Starting today, March 15, The Hindu offers its readers a series of unprecedented insights into India's foreign policy and domestic affairs, diplomatic, political, economic, social, cultural, and intellectual – encountered, observed, tracked, interpreted, commented upon, appreciated, and pilloried by U.S. diplomats cabling the State Department in Washington D.C.
The range of subjects, issues, and persons covered by the India Cables is extraordinary. While the trained diplomat's eye is almost always on the ball – the developing Indo-U.S. strategic relationship and everything that helps or hinders it – the range includes India's relations with its neighbours, with Russia, the European Union, East Asia, Israel, Palestine, Iran, and the rest of West Asia, Africa, Cuba, the United Nations. It covers issues and actions relating to defence cooperation, nuclear policy, arms control, terrorism, intelligence sharing, export control, human rights, Indian bureaucracy, environment, AfPak, and much more. There is a special focus on 26/11, Kashmir, India's policy towards and dealings with Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bangladesh, and Myanmar, and where the Indian polity is headed.
Politicians of all shades, diplomats and other officials, sleuths, businessmen, journalists, busybodies, bigwigs and smallwigs figure in the WikiLeaks India Cache – which comprises 5,100 U.S. Embassy and consulate cables relevant to India (not all of them originating in India) and aggregates an astonishing six million words.
These American diplomats have been trained to listen, probe and prod, massage egos, milk sources, report, and write (supplying accessible and, at times, witty and elegant headings and sub-headings) to inform, analyse, and amuse – as though they were full-time journalists. Many of them work like wire service beavers: long lunches, yes, but very often, same day reports of important meetings. Few things escape their notice. Most of the time, they see Indian men, women, and matters through the reflected mirror of U.S. strategic interests and policy.
The India Cables have been accessed by The Hindu through an arrangement with WikiLeaks that involves no financial transaction and no financial obligations on either side. As with the larger ‘Cablegate' cache to which these cables belong, they are classified into six categories: confidential, confidential/noforn (confidential, no foreigners), secret, secret/noforn, unclassified, and unclassified/for official use only.
Our contacts with WikiLeaks were initiated in the second week of December 2010. It was a period when Cablegate had captured the attention and imagination of a news-hungry world.
On November 28, 2010, five major western newspapers (The Guardian, The New York Times, Der Spiegel, Le Monde, and El Pais) and WikiLeaks made a huge splash by publishing a selection from the cables that provided readers worldwide with what WikiLeaks has described as “an unprecedented insight into U.S. government foreign activities.” These newspapers had put the cables through a painstaking and painfully slow process of ‘redaction,' applying varying criteria according to their lights. They drew on the cables to publish dozens of stories, ranging from the sensational through the instructive to the amusing; the newspapers' journalists provided context, background, analysis, interpretation, and comment.
But by now WikiLeaks was under siege. An organisation committed to openness, transparency, and justice and its charismatic Editor-in-Chief, Julian Assange, had come under fierce, concerted attack orchestrated by the United States. The attack dogs were after Mr. Assange's blood and the organisation had to use the utmost ingenuity to continue to function.
That it was able to do so and even spread its wings in a matter of weeks speaks to the tremendous vitality and technological power of “this new form of indestructible publishing” (to borrow Guardian Editor Alan Rusbridger's phrase) and the solidarity and practical support this mission, which Mr. Assange considers an integral part of journalism, has been able to inspire among thousands of people round the world.
The WikiLeaks database made available to the five newspapers comprised 251,187 cables from 280 U.S. embassies and consulates in 180 countries. The total word length of the cables was estimated to be 300 million. From the start of our interactions with WikiLeaks, The Hindu had its eye on the India Cables, reported to number in the thousands, of which only 40 have been published (http://213.251.145.96/origin /60_0.html).
Hopes of getting our hands on the entire India Cache rose in the second half of December when Julian Assange spoke, in a newspaper interview, of “the incredible potential of the Indian media” in a context of “a lot of corruption” (waiting to be exposed), a rising middle class, and growing access to the internet – and specifically mentioned and praised The Hindu.
To cut the story short, our active contacts with WikiLeaks resumed in mid-February 2011. A breakthrough was achieved without any fuss, resulting in a detailed understanding on the terms and modus of publication, including redacting (where, and only where, necessary) and compliance with a security protocol for protecting and handling the sensitive material – and we had the whole cache of the India Cables in our hands in early March.
