If you are interested to know about the grip of ISI over Pakistan establishment this book The ISI of Pakistan: Faith, Unity and Discipline is for you.
This book by Hein G. Kiessling, a political scientist and historian at Ludwig Maximilian University, Munich (Germany), gives a detailed account of ISI chronologically and its grip over Pakistan. This book documents events and personalities connected with ISI by employing primary data in the shape of interviews with ISI chiefs and other relevant stakeholders as the author lived in Pakistan for pretty 14 years, pressing his ears to ground. This book amalgamates the Pakistan studies and Intelligence studies to frame the genesis of Pakistan. The book, after analysing different theories regarding the origin of ISI, crowns Australia born Maj General Robert Cawthorne, then Deputy Chief of Staff in the Pakistan Army, as its founder. The book juxtaposes the domestic political environment with functioning of ISI to dissect the working of Pakistan Nation State.
The ISI from being under developed agency to its formidable presence in media is discussed at length with the attempts to focus on the causes. The book also tries to critically analyse the frenzied and “ill informed” discussion about ISI.
The book is divided into 21 chapters with 5 appendices.
Chapter 2 documents the successes and failures of ISI during Ayub Khan’s tenure (1958-71). During this period a covert action division was created in the ISI to support insurgency in North East India (1960s) and Punjab (1970s). This division was also used by Ayub Khan to consolidate his domestic political situation. This chapter also chronicles how Iskandar Mirza, the first President of Pakistan, was forced to live in penury at London for ten years and died homeless there. This chapter discusses about the assassination conspiracy by six Naval Officers to kill Ayub Khan. The details of operations Gibraltar and Grand Slam conceived by secret Kashmir cell in the Foreign Office with ISI are also mentioned and how it was a disaster for ISI. The chapter also, by quoting Altaf Gauhar, cites how Bengali intellectuals and politicians were assassinated by Rao Farman Ali (ISI).
The bilateral relationship between CIA and ISI during this period is also discussed and also is explained why Indira Gandhi was called as an “old witch” by Richard Nixon. The tapping of Charanjit Singh Pancha and Dr Jagjit Singh Chauhan by ISI to create Khalistan bogey is mentioned in this chapter.
Chapter 3 discusses functioning of ISI during the reign of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto (1971-77). Establishment of SSG training school at Cherat, its use by CIA during Afghan war, engagements in Balochistan, ISI and SAVAK collaboration to ruthlessly crush Baloch freedom movement, the birth of Afghanistan Office to foment CIA’s Capitalist war against Communist Russia and establishment of Special Operations Bureau in ISI in 1973 to go for political manipulations in Afghanistan before formal war are discussed in this chapter.
This chapter discloses the role of Gen Zia ul Haq in massacring the Palestinians at the time of the Black September operations on the directions of King Hussain of Jordan where he was posted in Pakistani embassy. Operation Fair Play to dethrone Bhutto by Gen Zia and subsequent hanging is also discussed in this chapter besides the tacit role played by then ISI chief Maj Gen Ghulam Jeelani in Bhutto’s hanging. Maj Gen Gh Jeelani’s role to scout young Nawaz Sharief is also given a passing reference.
Chapter 4 discusses five reasons which precipitated and necessitated the empowering of ISI for better intelligence collection, collation and analysis. Five reasons given are: language riots in 1952 in then East Pakistan, the Dhaka parliament declaring their Speaker insane, beating of his deputy to death in the senate, anti Ahmadi riots which led to proclamation of martial law and declaration of independence by Khan of Kalat. It also mentions how on Bhutto’s directives the Internal Security wing was formally created in the mid 1970s in ISI to monitor opposition and his party colleagues. His paranoia, after some time, of ISI and his move to create the FIA to counter ISI is also given a passing reference.
Chapter 5 profiles Gen Zia, Gen Akhtar Ab. Rehman and Brig Mohammad Yusuf and their role in waging war against Soviet Union. This chapter discusses Operation Cyclone approved by CIA to destabilise the Soviet Union against US $500 million. As per the author, the ISI Afghanistan Bureau had in total 60 officers, 100 JCOs and 300 NCOs to train over 80,000 Afghan fighters with three branches of Operations, Logistics and The Psychological Warfare. This chapter gives probable reasons of Akhtar Ab Rehman’s dumping by his mentor Gen Zia. The fire at Ojhri Camp and its reasons are also furnished in this chapter.
Chapter 6 discusses Gen Hamid Gul’s ascendency to the rank of ISI chief because of his close association with Arnold Raphel and CIA station Chief Milton Bearden.
Five reasons of Gen Zia’s death are analysed. Next the roles of Gen Aslam Beg, Shamsur Rehman Kallue, Midnight Jackal Affair and Assad Durrani are discussed in this chapter.
Chapter 8 details working of ISI during the reign of Nawaz Sharief (1990-93). This chapter discloses how Army Chief Gen Aslam Beg was bugged by his own three officers, paranoia of Nawaz Sharief to be killed by Hamid Gul, how Nawaz Sharief slept every night in a different room, how Assad Durrani held secret meeting his RAW counterpart, G S Bajpai, to calm the tension at border and how it failed and importantly the MQM chapter was created, handled and crushed in Pakistan by politicians, ISI and the Army.
The period of ISI chief Javed Nasir and his zealous attachment with Kashmir war theatre during 1990s is the take away of this chapter. This chapter also mentions how Nawaz Sharief dumped his ISI chief and offered to close the Jihadi training camps and ultimately to clamp down on the activities of the JeI in Kashmir..
Chapter 9 talks about Benazir Bhutto who was caricatured as Alice in Plunderland, the Mehrangate Bank Scandal, tenure of Lt Gen Javed Ashraf Qazi and role of RAW in the creation of Al Zulfkar brigade at Surya Nagar, Dehli through Murtaza Bhutto and their subversion in Pakistan.
Creation of Taliban and insurgency in Punjab are discussed in detail. The strategy of R and A W to create the desks of CIT -X and CIT -I to carry out attacks in Karachi and Lahore in retaliation to support to Khalistan movement and role of Jordanian Crown Prince Hasan Bin Talal to bring Hamid Gul and R and A W chief A K Verma on table to diffuse the precarious situation is also mentioned.
Chapter 15 discusses at length the structure, personnel and budget of ISI which mentions that JIN (Joint Intelligence North) desk is responsible for all operations in J and K The chapter on Kashmir is pathetic in terms of intelligence information and has blighted the merit of this book.
A comprehensive primer on the ISI has focussed more on morphology of functioning than anatomy. This book has chronicled ISI functioning till 2014 and needs to be updated periodically.