There is a lot of debate in the social media, often polarized, as to how good or bad the Prime Minister or a Chief Minister or particular politician or political party is. All this is under the notion that politicians run the country. However, the Yes Minister and Yes Prime Minister series had a different take on it regarding the Westminster system that we inherited/ adopted. In those classics, Sir Humphrey, the great philosopher cleverly disguised as a civil servant, opined that periodic elections were just a minor inconvenience to decide which bunch would try (unsuccessfully) to interfere with the actual business of government carried out by the bureaucrats. He also felt all government policies were nonsense, but frightfully well carried out.

His Prime Minister had an even more scathing opinion about the opinion makers, i.e., the newspaper readers:

“I know exactly who reads them. The Times is read by the people who run the country. The Daily Mirror is read by the people who think they run the country. The Guardian is read by the people who think they ought to run the country. The Morning Star is read by the people who think the country ought to be run by another country. The Independent is read by people who don’t know who runs the country but are sure they’re doing it wrong. The Daily Mail is read by the wives of the people who run the country. The Financial Times is read by the people who own the country. The Daily Express is read by the people who think the country ought to be run as it used to be run. The Daily Telegraph is read by people who still think it is their country. And the Sun’s readers don’t care who runs the country providing she has big tits.”

Replace the newspapers with the raucous TV channels and the description can well fit today’s scenario.

If Sir Humphrey was right, it’s amazing to see that our country has actually been run by an IPS officer for most of its post-Independence history.

I don’t think many people outside Police circles would’ve heard of a person called B.N. Mullik. Yet, a foreign head of state visiting India at the time had remarked, “The two most powerful men in India are Nehru and B.N. Mullik ... not necessarily in that order.” He was an I.P. officer (I.P., first called Indian Imperial Police and later, Imperial Police) who ruled the roost from 1950 to 1964 as Director of Intelligence Bureau. While there may be debates about the rights and wrongs of what he did and didn’t do, there is no gainsaying the fact that almost all major events of India during that period, political and non-political were referred to him for substantive decision-making inputs. Like all powerful civil servants, he maintained an extremely low profile and disappeared into the Himalayas after his retirement. He was occasionally sighted in his later life as Kinkar Vishwananda pursuing a spiritual path. Review of a book on him was being published in the Illustrated Weekly of India. Try as he might, the editor, Khushwant Singh couldn’t lay his hands on a suitable photograph of his so he collected a photo of a young B.N. Mullik and asked his photographer to age the photograph about 30 years so that it could be published along with the review.

A post of National Security Advisor (NSA) was created in 1988 by the government headed by Atal Bihari Vajpayee. Brajesh Mishra was the first incumbent. He used to boast to even very senior Ministers, “You can tell and persuade the PM about anything for any amount of time, I just have to whisper in his ears just before he goes into the critical meeting for the same and carry the day.” That was no empty boast.

In the UPA era, this very (actually, most) powerful post was split into two. The foreign aspects were handled by former Foreign Secretary, J.N. Dixit and the internal aspects were handled by an IPS officer and former Director, IB, M.K. Narayanan. After the demise of the former in 2005, the offices were again merged and Mr. Narayanan became the single NSA. With great responsibility came great power and he was the real power for a long five years, until 2010.

Since 2014, Mr. Ajit Doval, former Director, IB and superannuated from the IPS has been the NSA. Many of the spectacular actions in recent years, surgical strike, cross-border Balakot airstrike, the Doklam standoff resolution, etc. have been attributed to him. True to his self-effacing ethos, Mr. Doval hasn’t said a word. However, a few things have been visible to all. In the thick of the Delhi riots, his visit to the affected areas rapidly cooled down the panic and the tensions. It was widely reported that his intervention brought the serious tensions around a COVID-19 superspreader problem to a resolution. In Pakistani channels, there are very loud and heated arguments by the panelists regarding many India-centric things but, invariably, all panelists agree on one thing. If there is one person whose professional capabilities the Pakistani establishment is scared of, it’s Mr. Doval and they don’t have anyone to match him. He has been at the helm for eight years now, and counting.

So, at least 27 years out of a post-Independence history of 75 years. Not bad for a service which is only one of 30-odd civil services!