Unlike the experience of the five western newspapers, which were involved in a prolonged and complex collaborative venture even while making independent publication choices (described in two books published by The Guardian and The New York Times), The Hindu's receipt, processing, and publication of the cables is a standalone arrangement with WikiLeaks, which, as in the case of the five newspapers, has no say in the content of stories we publish based on the cables.
We quickly assembled a team of experienced journalists – writers, including foreign correspondents, and editors – as well as digital information and data specialists for the India Cables publication project, to which we gave no particular name.
The team worked long hours in a secured office space, practically without a day's break, sifting through the data, categorising, segmenting, and speed-reading the cables, searching with keywords, redacting if necessary, making a large first selection of what seemed most relevant and interesting, and re-reading the cables to write dozens of stories, formatting and uploading the cables online for global reach. Quiet, controlled excitement reigned for the most part within the confined environment, even when fatigue set in and nerves were frayed. It is still work in progress.
Gr8 Job.My suggestion is that this is the correct point to release all the names as the civil society movement has started. There can be no greater time than this. Please expose at least the big fishes now.
he has created a glorious revolution in world. welldone.
Since some of the names have been disclosed to the Indian authorities but still there is no fire coming out inspite of honourable Supreme Court's rebuke to the Govt. It clearly shows that 'A cat has been asked to guard the milk'.
Is there really any possibility of our politicians - esp. the Congresswallahs - getting refined for the good of the Nation?
We need a peoples movement to replace this corrupt central goverment immediately. There is no point in expecting them to take action against themselves.
We need a peoples movement to replace this corrupt central goverment immediately. There is no point in expecting them to take action against themselves.
Good Job Done Mr.Assagne along with HINDU, though this is also a case of survival among the Journalists they have busted the hive which the aam Indian knew from a long time but did not have the courage or the resource to handle, and even if it was possible the corrupt politicians of our great nation would buy them to keep themselves safe and each are hand in glove with the other though they have a different face in front of the aam Indian.
good one
A very big thanks to Hindu for giving such a good report on corruption.
Our nation is in the hands of selfish,corrupt people who are eating our hard work. Hindu & Mr. Assagne have done a great job.Now our corrupt leaders must think about Assange and The Hindu before doing the illegal work.They are exploiting our resources.one after one scams are going to come forward. I hope that our country will be among those countries where corruption does not take place.
I Think if there is something that has helped in bringing in the transparency,it's technology.Kudos to Wikil leaks for harnessing the 'power of technology' against corruption.
Kudos to Media for brave reporting. But public is timid and need strong leader to get them together to act against corrupt politicians and bureaucrats. Can THE HINDU play a larger role in this?
Wiki leaks and THE HINDU must be commended for its great work in releasing the US embassy cables relating to India.Appreciation to THE HINDU for making honest,real and just comments about wiki leaks and J.Assagne.This shows that the US cannot exert its pressure anywhere it wants.
Our country is in the hands of people who lack courage of conviction. Any talk in matters of corruption and money laundering is not taken seriously. We do not know whether we have brave hearts who can proclaim offenders with evidence. Why can we not ask our elected representatives whether they abide by the oath taken while entering the parliament.We are shameless and public at large is indifferent. Our representatives pride on wealth and power but not on humility. We get what we deserve.
All Indians should appreciate the work of "THE HINDU" WikiLeaks,actualy the interview with Julian Assange reveals the truth. It exposes the ugly faces of Manmohan Singh's government they are not patriotic to the nation, they just sell our sovereignty to the Americans and the Europeans.
I just went through this item and started reading one by one the leaks. After witnessing the NDTV interview, I felt happier to hear from the horse's mouth - Mr Assange - the high esteem The Hindu/Mr Ram are enjoying in the world. What a confidence The Hindu has created in the minds of Mr Assange, the world's best whistleblower. India is proud of The Hindu, especially Chennai.
The Hindu has been my first choice as a newspaper, and after this, its the only choice for me! Thanks, keep up the good work with good people like Assange.
Congratulations 'The Hindu'. Dr.Manmohan Singh is not as sincere as he appears. In the early nineties, several companies were allowed to float shares and collect crores of rupees from public. It is not known how many of those companies are doing business today. Many companies were later allowed to close the companies by paying some nominal fee to government. We cannot believe that the Congress party did not have share in that booty
As one critic has pointed out many of the corruption allegations are revealed by Indian Press earlier but now we receive it through the Wikileaks conch and so it becomes the 'teertha'. I think the average Indian has become reconciled to corruption and also indulges in it as and when he finds it convenient and so unless such corruption mortally hurts his interests he would not rise up to protest and rebel. In India people are not that worse off materially or mentally as in North African and Arab countries where though they may have more per capita income, people are trammeled by many shackles and feel suffocated. So it is not that easy here to expect any revolutionary uprising, however much we desire it, except in pockets where existence itself is a nightmare for the marginalized people there.
