Julian Assange on Manmohan Singh's disputation of the authenticity of the U.S. Embassy cables
“I am very encouraged by what's happened in India,” says Julian Assange, Editor-in-Chief of WikiLeaks, referring to the public response to The Hindu's agenda-shaping publication, over 21 consecutive days, of a spectrum of articles based on the India Cables, accessed by the newspaper through WikiLeaks. Noting that “India has terrible corruption and something must be done about it,” he speaks warmly of “so many people... now pushing strongly against it,” including “the Gandhi-ist” Anna Hazare. He suggests that courageous acts by individuals elsewhere, for example in Tunisia, offer “a method that will provide widespread will to battle against corruption.”
Mr. Assange is genuinely distressed and not a little outraged by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's disputation in Parliament of the authenticity of the India Cables, his Lok Sabha statement that the government “cannot confirm the veracity, contents or even the existence of such communication.”
The WikiLeaks chief has strong words to say on this:
“We have not come across this reaction and that reaction disturbed me. Because Hillary Clinton had been involved in informing the Indian government, in December, as well as many other governments, that this was coming. There has been no question as to the credibility of any document we have ever published in the last four years, let alone the [U.S. Embassy] cables – which have been authenticated by the very aggressive action of the State Department towards us and by hundreds of journalists from the most reputable institutions across the world.
“That is why I said I find that statement a deliberate, knowing attempt to mislead the Indian population...Because it is directly from Prime Minister Singh's mouth and he knows better than to do that. While I have heard – I have no proof but the consensus seems to be that – he is not personally corrupt, here's a clear attempt to cover up for the possible corruption of other people. Rather than simply playing it straight, which he should have done, and say, ‘Look, there are allegations. They are serious and we will investigate them and come to the truth of the matter and give a full report to Parliament.'
“I think if he had taken that approach, he would have been served a lot better. So he has acted against his own interests and acted against the interests of his party, which is odd. So I would suggest it means that he has a habit that he was following rather than thinking things through – and a habit of reactively covering up allegations of corruption.”
These observations were made in response to one of my questions during a one-hour interview given to The Hindu at Ellingham Hall, a stately Georgian country house set amidst acres and acres of farmland in the county of Norfolk. Here, as part of his bail conditions, the WikiLeaks Editor-in-Chief is a house guest of his friend, strong supporter, and free speech campaigner, Vaughan Smith — former British Army officer and the founder of London's Frontline Club.
When we arrive at the Hall, early for the 2 p.m. interview, on Friday, April 8, we are greeted courteously by Mr. Smith. As we busy ourselves setting up the cameras and digital recorders in a tastefully decorated drawing room overlooking the grounds, Mr. Assange wanders in, gives us some practical advice on the set-up, and goes off for a walk across the fields. When he returns, he is completely relaxed and engaged with the hard copies I have brought him of the WikiLeaks coverage in 21 consecutive issues of The Hindu, and with the impending interview.
First, he is impressed by “a spectrum of publishing in India” which, in his view, is comparable with WikiLeaks' positive experience with its regional partners in Latin America – “the local focus is able to really burrow into important details.”
Secondly, “I am tempted to say, based upon my reading of The Hindu, that it is in a position to report more freely than these other papers are in their respective countries.” He offers an interesting hypothesis on what has made this possible.
Responding to my question on the impact of the Embassy cables on countries of the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, Mr. Assange offers us and The Hindu's readers a fascinating insight into what has happened and is in progress across this region and WikiLeaks' role in all this.
Keywords: Julian Assange interview, The India Cables, Cablegate, WikiLeaks
Thanks for posting the video links of the interview.
I wonder if he will be determined to pass the Jan Lokpal Bill, as he had been about the Indo-US nuclear deal...
