‘Mitrokhin Archives’ And An ‘Author’ In Search Of Lies

B Prasant

WHEN debacle overtook the former Soviet Union, some of the government officials, ready to look to a comfortable stint in the western European countries, and in the US, started to ‘ferret out’ ‘documents’ that would ‘expose’ the communist years. Their creative urge was a fascinating experience albeit making for bad reading. 

Some of these worthies were already on the pay of the imperialist intelligence agencies. Others fell over each other to ‘prove’ loyally how they too were to be considered equally useful, by writing fantastic ‘exposés’ of the Soviet era. 

A favourite ploy of these government servants has been to concoct stories based on what they claim are archival material to which they ‘had access.’  The stories are often fabricated in the shape of ‘personal experiences’ and on ‘private documentation.’  Both are euphemisms for lies of the motivated kind.

What are the ‘Mitrokhin archives?’  They are purported to be ‘personal notes and jottings’ that the Soviet defector Vasilyi Mitrokhin was supposed to have ‘smuggled out’ of the KGB archives after ‘copying the documents by hand.’  Handwritten does never mean authenticity by itself and what Mitrokhin claims to have been copies of archival material is equally certainly rendition of his fevered imagination.

The principal reason why this cheap thriller is played out in the corporate media now more than ever is not difficult to guess.  The recent resurgence of the communists, socialists, and the Left across the globe has certainly made the imperialists press the panic button.  The orchestrated attack on communism by the Council of Europe lately is a product of the same hateful mindset.

In India, the presence and growth of the CPI(M) has long since been a worry for the ruling classes and their friends and patrons out in the West. The corporate media has, as a willing handmaiden, been periodically albeit regularly feeding out stories maligning the Party and its leadership.

No wonder, these scions have now picked up the Soviet defector’s ramblings, which have been put together in a fashion in a book by an English author who is not only not known for his scholarship but also just not known in the acedeme as a practicing historian.

In this backdrop, the sordid attack on the late Promode Dasgupta by lackeys of imperialism is neither unusual nor unexpected.  Even less surprising is the way some the newspapers, one or two with alleged links with the publishers of the book, have aggressively started to campaign in favour of the ‘authenticity’ of the book.  However, lies have an incredibly short life span. Goebbels would have agreed. 

The Mitrokhin balloon of lies has been well burst recently.

The statement of the secretary of the Bengal unit of the CPI(M), Anil Biswas on September 21 may well perhaps be the last nail on the coffin of the ‘archival misdemeanour.’ Anil Biswas told the media at the Muzaffar Ahmad Bhavan that ‘after having procured the so-called Mitrokhin archives and poring over it, we find no reference of the kind alleged or otherwise, to the late Promode Dasgupta.’

A remarkable turnaround of a change is apparent in the columns of the same newspapers that had joyously carried the Mitrokhin lies. Several have ran stories counter-arguing the ‘charges.’ Others have started to hem-and-haw about the ‘basis’ of the Mitrokhin accusations. Many have even questioned the writer’s motives.

The CPI(M) has geared up to go to court on criminal charges against the Indian Express, which originally carried the story, as well as against the English author who put together the lies of Mitrokhin.  Former Indian intelligence officials have in the meanwhile rejected out of hand the contentions of the Mitrokhin ‘archives,’ especially over Promode Dasgupta and political leaders have come forward to strongly protest the effort to defame the late CPI(M) leader.