Government had given Padma Bhushan to Sant Singh Chatwal on flimsy grounds , everyone was wondering why he was awarded the same. Now cable 162458 probably gives the answer.Help Government in arranging bribe money and get Padma Bhushan!
Congratulations to "The Hindu" for exposing indian ruling class.
Can The Hindu / Intellectuals all around give a workaround for this CURRUPTION problem? Scams and Scandals have always been there. Thanks to the proactive media, now a days, that it gets expossed within some time or so. But the question remains the same, high quality of scandals - high quality of sting operations. Is it going to end somewhere, or its pace be decreased substantialy. Common people is worried only about there Dal-Roti.And they are the suferer.The soul of nation needs to be purified, else whatever mecahnism you design, curruption will prevail. It is at every level, personal level, family level, social level, national level.Curruption lies because, we feel that we'll become happier with more power, more money, more luxuries etc.Are we happy really?Happiness of one who helps a needy is much more than the one who buys luxuries.
The integrity of a man should be an inherent quality.There are people who pretend integrity, maintain integrity out of the fear of being caught and some will get a title by virtue of being in the class of high dignitaries, society bestows the title 'Mr Clean'-eg Rajiv Gandhi and there are yet another group who get this image for no reason-in which class our Hon Prime Minister Man Mohan Singh belong is a puzzling question for me with utmost regret and pain a poor Indian citizen.
Congratulations to The Hindu team for exposing the doublespeak and hypocrisy rampant in Indian political scenario. The comments like 'the world has rejected wikileaks', and the lame duck arguments on technicalities of 14th and 15th Loksabha, bring it all to the day light who the culprits are. I really wonder, why there had there been not even a single person with Integrity and moral courage to speak up against this at the helms of our so-called democracy. Salute the Hindu for putting it all to the public.
We are bracing ourselves up for one more emergency. And once the oppression of emergency gets above, may there be a socialist state with hundred flowers and hundred ideas blooming.
Thank god we still have some sensible media. Otherwise we just discuss malfunctioning wardrobes or cricket bollywood affair...Congratulations to 'The Hindu' who took the initiative with wiki-leaks. We can't hang the culprits but still am damn sure it will make some difference in this country which it needs badly.
The Hindu exposure has not surprised most of the Indians but yet it is to be appreciated. It is accepted by over 90% of the population as a way of life for the politicians, advocates of market economy, money makers and money transfer lobby, money and power brokers - call them the ruling clique of this Bharat Mahan. They have all established thousands of ways to circumvent the law, see eye to eye through corrupt practices, ignore the difficulties of living of over 80 crore living at Rs. 20/- a day and use the sold and purchased media to keep themselves well above the drowning level of water. Pranab Mukherjee must know that the country and its people and the Govts are not compartmentalised according to the period of the Lok Sabha. It is a continuing existence of the whole all together. How much of the exposure is required for the UPA -II to say quits as a part of ethics and democratic morality. People certainly are not waiting for them to change or act. They are looking for alternatives which will not be based on Stock market indices and graphs and tables of economic development-GDR indices etc.
Great job Julian, Wiki-leaks and Hindu. Don't worry about diplomatic ties, and effect of news on people etc. Just expose the cables. The Indian system needs a big shake and it will separate the butter from butter milk.
A very responsible act by the HINDU group of newspapers. Rulers in India thought they could get away by turning and twisting facts. Maybe they will realize that past will catch up. One wonders what are the compulsions for the existing government ,greed or power or foreign commercial interest. It is definitely not the interest of people. Let us hope that some dignity is brought to Indian governance.No body will believe that PM is is not an active participant. It is not only the politicians but also bankruptcy of intelligentsia. Let us hope that the leaks create a chink in the armor of our compromised knights.
The Hindu has done great service to the nation by exposing these cables to the public and one can hope that in future elections the voter's will make a more informed and rational decision.
Congratulations!
Keep it up to built 'The Nation' a truly free, fair and democratic state not only in words but in deeds as well.
Mohammed Mumtaz
Corruption in India is all pervasive. The so called non-corrupt when given a chance have miserably failed to show any difference. It is high time that the corrupt are put behind bars. It should start with the Swiss fund holders names. And many of them are in Union Cabinet. Interestingly they include both ABV(remember Mahajan) MMS ministry. I hope and wish things will move fast with one of the ex-CJI sent to jail. Not sending Narasinha Rao to jail for bribing was a big error of judgement, in my opinion. It has been downward slide to abyss lately.