We do not need a PM who is reluctant to vote, the most basic step of Democracy. Specifically when Mr. MMS belongs to the Congress party whose spokespersons clearly claim in media that, the step taken by Sri Anna Hazare a threat to democracy. I would like to remind that Mr. MMS had not voted in 2006 assembly election too. If people in the center stage of power in India find the approach by Sri Anna Hazare and team as a non-constitutional, why don't they lead by examples? Members of the elite parties become members of parliament even if they lose election. Does this really reflect any morality in the democracy? People, who are afraid of losing their feet, may come tough on me, but I do not see any significant improvement in the situation of country unless the de-centralization of power is done as pointed out by Anna Ji. If it is needed to amend the constitution for the sake of country, it should be done. I urge the other newspapers (apart from 'The Hindu') and electronic media too to create a platform where 'Aam Janta' can discuss options for the betterment of country. The media persons are well educated as well as very knowledgeable on the social as well as rural challenges we are facing now. They are requested to put their valuable suggestions through their medium rather than just getting indulged into creating controversies on the comments of political leaders/sports persons and other celebrities. Finally, I my kudos to 'The Hindu' team and Wikileaks team for true journalism.
Long before Wikileaks leaked documents about corruption most Indians knew about it. Wikileaks might have added fuel to the anti-corruption response, but in no way can claim to be the reason for what is beginning to erupt in India.
Dr Manmohan Singh may not be corrupt personally but he allows others to be corrupt who are with him. In case of spectrum scam he cannot speak out because as per Subramaniam Swami, Sonia Gandhi is the main beneficiary of the money and she has deposited the money in her sister's name. Then how can the poor Prime Minister can dare open his mouth. I don't know if one can call him honest at all under the circumstances.
Talk about corruption and eating of public money. This money should have been invested in tommorrow's generation. This should have been invested for medical schemes, for the old and the weak of the society. this is what the developed countries do.The only schemes that come up in India are the scams! Wonder how long the people will tolerate this?
Our PM has been either a silent spectator or silent supporter for some of the massive corruption his own people have engaged in. That doesn't make him clean..
Good job 'The Hindu' and of course Assange.
Julian Assange and 'The Hindu': You are doing a great job and helping poor, common man of India. Please help us by other great leak regarding 'Indian SWISS bank a/c holders' and related details. The present Congress govt is NOT willing to disclose any Indian SWISS bank a/c holders for obvious reasons. Expecting early 'WIKI leaks - Indian SWISS bank a/c holders'.
Just like someone who assists in committing a crime is also a criminal, someone who assists in corruption is also a corrupt. So MMS is a corrupt politician just like he rest.
i simply want to say to The Hindu 'thanks'.I feel proud to be a 'The Hindu' reader.
It was a Hazare (V. S) who gave India its first ever Test-match-cricket win (over Nigel Howard's M.C.C team, at Chepaulk, in February 1952). Will it be the distinction of another Hazare (Anna) to give India its first ever victory against corrupt political system? There appears to be a good chance of it happening sixty years (which milestone is considered a significant marker in the Indian's journey through life) after that happy day at Chepauk. Pranab Mukherjee has asked BJP to prove its sincerity of purpose by supporting the Lok Pal bill when it will be introduced in the Monsoon session. We can have the bill passed into law in, say, July, 2011 and can haul the first big politician to the court , say, in August (we have so many of them ripe and waiting to be harvested by the CBI!). Not to be outdone and given a bad name, courts won't drag their feet and for the same reason, lawyers won't look for adjournments. A long prison- sentence pronounced in Februry 2012? Hooray! Mr. Sharad Pawar can prove his willingness to participate in this cleaning (howsoever it is hurtful to him personally) by directing BCCI to dig up old score-books and communicate to the trial-court the exact date which will be sixty years from that day in February 1952. The Congress party which would have us believe that 15 August 1947 would not have dawned for us but for its sacrifices, can be expected to cut its losses by declaring that date in Februry 2012 as the real Independence Day. 'A dream', do I hear someone saying? Did I not hear the same words said dismissively till the start of April 2011 whenever I spoke yearningly of a second coming of Jai Prakash Narain?
Thanks for your efforts to bring out the information of Wikileaks through your India Cables. Waiting for more revelation
It is too much to assume that the Wikileaks have helped India to go towards reforms. It is a co-incidence that Anna Hazare started his mission when the cable news was published. We hardly believe that Anna Hazare's action is based on the Wikileaks. In fact Wikileaks has disclosed many Indian lapses in many fields, in the sphere of foreign diplomacy, the double speak of BJP and the like. We do not find any reforms in those areas. Only corruption has come to the forefront because of the recent happenings in India itself such as revelations by Indian media, CAG report etc. We cannot believe that sources like Wikileaks can reform India, rather they would malign India.
