Show Notes
The new spy thriller Dhurandhar has sparked a massive controversy. The Adtiya Dhar film explores the concept of 'sleeper spies' -- spies who are deeply embedded in a target country's society. On this episode of In Our Defence, host Dev Goswami and national security expert Sandeep Unnithan look at what the film gets right and wrong about this aspect of espionage.
The two talk about the intersection of ISI and Pakistani underworld that the film portrays and discuss how that is a hat-tip to the unholy alliance between the Pakistani deep state and Dawood Ibrahim that was forged in the early 1960s.
The two also look back at the stories of some of the world's most legendary sleeper agents such as Mossad's Eli Cohen and Soviet Russia's famous 'Cambridge Five'. Also on this episode is a look at how the Research and Analysis Wing's (RAW) operations evolved in Pakistan under several Prime Ministers and what intelligence agencies are actually asked with.
Produced by Areeb Raza
Sound mixed by Suraj Singh
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