Ex- Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) chief A S Dulat on Tuesday joined Congress MP Rahul Gandhi during Bharat Jodo Yatra in Delhi.
Dulat and Rahul Gandhi were seen walking hand-in-hand in the Bharat Jodo Yatra.
Who is AS Dulat?
Also knows as Mr Kashmir, 82-year-old Amarjit Singh Dulat is a former special director of the Indian Intelligence Bureau and former Secretary of Research and Analysis Wing (R&AW) from 1999 to 2000. Post retirement, Dulat was was appointed as advisor on Jammu and Kashmir in the Prime Minister's Office and served there for four years from January 2000 to May 2004.
Dulat was born in a Jat family in Sialkot, Punjab and completed his high school from Shimla. He graduated from Punjab University. Dulat joined the IPS from Rajasthan Cadre in 1965 and the Intelligence Bureau in 1969. With India's partition, Dulat's father Justice Shamsher Singh Dulat relocated his family to Delhi.
Dulat served in Kashmir as Joint Director in the Intelligence Bureau from 1988 to 1990. This was arguably the most troublesome time in the valley. His entry into Kashmir politics in 1990 was through Shabir Shah, whom he termed as the 'big daddy of militants'. Shah reportedly had international links.
AS Dulat has authored several books on Kashmir valley because of his extensive knowledge of Kashmir. In 2015, he became a top of discussion with his book Kashmir: The Vajpayee Years. In 2018, he co-authored The Spy Chronicles: RAW, ISI and the Illusion of Peace with Asad Durrani, former head of the Inter-Services Intelligence.
As per harpercollins.co.in during his time in Kashmir, Dulat accumulated a vast goodwill among majority of Kashmiris. As Jane's Intelligence Digest put it in 2001, ‘Well known for his social skills, Dulat preferred dialogue to clandestine manoeuvres'. During his pre-retirement days, Dulat was referred to as ‘Mr Kashmir'.