Why give such importance/coverage to Mr. Assange and his views? It's only one perspective. His Wikileaks have creates mixed value at most. There are better ways for whistleblowing that have greater accountability. These leaks have helped to some extent but cables are personal opinions and not proven facts. I have no political affiliation but I think Manmohan Singh has withstood much and he stands firm in his convictions to initiate right governmental processes as and when corruption shows its fangs. For his proactive side, there is an extra-ordinary and respectable record of his visionary measures as a functionary especialy as PM. Indeed, he's not godlike but he's an executive with clean intentions and operations. I see no other statesman across the world today who could be as purpose driven as him. None can take complete guarantee for his/her subordinates' actions and integrity. We as an Indian culture have lost a balance between self and others. Corruption is systemic and pervades even the common man on the streets. Few people can keep their sanity and integrity at a high positions such as his.
I've been reading 'The Hindu' after my professors recommended it to me. The quality of the editorial articles is truly world class and such articles only go further to enhance this reputation. This article has provided a very indepth perspective about a range of issues as seen through the eyes of Assange....The India cables gave a very excellent account of inside happenings of a range of recent issues in India.
'The Hindu' and Mr. N. Ram deserve kudos for their excellent work. It is sad and pathetic to see and understand Mr. Manmohan Singh as to what he is today. As somebody rightly observed he is an excellent exponent of finance. His credibility ends there. He is not a dependable leader. He is only dependable mouthpiece for somebody, who is afraid to assume responsibility and accountability. Far worse he is surrounded by arrogant assistants like Kapil Sibal. (See, how he has ridiculed the noble movement of Anna Hazare by proclaiming that Lokpal will not help to educate the poor - what a funny remark) India suffers from terrible corruption and I am sure that Mr. Anna Hazare has been influenced by The India Cables, he went on a fast-unto-death but finally stopped when the government gave in the public pressure. He got moral support especially by the Indian urban middle class. As an Indian, I am proud of Mr. Anna Hazare and 'The Hindu'.
The corruption has grown without propositions in india. It is apt to say that all the PMs and CMs - whoever holding the positions - has not realised it or not taking any actions because of political compulsions. If the highest post is being elected directly by the people, like in USA, there is a possibility of getting a honest person who can start cleaning the system now.
Ever since the WikiLeaks came in public domain, the US Government never denied about the existence of these cables, being sent by their missions all around the world, keeping 'tabs' on politicians and public personalities who matter. The US was only aggrieved because their activities has been 'exposed'. Obviously, the US is indulging in these activities to better shape their foreign policies and and know the 'mind set' of politicians with whom they may have to deal in near future. Other countries including India may be indulging in such activities 'to the best of their abilities.' The other point noteworthy is that in case US had denied existence of these 'cables', there would be no case whatsoever against the 'Whistle Blower', even in their 'perceptions'. Therefore, the authenticity of "the cables" is crystal clear.
Doubting the veracity of the Indian cables published by you is the silliest thing that our learned PM can do. Having said that it is Singh's onus to prove if his statement holds any water. In the past also we had the temerity to doubt the veracity of the startling revelations made by 'Tehelka' and went to the extent of punishing the man behind the revelations. Again the revelations about the large scale stamp scam and the persons behind them also met the same fate. There are many such doubting Thomases around us. Beware.
'The Hindu' has done a fantastic job by raising the issue. It's unfortunate that most of the media groups in India are not ready to speak against corruption as you did, most of them are neglecting such news. Even though media is the fourth pillar of democracy some are hesitating to take up the role effectively, its the main difference between 'The Hindu' and other daily. As an Indian youth I need the truth to be reached to the people and you are doing it in an excellent way. I am a delegate of the Indian political youth hoping for a better tomorrow and I have full hope that one day we can achieve the same.