I am alarmed at the idea that The Hindu considers not just publishing leaked cables and stories (that legally maybe considered stolen property belonging to another country ) but is also marketing it as a journalistic triumph. I do not believe that this kind of voyeurism will evolve into any meaningful trend that will either help Indian journalism or help the country solve the issues in the cables. Consider that the insights of the writers who were diplomatic personnel were only summarizing opinions or facts gleaned from conversations or interviews that are generally available to any journalist, it makes one wonder why 'The Hindu' needed these cables after all. Take for instance the story about elections in South India and the delivery of cash in the daily newspaper; one only has to have been to be a south Indian voter in any of the last few elections to be able to confirm this story. Yet, it took the publishing of the same factoids in Wiki cables to makes us 'quot' if this was something that we never knew about.I think 'The Hindu' and all other journalists who would love to take credit for this 'political intelligence', be allowed to share a cell with Private Manning before they walk around as if they have achieved journalistic glory.
News Papers and Media are doing their level best in bringing out the real facts in front of the people and educate them on the various happenings. This initiative is a great and courageous initiative taken by THE HINDU and we understand the political pressures behind this inspite of that THE HINDU came forward and brought this initiative.Hats off to those who involved in it and warning to our Political leaders who were involved in the scams and other attrocities
I hope HINDU remains honest in the wikileaks and does not come under any pressure from the politiciains and business tycoons.
An error does not become truth by reason of multiplied propagation, nor does truth become error because nobody sees it - Mahatma Gandhi.
We have been always feeling that politicians are taking the whole nation for ride after buying the votes. All these and many more matters, which we heard all these days have now been exposed. Kudos to Mr Ram for his bold step in publishing these WIKILEAKS. Hope to have a nice reading in days to come. The educated class should not remain 'indoors' during elections and have to vote out corrupt, criminal and other notorious elements from the political arena. It is all the more relevant that The Hindu is publishing these just ahead of elections. My heartiest CONGRATULATIONS for Mr N Ram and his team in this endeavour.
Please, Dear Editor, publish all the muck and don't back off under political pressure.Let this start a national debate on corruption..only then will can India and Indians face the ugly truth of our moral decay and chart out a new path..else we will accept this corrupt life as our destiny.
Excellent Initiative... Well Done THE HINDU.... Keep the society informed of these corrupt,biased and double tongued politicians... let your journalism usher in a new democratic India... You have started a Revolution. Go ahead come what may.
It sounds like we see the happenings through american eyes. Will it add any value or will it help the 'Change' we all looking for, but we try this now. Sure, this may help to educate few more on the way. This is a good initiative and we expect to see those involved or circumvented would turn in eventualy. Good initiative and appreciate all involved.!
This is the reason why THE HINDU, inspite of not going with it's perspective all the time, it can never be avoided. The team behind this initiative deserves special praise and recognition.
These truths are well known to every Indian.Truths do not require evidence.It is not that wikileaks are exposing it. We see it, discuss it, forget it. Most of us are intentionally blind to corruption even in broad day light.Every one knows what is happening around in high and low places.(the one like money for vote !) We have learnt to live with these. In fact we cannot live without it.Many times it is even considered as a glory or development in life. And suddenly wikileaks is getting all those credits for exposing the explicit! If somebody is excited about wikileak it only indicates political unrealism and ignorance!
My heartist congratulations to 'The Hindu' to make such a massive effort amidst the political situation in our country to help improve and develop this modern power on world stage by exposing and possibly eradicating corruption, the one and only factor that shackles our country. These small efforts by individuals and organizations will definitely help our country go forward as we are taking pride in what we have -India.
A commendable effort. With the Indian government ever cloaked in a veil of secrecy, it is through leaks that the Indian citizens come to know what transpires, or doesn't, within the walls of North and South Blocs. The irony is the leaks are essentially an American understanding of the Indian scenarios. An understanding we suffer a large dose of, every day. Not to mention our own pathetic, political and foreign affairs analysts who come on TV and in print, happily brainwashed by American rhetoric. While the leaks do serve some purpose in enlightening the Indian public sphere, the media should take care not to allow its own civic and social responsibilities to be taken over by Assange and his team.
As an US citizen I wonder if the motivation of the editors of The Hindu is more to embarass the USA than to shine a light on the happenings in India as observed by the US diplomats.
