By Afroz Alam Sahil for TwoCircles.net,
New Delhi: India had signed a number of memorandum of understanding (MoUs) with several countries during the last decade. Even current Prime Minister Narendra Modi signed several such agreements in last one year on his trips to numerous countries.
But the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has confirmed that several files pertaining to these MoUs were never even “opened” and have, in fact, been destroyed last year.
According to information provided by the Division of Internal Security in the MHA, in response to RTI queries, the department destroyed a total of 339 files after a government decision dated June 11, 2014. In fact, the RTI response, even confirms that these files were neither archived nor digitised before they were destroyed.
The 339-odd files included several of those pertaining to agreements signed by India with other countries to tackle cross-border and international terrorism, the list provided by the MHA confirms. The RTI response also adds that no action was ever taken on these files that have now already been destroyed. The files related to agreements on terrorism that have been destroyed, include agreements with countries such as USA, Germany, Australia and Israel, etc. among others.
List of some of the important files related to terrorism that have been destroyed by the MHA:
March 25, 2011 dated file of Joint Indo-US working group on counter-terrorism
2005 file on Draft agreement between India and Cyprus to counter terrorism.
2005 Draft agreement between India and Russia.
2006 Seminar on ‘Prevention and Crisis Management of Biological Terorism’ held during July 9-15, 2006
Minutes of the ninth meeting of Indo-US Joint working group held in Washington DC on November 28-29, 2007
Files from 2005 joint working
Files from 2005 joint working group of Kazakhstan-India to tackle terrorism
Files from 2005 of joint working group between Australia and India.
2009 MoU between India and Germany to fight organised crime.
Draft agreements prepared in 2007 between India and Maldives to tackle international terrorism, organised crimes, smuggling, money laundering and coastal security.
Files of meeting between India and Israel in 2011 to tackle terrorism.
Files of a meeting held in 2005 to review and suggest scope of improvements in the functioning of the United Nations to tackle terrorism.
Last year, after reports in the media, CPIM MP P Rajeev had raised questions in the Parliament that the Indian government had destroyed about 1.5 lakh files that included those related to the murder of Mahatma Gandhi. However, Rajnath Singh, the Home Minister, had refuted the claim in the Upper House of the Parliament, making clear that a total of around 11,100 files were disposed to clean up the workplace, as mandated by Cabinet Secretariat.
He had also made it clear that no files concerning Mahtama Gandhi’s assassination, or those related to Lord Mountbatten, Lal Bahadur Shastri or Dr Rajendra Prasad have been destroyed as was alleged in the House, and a section of media.
(Translated from TCN Hindi: भारत ने जला दिए ‘आतंकवाद पर हुए समझौते’)