Dr. Manmohan Singh is a liability for India.He is no longer an asset and should have stepped down from PM's post long ago. He no longer enjoys the confidence of people of India. Having said that, Media whether print or electronic has lost its credibility too. Majority of them are guided by big corporate houses and political authorities. They have always tried to influence people thinkings. I have been reading(studying infact) 'The Hindu' from a vry long time...and find it as the most credible source where opinions are expressed freely and without bias. It's my request to 'The Hindu' to not only unravel corruption in the government but also find out about corruption in their peer media houses, print or electronic. Let you be fearless of the all the hardships that you will have to go through and fight your way out of this whole corrupt and moral less and utterly disdainful negative elements who have destroyed the whole culture of India. India when under colonial rule was much more happy then it is now because what happens now is that your foes are your very own persons.
It is the public opinion in India which for years worshiped at the alters of Dr.Manmohan Singh with the 'he is an honest man' mantra which stands exposed by the Wikileaks expose.
I have been reading the campaign of Hindu on wikileaks which revealed a series of notes sent by officials of US in India to their government on various matters relating to their assignment in India. Well, that is indisputable. But many times the sources of the information do not appear to be genuine. For example a employee of American embassy was shown loads of cash and was told that it was meant for supporters of nuclear policy in Parliament. Well, immediately a news appeared that those who were said to have received the cash have actually not voted in favour for which they were supposedly given the cash! Secondly, the news items that were leaked were top official notes that were sent to their government by American officials. If any one could leak the trascripts between Indian officials from abroad and the Government of India, the tenor would be same. Because the embassies are meant to study everyday events in political matters and financial matters of the country in which they serve and report it to their motherland. In my view imparting great importance to comments of Assange on Manmohan Singh to the level of top storyline is pathetic of Indian journalism. Does Assange know what it means to be a Prime Minister in couuntry facing with umpteen problems relating to masked politics of castes and embedded corrpetion in Indian culture ? Assange belongs to a country where gifts to offcials on festivals is viewed as absolute corruption. But us for Indians it is a well accepted cultural tradition. I am sure even Hindu gifts to the officials concerned in its business on festivals. In India giving gifts on one excuse or the other is a way of life. In the west this practice is viewed with scepticism and contempt.But his comment on MMS and uploding it on front page headline by Hindu are not in good taste of journalistic reading. It is seen clearly that Hindu want to reap profits out of its investments.The headline is a mean attack on the honest personality of Indian Prime Minister. As on today , no country has such a personlaity as head of the state like Manmohan Singh wether you accept it or not.We Indians tend to get carried away by even wrothless people if they come from the West.Manmohan Singh is a decent person and has absolutely strong will and most importantly, he is not corrupt nor promoter of corruption . Assange has made a derogatory comment on the Indian PM and Hindu has lowered its journalistic senses to the most base levels by putting it as headline on front page.
I was a great admirer of Dr.Manmohan but of late have totally lost faith in him. He definitely lacks Prime Ministerial qualities. This reminds one of the reaction of his Ph.D guide in Cambridge. 'Prime Minister! Manmohan Singh!. Minister yes Prime Minister is unbelievable.' He knew the man personally and was a good judge of Manmohan Singh capabilities hence his honest reaction that the man was not qualified for the post. Reading about this I did not think much of it at that time. But when you look back it looks like his Ph.D guide was right.
I have lost all respect for Dr.Manmohan Singh who was supposed to be a clean politician. Congress has once again fooled the country by using his clean image to stay in power. I hope and pray that the country realises this and votes accordingly. Unfortunately the only viable opposition party is termed non secular and it becomes difficult for them to form a government.
Thanks to 'The Hindu' for publishing whatever facts it has been able to get. At least we can see how corrupt Mr.Singh can get. Being corrupt doesn't necessarily meant that his account would be getting the money, instead he is a corrupt administrator who keeps on misleading Indian masses.
PM is no longer Mr Clean,as evident from his reaction to Wikileaks.Now we have lot of apprehensions regarding the nuclear deal with US,which we all believed to be for the interest of the country
'The Hindu' and Mr. N. Ram have done an excellent work. By accessing and publishing The India Cables. Only 'The Hindu' is publishing The India Cables. That really shows that 'The Hindu' is a national institution, respected and read not only in India. Julian Assange is encouraged to see what is happening in India. India suffers from terrible corruption and I am sure that Mr. Anna Hazare has been influenced by The India Cables, he went on a fast-unto-death but finally stopped when the government gave in the public pressure. He got moral support especially by the Indian urban middle class.
