police records confirm that with the help of state police, IB officials raided Nadwa College hostel, where instead of police nabbing the suspects, students locked two policemen in a room.

The police had to open fire to "rescue" the officials. The firing annoyed noted Sunni cleric Ali Mian, who was not only a revered scholar but also the founder of Nadwa College. On his complaint, Mulayam had then transferred many officers.

... contd.

Please read our terms of use before posting comments