There is nothing to be surprised at the US interference in India's internal affairs. Earlier during the pre-reform years and during the times of the Lincece-Quota Raj, it was the erstwhile Soviet Union that was calling the shots. Now it is the US.What needs to be seen is that as a developing nation, India needs to balance its priorities in line with the only superpower's ambitions such that it serves India well. South Korea and Japan aligned with the US and have progressed economically. I would think that India dump its panch sheel, NAM and other such no-good policies, get its priorities right and make progress. This is the pragmatic way to succeed rather than be intransigent in anything and everything.
It is good to publish the cables obtained from Wikileaks. At least one News Paper/ it's Editor has shown a back bone to publish material about the most corrupt politicians, and nation engulfed by corruption. India's young citizens are also corrupted by the so called 'leaders' of every party. It is sad. India's future is the youth, and if they do not care for the corruption etc then the country is doomed to loose in a long run, economically, in science, in industrialization, public service, lifting the poor from poverty, health and human services and ultimately the military which has to protect the nation from foreign invasion and subversion.India is a laughable 'democracy'. Nehru's DYNASTY rules the country. How much money they looted is not known. Same with Karunanidhi family, Laloo Prasad's, Rajashekara Reddy's, Chandrababu Naidu's ... the list can go on for ever.These people throw few crumbs to other politicians and buy their loyalties. They learned to play RELIGION card to their advantage, to keep themselves in power. Gone are the glory days of Gandhi Ji and national liberation. We have the copy cats with NO MORALS. Wake up India. Especially WAKE UP INDIAN YOUTH. India needs a peaceful revolution to get rid of all the corrupt individuals, then only India can become a great nation again.
One has to be careful in interpreting the messages sent by US diplomats. Those messages may influence the US policy but may not be true reflection of Indian positions on variuos issues. But, it is educational for the Indian diplomats how US thinks. I do not think there will be any fundamental changes due to these leaks. The bottom line is that both will act in self-interest.
Thank you for making this public. Please make the actual cables also available bellow the article so we could get the complete picture. I must say you are a cut above the rest as a credible news organization. That's why thehindu.com is my homepage.
In India corruption has spread like cancer and needs to be rooted out if the nation has to prosper. To this end if Mr N Ram and the news experts expose all the shady activities of the people who are inimical to progress, it will pave a long way
I appreciate this brave effort by the Hindu to take political forces head on in the interest of journalism. Good work! I hope to read all the interesting stories that come out of this.
At a time when even the US Government is throwing out all pretentions of an Open Press, jailing Manning who released the cables and aggressively trying to muzzle Julian Assange with unrelated charges, I congratulate and commend The Hindu's efforts at publishing the Wikileaks Cables. If politicians do not have anything to hide they should not be afraid of these. They have, and they are! Nothing cleanses politics like the harsh light of truth!
Excellent Work by 'The Hindu' Team. I am a regular reader of Hindu and Since the day , weakileaks were out,I was expecting 'India' related cables from you.Hope this will help wake up comman man.
From The Bofors Case to Wikileaks, Hindu has always set standards and precendent for the Indian Media and with remarkable courage and display of responsible and relevant journalism.Mr.N.Ram I am waiting to grab tomorrow's Hindu.
Congratulations and good luck to The Hindu team for their efforts in exposing the corrupt malpractices in the Indian policy engine. If India becomes a socially responsible, prosperous global power in future, the contributions of 'The Hindu' will be at the forefront in the least.
You draw an interesting difference between the Hindu's deal with Wikileaks and that of the The Guardian and others with the now persecuted organisation. But its surprising not to see a link of the original memos- released and unreleased. The other papers had made sure that they publish the originals along with their spin on the trove of stunning documents. Meanwhile what was seen on the first day of Indian cablegate is largely the perspective and spin of your insightful and super-efficient team. Would appreciate if you could publish originals as well.
May I just commend, once again, 'The Hindu' for its unstinting commitment to journalistic integrity and, above all, TRUTH! Please keep it up for it can only ever be a balm to soothe the mental wounds of the people of India. We want to know and we need to know the truth.
Hindu has done it again, in these dark times such acts of courage and commitment gives the common man a glimmer of hope for a better tommorow...well done Hindu!
Great Work Hindu!!! I was hoping for this kind of initiative when leaks were exposed initially.Should expose all involved in corruption, black money holders and Anything that makes our country clean and corruption free.
The phenomenon of Wikileaks has happned at the right time. India now has the most corrupt Government in the history. I hope Wikileaks exposes them all.