The India Cables have a great impact on the public and more and more wish a democratic India without corruption. This is truly a first step to a democracy without corruption in India. Indians should be inspired by the attitude of Mr. Anna Hazare who fearless showed India that decisive steps are necessary for a society where even the poorest of the poor will have a chance for a prosperous life.
I am not Indian but I am proud of Mr. Anna Hazare and 'The Hindu'.
The wikileaks published cables, according to congress corrupt party of India,may be unverified and untrustworthy..ok. What about the ex telecom Minister A Raja's saying about the actions of his ministry before his arrest and the justifying remarks of the PM! Blatant lies - they tried to propagate through their legally trained spokespersons and the whole lot of cabinet,when the chairperson of UPA sat pretty and hiding elsewhere,pretending as if nothing happens.They turned out to be true culprits and shareholders of the booty out of the scams. Manmohan Singh continues to be in 'cover up' operations ,and that is verifable and trustworthy indeed. The culprits will have to be put in proper places and the process has already started.. Let burglars be aware!
The unfortunate state of things in India is primarily due to the lack of backbone in the national leadership. They are either corrupt, or inept. It is terrible that out of the crores of Indians with all sorts of talents and abilities, we have chosen a corrupt/inept guy as our PM, and a bunch of crooks as ministers (not saying there aren't exceptions, but sadly they remain exceptions and not the rule). We switch on the TV, and see legislators physically tearing up a bill that didn't suit them, or damaging public property in a fit of anger, or unable to hold a mature discussion on any subject. What is the solution here? An EQ test, along with some basic educational qualification, must be made mandatory for every person who hopes to appear as an MP/MLA. Also, no person over the age of 80 should be allowed to contest in elections. A new party should come up, comprising of the young, the fearless and the truly patriotic, who are willing to enter politics with a mindset of service, and not one of seeking personal gains.
Mr. Assange should be nominated to nobel peace prize. He has done the world a lot of good. This should enable Indians to fight corruption in the frontline.
Indeed, it is a sad state of affairs, no doubt; but it is equally true, and somewhere there is a ray of hope that we will win. It's good, that at least we are openly acknowledging and discussing corruption and pressurizing those responsible to promote it. Now they are scared, this can be seen how they are trying to unsuccessfully rebut the Honest Fighters for a Corruption Free India.
Moreover, the thief within their hearts is evident from the very fact that they don't want the video recording of the Joint Committee sessions drafting the Lokpal Bill. 'Kiran Bedi' should have been the Indian Prime Minister, then only could we think of a corruption free India. People like Anna Hazare, Baba Ramdev, Anupam Kher, are few daring people who should be given leading roles to rebuild the Golden India again. Of course, a fair and unpaid media and agencies disclosing corruption in the system have a prime role for any reform. (I wouldn't call it revolution yet.)
Thank you 'The Hindu' for the exposes, you are the last bastion of true journalism, and are also fulfilling the purpose of informing us of the executives' misdeeds and balancing the system.
We'll perhaps never know if the PM is personally corrupt or not (remember - not guilty until proven). One simply has to look back at the various allegations levelled at various MPs/MLAs and high ranking personnel - from Indira Gandhi's time to present. However, what one cannot dispute is that the public perception - and that's the key - is that the PM is morally corrupt. By shielding officials who are very likely to be corrupt (agreed - these people are also not guilty until proven) by making bizarre statements such as "in coalition politics I've to do this and that"...the PM is clearly morally corrupt.
That is a sad story. A terrible fall from grace for an upright RBI governor, an upright academician and a respected economist. For his own sake the PM needs to take this into account - what a large section of Indians feel - Indians who are just fortunate to be able to read and discern information from various sources, information which the vast majority of Indians simply don't have access to and who continue to vote for these corrupt people into power.
And to clean up his image, he needs to first and foremost keep away from these dirty scums, be bold enough to not shield anyone who's likely to be guilty and not make stupid statements as he's currently making. Mr. Singh must also realize that the present generation of Indians do not care to respect people simply based on their 'age' and 'degrees' but on how they conduct themselves in public.
