Bhola Nath Mullik

{{Short description|Former director of Intelligence Bureau of India}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2019}}

{{Infobox person

| name = Bhola Nath Mullik

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| birth_place = Calcutta, Bengal Presidency, British India

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| occupation = Civil servant, spymaster

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| known_for = his service as the director of Intelligence Bureau

| awards = 30px{{ublist|1964 Padma Bhushan }}

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Bhola Nath Mullik was an Indian civil servant, spymaster and the second director of the Intelligence Bureau of India (IB).{{cite book|author1=Anne F. Thurston|author2=Gyalo Thondup|title=The Noodle Maker of Kalimpong: The Untold Story of My Struggle for Tibet|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QMf3BQAAQBAJ&pg=PT141|date=16 April 2015|publisher=Ebury Publishing|isbn=978-1-4481-7596-3|pages=141–}}{{Cite news |url=http://www.panunkashmir.org/kashmirsentinel/jan2003/20.html |title=A spy and a gentleman |date=January 3, 2003 |work=Kashmir Sentinel |access-date=2018-05-26}} He served as the director of IB from July 15, 1950, to October 9, 1964.{{Cite web |url=http://www.bprd.nic.in/writereaddata/mainlinkFile/File1052.pdf |title=Archived copy |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130816020917/http://www.bprd.nic.in/writereaddata/mainlinkFile/File1052.pdf |archive-date=2013-08-16 |url-status=dead |access-date=2013-08-12}} He was known to be a hardworking official, with close contacts with the then Union government.{{cite book|author1=Paul Maddrell|author2=Christopher Moran|author3=Mark Stout, Ioanna Iordanou|title=Spy Chiefs: Volume 2: Intelligence Leaders in Europe, the Middle East, and Asia|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=E_FGDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT268|date=1 February 2018|publisher=Georgetown University Press|isbn=978-1-62616-523-6|pages=268–}} It was reported that Mullik had been a close associate of Jawaharlal Nehru, the erstwhile Indian prime minister.{{Cite news |url=http://archive.asianage.com/columnists/guilty-men-62-491 |title=The guilty men of '62 |last=Sinha |first=S. K. |date=October 20, 2012 |work=The Asian Age |access-date=2018-05-26 |language=en}} It was on his advice, that Nehru ordered for the establishment of Special Frontier Force (SFF) (also known as Establishment 22) for defending against the Chinese army in the Sino-Indian War of 1962.{{Cite news |url=https://www.hindustantimes.com/india/the-curious-case-of-establishment-22/story-eiDenZvNioffJFupLzNGOI.html |title=The curious case of establishment 22 |last=Sanyal |first=Amitava |date=2009-11-14 |access-date=2018-05-26 |language=en}} The Government of India awarded him Padma Bhushan, the third-highest Indian civilian award, in 1964.{{Cite web |url=http://www.dashboard-padmaawards.gov.in/ |title=Padma Awards |date=2018-05-17 |website=Padma Awards |publisher=Government of India |access-date=2018-05-17 |archive-date=15 October 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181015000149/http://www.dashboard-padmaawards.gov.in/ |url-status=dead }}