Slow and steady wins the race. Needless to say I have been awaiting to know the truth in the dealings of politicians of all shades of India when they agree or disagree to a problem faced by India. I am sure your revelations will be an eye-opener. Thank you is nothing compared to the trouble taken by your team and I appreciate the language used in the preamble. Regards to all in the team and I am proud there is still some hope left to mend India.
I hope the leaks will expose this UPA government's corrupt practices. It should also expose the nuclear deal with US and how Manmohan Singh played the trick to help pro American lobby.
The Hindu is to be commended for its efforts to publish the portions of WikiLeaks relating to India. Indian politicians have much to hide and I am sure that we will learn a lot about them (not too flattering) in the the leaked messages. India also needs to learn how the US diplomats conduct themselves in the interests of their country and the role they play in providing vital information about the important politicians and others they meet in the countries they are posted in.
There were instances in the past when a single comment by Supreme Court judge is made, minister rushed their resignations. what is the present position. Terribly sad situation. We preach morals to the whole world . But 'what the hell is going on in this country?' as one of the Supreme Court judges remarked recently.
Thanks to The Hindu and Mr. Ram to give readers this unprecedented opportunity to get access to The India Cables from Wikileaks. By doing that The Hindu continues to provide free, unbiased coverage of issues of national importance.
I have long been critical of The Hindu and its glorification of Socialist ideologies and China / Russia model. But of late I have been impressed with its stance on critical topics affecting the nation. It was one of the few leading publications along with Outlook, to take a bold stance on the Radia Gate, and now it has daringly gone public with Wikileaks. In an era where it's clear that the ruling party is seeking to buy out the main stream media, and in parallel block the views of bloggers, a bold step like this by 'The Hindu', should serve a strong message to the Congress, and future governments. I am waiting, like most sensible readers, to read the full disclosures, before forming an opinion. But some of the early responses by the political parties on the Wikieaks show a naivety and lack of maturity that is appalling. The Communist parties wasted no time in proclaiming the Government has sold out to America, while conveniently forgetting that they have wasted no time in the past in selling out to their ideological masters in Russia or China. The BJP has been critical of Indo-U.S camaraderie since the nuclear deal days, while conveniently forgetting that it was Vajpayee, who rightly initiated closer ties with U.S. Congress being Congress waits for the noise to die down, while continuing to plunder and loot the country. In these times, leading publications should either just present the facts and leave the public to make the inferences, or show a more nuanced understanding of the world in their analysis.
>From the bottom of my heart I wish to state that the job you are doing now will go long way in cleansing the system and in future the concerned people will start thinking about well being of the nation.
For the past 20 yrs, reading 'The Hindu' newspaper has been a routine and addiction. And today it seem that my addiction is justified by the Excellent initiative to provide free, unbiased coverage of issues of national importance. I salute the very idea of Mr.N.Ram and his esteemed journalist family.
I really appreciate this initiative from 'The Hindu'. This could bring in a lot of education to the common people about the happenings in administering the country. I had wondered about a lot of decision (or Indecisions) of the Government and the reasons behind those. Hope I get some chance to unlock certain Puzzles... especially this Congress govt. and it's capability to hold office for such a long time.
Now we will have an opportunity to know how tight-lipped are our esteemed ministers / bureaucrats / MP's etc. Anyway if any country's diplomatic cables are outed they will reveal a similar picture. Every nation would be conducting its own assessment, from its angle and some times these might be prone for occasional exaggeration by the cables author to please their bosses but when seen in its entirety will reveal a pattern of behavior from everyone involved.
Kudos to THE HINDU for taking this unprecedented initiative of offering 'fascinating insights' into India's foreign policy and domestic affairs. This is totally unique to Indian journalism.
Hope there are whistleblowers and Julian Assange's of India who can uncover some of the big corruption scandals spanning all walks of life
I always knew it could only be the Hindu which can take this initiative. Time for post-mortem of India's foreign policy! Thanks for bringing all this to light. You can even analyse other cables from the subcontinent lying unused with Wikileaks.
Hope this will wake up our common people from the mindset of acceptanace to corruption..and our rights.
Indian media has failed the public. Instead of exposing corruption, they became a part of it. The grapevine is that by and large, any one can be bought in India for a price and can be silenced. It will only take an outside agency like wikileaks to expose as what is wrong in India. Indians lost their conscience a long time ago and what exists now is the philosophy of 'might is right'.
A brave initiative indeed. Hindu sets an exemplary move in journalism. I am eager to see reports on South Asian diplomatic issues along with Indo-Bangla relationship.