Mr Prime Minister: 1. why is India refusing to sign the UN Convention on Corruption? 2. how long would you run away from the truth's that your coalition party has elements not worthy of any ministerial portfolio? 3. how can you say that Mr Karunanidhi and family are a model for making Tamil Nadu for what it is (neither Amma Jaya is a model for anybody in Tamil-Nadu for that matter)etc... Mr Prime Minister, you are the head of this govt - are you not accountable to the common man?
Jullian Assange is an inspiration to the Indian youth. We should all have an open government. There should be webcams in public government offices so everyone can see that nothing wrong is happening. Already so many honest IAS and IPS officers are doing that.
Spot on, Mr. Assange!
The Wikileaks cables may be authentic but the Prime Minister cannot go on record saying that they are. For one these are cables between diplomats of another country and acknowledging them would damage bilateral relations. Secondly they cannot be verified in any way. The actions of the US Government against Assange do not prove the authenticity of the documents. Unless the US Government goes on record saying that these are authentic these documents cannot simply be verified to be authentic.
The statement "he has a habit of reactively covering up allegations of corruption" brings no surprise, as we all known already. Assange, 'The Hindu' keep up the Good work. Please lit up more lamps, its dark everywhere.
Though having regards for Mr. Julian Assange's efforts to expose govermental bodies,not completely agreeing to his honest statement for Dr. Manmohan Singh.His comment on Indian Prime Minister's proclivity to reactively cover corruption reflects his bleak understanding parliamentary form of governance that too of a country like India.Mr.Assange needs to rethink his remarks and understand Indian Political System.
Because no, very clean, public figure tried to fight corruption the level of corruption reached Everest mountain height! And we Indians have tendency to go behind foreign reports and people! We Aam admi have tried to unmask corruption number of times but it met blind wall! Well now first step is to start afresh and all to gather expose them selves who has taken or given substantial amounts as bribe or help for the same. First Those who are representative of Aamadmi , actually they got power of not more than 11 % of total population and with very narrow margin, should come forward and reimmerse all those amount taken for, even if they have to sold what ever they hold now e.c. Property,shares,jewelery! This way Only India can become real super powers super power !
Assange had told the obvious and there is no critical analysis called for to understand the blatant cover up role played by the PM, miscalled Mr Clean. A 'clean' person would least lend any direct or indirect support to suspectful activities! But Dr Singh so shamefully bartered his conscience to the party's need to defend itself from scandals galore! He would go down in Indian political history as the greatest betrayer of people's trust, after Ms Indira Gandhi who clamped Emergency under dubious pretexts, to save herself from a court verdict!The Nagawallah case also directly exposed a lurking mystery about PM's office of her time!
At least the PM could have told the Parliament - as rightly suggested by Assange - that the allegations would be probed into! But he didn't even care to ''appear'' fair in the face of serious exposures in what the whole world saw as leak of genuine official documents!
WikiLeaks are leaks. It states openly what was said in secrecy by some authority to his superior for definite purpose.Why will someone state fiction in this scenario.Therefore as I understand the statements coming out of the mouth of Government and Congress spokespersons is an attempt to fool, misguide and confuse the people of India.Instead of accepting shortcomings or willfully letting corrupt take the nation for a ride they try to confuse and help corrupt swindle the people's money. The stupid habit of main ruling party spokespersons questioning why BJP or NDA did/did not do this or that when they were in power carries no weight. They are in power and they must do the right things. An ordinary citizen,from an old villager to most knowledgable city dwellers know and understand the truth.Only that 545 can enter parliament and only a small percentage of that can become ministers.Politicians have openly accepted that black money plays major part in taking them to seat of power.Therefore only corrupt minded people with ulterior motives will enter politics.That is why they will make no attempt to remedy the situation.That is why we need civil society movement by men of character to lead the fight against corrupt leaders who stick to power by all means fair and foul, truth and white lies.
Absolutely MR Assange, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is trying to become saviour for his party but he doesn't know that all of these actually backfiring and he has lost all the credential. The kind of attempt his party and it's related mouthpeice papers and magzine has been making to create hurdle against lokpal bill is also evident but people understand their every intention.
Thanks to the Hindu for publishing Julian Assange's views. Everyone knows that the PM has been in the habit of ''covering up allegations of corruption'. The corrupt who are also very powerful, are covered by several layers of defense: silence, denials, evasions, distortions, and hiding behind technicalities, legal niceties by aggressive lawyers.etc. They forget in today's information era, TRUTH, like the ghost of Banquo, haunts them often.
