Former R&AW Chief A.S. Dulat Reflects on Kashmir’s 1989 Crisis, IC814 Hijacking, Agra Summit & Article 370

In a revealing episode of Cine Ink’s podcast London Vārta, former Intelligence Bureau officer and R&AW chief Amarjit Singh Dulat describes the 1989 kidnapping of Rubaiya Sayeed, daughter of the then-Home Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed, by JKLF militants as a “textbook example of how not to handle a crisis.” The abduction marked a turning point in Kashmir’s history, igniting widespread militancy in Jammu and Kashmir.Speaking with broadcaster Pervaiz Alam, AS Dulat, a key intelligence figure in Kashmir during the crisis, admitted to significant intelligence failures in the subsequent decade, as the region faced unprecedented violence. He emphasised that the Rubaiya kidnapping serves as “a case study for training on what to avoid.”Dulat recounted receiving a call from the then-Cabinet Secretary T.N. Seshan, informing him that Union Ministers I.K. Gujral and Arif Mohammad Khan were sent to Srinagar to negotiate Rubaiya’s release. He noted that inadequate briefing from Delhi hindered their efforts.He also highlighted intelligence and strategic missteps during the 1999 Kargil War and the hijacking of Indian Airlines flight IC-814, underscoring systemic challenges in crisis management.In his book The Chief Minister and the Spy (2025), Dulat suggests former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Farooq Abdullah privately expressed willingness to support the 2019 abrogation of Article 370 but felt excluded by the government. Abdullah later called this suggestion “a figment of [Dulat’s] imagination.” Clarifying in the podcast, Dulat said, “Just 2-3 days before the abrogation, Farooq Abdullah, Omar Abdullah, and their Anantnag MP, Justice Hasnain Masoodi, met the Prime Minister (Narendra Modi). I don’t know what they discussed, but Farooq told me he was not informed about the decision (abrogation of article 370 in advance).” Dulat’s insights, rooted in his extensive career and detailed in works like Kashmir: The Vajpayee Years (2015), The Spy Chronicles (2018), and A Life in the Shadows (2022), provide a rare perspective on India’s intelligence operations and Kashmir’s complex political landscape. London Vārta is a podcast series of interviews produced by the London-based media comp[any, Cine Ink. All podcasts are available on Apple, Spotify and YouTube.