I just want to ask one thing. When wikileaks started to release cables months before , there was discussion going on , that in India releasing such documents is criminal offense and there is no such things as 'First amendment' as we have in U.S.. So how safe is 'The Hindu' in releasing these cables? Really appreciate the effort and work put up by Hindu in releasing these cables ..
Congratulations ! Indian will benefit from your bold initiative. We hope you can bring to light some large issues and play a larger role in the cleansing of India. Bravo !!!
The Hindu deserves congratulations and thanks from the Indian public because the Indian govt treats everything connected with it as top secret and does not declassify its papers even after many decades have passed.
There will be many big shots who will feel the heat. Let the process start. At least the middle class deserves to know where all the money is routed to.
Excellent Hindu- I was waiting for this news since long time. Since many years I am a regular reader of Hindu and wondering why Hindu did not start this intiative? Anyway, congrats.
It is a welcome development and congratulations to HINDU for their proactive initiative. Subsequent to the publication, even if corruption comes down by 10%, it is worthwhile. Every Indian would like to see a corruption free society.
Ever since i have come to know of the machinations used by the American govt. to manipulate the world media, (the fake coffin broadcast by CNN during Gulf War 1 e.g.) i have been skeptical of media reports. During late November itself I was wondering if really America cannot get hold of Assange if it wanted him so badly. I have a feeling of America destabilising the world through the undercurrent of wikileaks. I think the damage due to Wikileaks, that america initially borne was self inflicted and to gain credibility for Wikileaks the world over. Once that was easily established, wikileaks started publishing secret documents of Israel, Palestine, Middle East countries and India among others. Well now, the turmoil in MENA (middle east and north african) countries is visible to everyone, and an unprecedented simultaneous activism is all round the world to overthrow despotic regimes. Though this is for good, i feel there has been a big hand of Uncle Sam in orchestrating this. I am looking forward eagerly to the India Cables, but i request Mr. N. Ram to be very very cautious in publishing the details. Naxals, Maoists, and the problems in Telangana are ready to fulminate the Indian polity if care is not taken. And we dont want America to laugh over and wait in hiding to declare 'no-fly-zone" in India as well.
Exposing corruption is the need of the hour. I appreciate the team of THE HINDU for their efforts in this great initiative.
Congratulations to Mr. N. Ram and his journalist team in bringing forth the 'India Cables'. As an avid reader of this newspaper, I will be greatly looking forward to this series. Keep up this good work.
This is a huge effort from The Hindu. Thanks a lot. I hope you give a unbiased view of the content in the wires. This will real picture of India's foreign relationships, loop holes, internal corruption, etc.
In his immortal poem Gurudev Tagore wrote: "..Where words come out from the depth of truth.. ..Into that heaven of freedom, my Father, let my country awake." Although our Country has professed 'Satyameva Jayathe' (Truth Alone Triumphs) as our National motto our leadership hardly walk the path of rectitude lately. In this context it is really heartening to know that The Hindu is bringing truth to the lime light. Good Job! Keep it Going!
India population is waiting for the hidden truth and conspiracies to be revealed before them. This may fuel educated,accountable but at same time non-voting masses with high inertia. Peole may once again believe in unbiased journalism which is quite less seen in indian print and electrinic media!
The dark days (Emergency)are very near for the Indians. The Fourth Estate in its endeavour to highlight corruption and the greed of politicians is now a divided house that brings paid news to the public. The onslaught of money has caused division between the haves and have nots. The two newspapers, The Hindu from Tamil Nadu and Eenadu from Andhra Pradesh have been forefront in withstanding the onslaught but Eenadu has succumbed to the pressures because there is a larger business interests involved in them other than the newspapers. What is intriguing is that there is a knee jerk attitude of the Indian people in reacting to the news else there would have been a revolution. They have become habituated to the corruption and hence are unable to respond with bitterness. This is helping the politicians and it does not matter how much a Newspaper make hue and cry... Chaltha hai. I pray to the god to break this mindset of Indians and wish the Hindu in its endeavour
I'll be more interested to know the US policy on Kashmir. Is it really a Friend or a Foe of the people of Sub Continent.
Congratulations to the 'Team - The Hindu' for another initiative towards crating peaceful, prosperous and progressive India. Hope this initiative by The Hindu will lead to 'change' in various spheres of the Indian Society. Thank you and All the Best.