For all our need to want to look at Prime Minister Singh and say that he is honest and not corrupt, I look at billions worth of corruption and then listen to the likes of Arun Shourie who claim to have met Mr. Singh in person and pass him information and documents, to which he or his office do not react. Actually even watched him on some Indian TV channel with Karan Thapar.
Basically, if it were a couple of millions, then the PM would be out of the picture where doubt is concerned - but a large amount of money is involved, hence more powerful people are needed to manage the scam. A minister in his government gets a portfolio for this scam (since he was not a qualified professional engineer or former telecom CEO) and he doesn't know? That is probably a lie .If you lie, you have something to hide. A sorry fact.I don't think PM Singh is telling the truth, though he is a nice person, but that doesn't mean he isn't corrupt or has not supported elements that were corrupt - I refuse to believe that billions have disappeared because of others and he doesn't know what was happening. These are billions were talking about!
It's like saying Enron bombed because of just their auditors and their CEO was not responsible.
I think BJP are corrupt too, one has to say India is transforming into a two-party system where you have to choose between those, or choose between some regional nonsense we call Samajwadi or the Tamil DMK, there is no honest choice and this needs to change.
I want IITs or MBAs or MScs (from these ranked institutions) as Indian leaders for the new economy-driven policy. Though IITs don't even figure in top 100, what is the education minister doing there? How about a minimum of Master's degree in political science from a ranked university for qualifying for running an election as an MP/MLA? What are the pre-requisites here? Everything is wrong and completely messy. Democracy needs merit else you will get what India is getting at the moment.Minimum qualifications for government service - a Master's degree and 5 years of work experience, both of which under a point system which are made public record hence selection will get scrutinized even before these people going for election rallies. Alas, we have former actresses like Malini or Prada running for political office... this will never get Indian anywhere - merit must prevail. If merit does not prevail, India will get these scams and the 'talent' it has been providing for which have led it to utter ruin.
Let the Indian public know what sort of PM we have and who he is serving by the wrongly branded image of clean PM. Certainly not the poor people, who are starving on the streets. Mr.M.M.Singh is a stain on the Sikh community who stood bravely against foreign incursions and atrocities on the Indian soil. Now our PM has opened up the floor for our politicians to go on the rampage and provide strong coverup under the guise of his image.
Dr. Manmohan Singh seems to have mastered the art of pushing things under carpet. I don't believe that India any longer seriously believes in his clean image. He is turning out to be the undisputed captain of the corrupts and crooks. He can take a strong stand for the nuclear deal (risking the government), while he can't take a strong stand for keeping the governance clean.
We have a very poor opposition party who keep losing their plots to make matters worse.
It is true that the present Indian government is corrupt at such a level that now everyone is trying his best to root out the corruption from India. The people cannot speak about the Leader because there is no media between common public to politician. But in adverse, there is. That's why people are supporting Anna hazzare an trying to give there Voice about corrupt people sitting inside and outside of Parliament
Assange claims... "So I would suggest it means that he has a habit that he was following rather than thinking things through - and a habit of reactively covering up allegations of corruption". If Assange were to give the benefit of doubt, he would have called the PM as inept or incompetent. Instead, he insinuates that the PM is a habitual crook. This can be construed in two ways -- either that he has solid proof of the PM being a crook which he is cleverly withholding from the readers or that these are the outpourings of an irresponsible juvenile braggart. Till he presents solid proof of the PM's 'habit of reactively covering up allegations of corruption' it is the latter. It is a pity that The Hindu is staking its reputation on such half-baked utterances.
There is absolutely no doubt at all that Julian Assange and 'The Hindu' are doing yeomen service to India. Julian Assange's assessment of MMS is cent per cent correct. He cannot afford to escape from his responsibility by adopting a 'Holier than thou' attitude. He cannot afford to expect other Indians to tolerate corruption as he and his group do. He cannot afford to raise doubts in the veracity of the leaked reports. He has the power to undo the mistakes he has committed consciously or unconsciously.
Thanks to Hindu for going thru Wiki leaks cables and publishing what is relevent for India. Great work, keep it up.
Nitin, Kochi
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