Benjamin Franklin said 'remember not only to say the right thing in the right place, but far more difficult still, to leave unsaid the wrong thing at the tempting moment.' It is indeed tempting to disclose such information when it is at hand. But I hope the Hindu will take extreme care in not pushing the boundary of diplomatic relations and state secrets in its quest for publicity.
Kudos to Hindu, After Bofors go for wikileaks expose scandalous politicians,Govt. Babus, Dangerous Politicians-Industries-Babus exploiting the masses particularly the rural india, where the core of india lies our minerals,agricultural lands
An incredible initiative from Hindu. I am aghast at the thought that the US has a direct influence on how our country is run. Any Indian who reads the patronising views of the Americans would recoil at the thought of how our government's have capitulated to outside pressure. It is demeaning at the least, to know that the US has a hand in determining the composition of our cabinet. This is the price we have to pay, for having a succession of spineless Prime Ministers in the chair. All strength to Hindu and Wikileaks for exposing how 21st century imperialism operates.
Exposing India- US diplomatic cable information in this open press method is most likely going to turn devastating for India's national security. The negative impact is going to be over 100 years or more. We are scaring countries with good intelligence capabilities not to provide us intelligence anymore. It does not matter where or who or how it got stolen and leaked. The net result, India will loose real bad on National Security. To a normal reader it will sound like a good movie or fiction but for future diplomatic relations this kind of uncontextual openess is going to be severely negative impact on India. I pray 'The Hindu' newspaper organization think more deeply about this topic prior to this release.
Great! Finally, someone from India takes initiative.
It is very interesting.In india the major problem is corruption it is done by either politicians or big business persons.We need to get back our black money which is kept in other nation banks.
This is terrific! I'm glad that The Hindu is where I'll read about it and I'm sure that you will personally see to it that there's none of the silly sensationalizing that would have happened in the ToI or DNA or HT.Looking forward to reading the leaks as well as the analysis.
It is to be borne in mind that most of the leaks are viewed through the US prism. How/what they felt/observed about some leaders or politics may not be that meaningful except maybe to state 'this is how Americans think'. If some US diplomats/politicians felt that India or Indian politicians are scared of Muslim vote or OIC etc, that does not mean that they are right or wrong. There is no point in standing on (moral?) judgement on their so-called observations which could range from 'silly' or 'puerile' to 'profound'. Some of the observations could also be temporal given the situation in US at that time, forget their personal disposition. Reading too much into 'comments' may be unwise.
I was hoping that there were some leaks put down. Was hoping for that Swiss bank acc details particularly. But this turned out to be more an intro saying its coming soon, a teaser Nevertheless, will hold breath waiting for it to come.
I was awaiting such an initiative from The Hindu. I really appreciate it. Please take the lead to expose the massive corruption in our country and also the mindset of politicians. A leader always initiates change. That's what The Hindu is going to do with this initiative to make our country clean.
I have been thinking lately 'why doesn't The Hindu do it(read collaborate with WikiLeaks) when the time is ripe and right?' And they did it. Heartiest congratulations to Mr. N. Ram and attache to put effort into opening GoI. I hope they unveil everything including the recent interim turmoil of corruption as well.
Excellent initiative from The Hindu. This is line with The Hindu's tradition to provide free, unbiased coverage of issues of national importance. I have followed many of your investigative reports starting from the Bofors expose two decades back.I am eagerly looking forward to these series of articles, opinions and expert views based on the India cables from Wikileaks.
Congratulations to 'THE HINDU' and, particularly, all those involved in this project!! People of India have high hopes from pro-active journalism undertaken by 'THE HINDU' and, hopefully, it will intellectually stimulate the common man of India. I, personally, look forward to follow your series on India Cables. Thank you.
Julian Assange spoke of 'a lot of corruption' (waiting to be exposed), a rising middle class, and growing access to the internet. Brace yourself everyone!
There are some hidden facts which lead to the revelations on Kashmir. The US never wanted the problem to be settled and the two Asian neighbours to be friends. That will lead to overwirming development of the region and loss to the American or western WAR INDUSTRY.
There is nothing to be studied in depth about Man Mohan Singh's 'goodness' in its historical evolution. A man's adherence to personal ethics and values is always determined by the way he responds to the timing and the need to uphold these values. Simply put,in his articulations and actions at different times.His loud silence at critical times, when his 'goodness' is suspected, speaks volumes. Being an academic,one expected him to be vocal, articulate,with exemplary clarity and eloquence on issues not only on corruption but on all issues facing the nation. He only disappoints. He only mumbles vague generalities. One can only sympathize that he is imprisoned in a system of political and administrative functioning which is devoid of values.
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