DELHI 10 EDITORIAL THE HINDU SATURDAY, MARCH 19, 2011 Bribery charge must now be investigated Siddharth Varadarajan course, the reason the cable struck a wider The Embassy cable suggests a serious crime chord is because there is corroborating evi- ince politics is a distraction, consider dence of bribery having taken place in the the following retelling of the Wiki- was committed on Indian soil to which U.S. run-up to the confidence vote. There are Leaks tale. An activist dies in a traffic video recordings from a sting operation con- accident. CCTV footage from a bank diplomats were privy. The Prime Minister ducted by CNN-IBN and a Parliamentary SATURDAY, MARCH 19, 2011 nearbyS suggests he might have been mur- committee tasked with probing the matter in dered but the case is never investigated cannot cite lame arguments to justify 2008 felt there was enough material for the properly. Three years later, a newspaper appropriate investigative agencies to con- publishes what it says is an American Em- inaction. duct a probe. That said, the Embassy cable’s Qadhafi regime bassy cable sent a few days before that suspi- contents still need to be verified. cious accident. In the cable, a U.S. diplomat Kapur saying Ajit Singh’s Rashtriya Captain Satish Sharma, Nachiketa Kapur quotes a multinational company executive was paid Rs.10 crore for each of its MPs. and Ajit Singh have all said the allegations climbs down talking loosely about how he paid money to That the RLD was actively being wooed against them are false. Captain Sharma has some criminals to convince the activist to get can be seen from the Union Cabinet’s July denied Mr. Kapur was ever his political aide n a move preceded by acrimonious argument, the out of his way. 17, 2008 decision to rename Lucknow air- and the latter has said he had only passing United Nations Security Council voted by 10 to How would a civilised country which val- port ‘Chaudhry Airport’ after contact with the Congress MP and with U.S. ues the rule of law react to such a disclosure? Mr. Ajit Singh’s father. Other inducements Embassy officials. Are they lying? Or was the none, with five abstentions, for a no-fly zone Would the government cite technicalities were also on offer but in the end, the RLD U.S. Embassy staff member being econom- I throughout Libyan airspace — and Libya caved in about the “unverified and unverifiable” na- voted against the government. Here Nachi- ical with the truth when he told the Charge by announcing acceptance of the resolution as well as a ture of the “purported” cable and the exec- keta Kapur turned out to have been remark- d’Affaires he had been shown the cash? ceasefire. The no-fly zone, from which aid flights would utive’s protestation of innocence and not ably prescient. After claiming the RLD MPs A proper police investigation conducted be exempt, is backed by authority to member states to even bother to ask the police to look into the had been paid off, the Embassy cable notes: by an agency like the CBI under the super- “take all necessary measures” to enforce compliance; matter? Or would it reassure the nation that “Kapur mentioned that money was not an vision of the Supreme Court can certainly even though the information is unverified, it issue at all, but the crucial thing was to en- communications.” make a fair attempt to establish where the this is diplomatic code for military action. In addition, will do its best to find out the truth? sure that those who took the money would Third, the Finance Minister said the in- burden of truth lies. the Security Council has widened the existing U.N. In the face of the political firestorm that vote for the government.” formation about bribery in the cable would Mr. Mukherjee is right that the cable is asset freeze and arms embargo against Tripoli and The Hindu’s publication of a secret U.S. Em- In the face of this damaging information not be considered admissible evidence in sovereign diplomatic communication but called on member states to stop mercenaries going to bassy cable about payoffs to MPs has gener- which is contained in a secret cable that was any court of law. The Prime Minister added can surely request its “strategic part- Libya. An occupation force is expressly excluded. The ated, all that the people of India needed was never meant to be publicly circulated (that that “many of the persons referred to in ner” to help probe an allegation that has an assurance from the UPA government that too in a redacted form) till at least 2018, Mr. those reports have stoutly denied the verac- diminished the country’s democratic insti- resolution would almost certainly have failed had the the serious crime of bribery, if established by Mukherjee and Dr. Singh made five lame ity of the contents,” as if the country ought to tutions in the eyes of its people and the League of Arab States (the Arab League), the African a proper investigation, would not go unpuni- points. be satisfied by mere protestations of inno- world. For starters, the U.S. can be asked to Union, and the Secretary-General of the Organisation shed. What they got instead was cynical First, the Finance Minister told Parlia- cence by the accused. identify the unnamed Embassy staff mem- of the Islamic Conference not already condemned Li- obfuscation. ment on Thursday that since the allegation The government’s fourth argument was ber. If he was an Indian employee or an byan violations of human rights and international law. Speaking in Parliament on the subject, of bribery applies to the 14th that a Parliamentary committee had probed American without diplomatic status, there Muammar Qadhafi’s first response was, in fact, a mind- Finance Minister and which has since been dissolved, the 15th Lok the matter and concluded that there was would be absolutely no problem in the CBI Prime Minister have Sabha had no locus standi to discuss the “insufficient evidence.” Finally, the Prime recording his statement and asking him to less rant: he said “no mercy” would be shown to resi- mounted a ‘technical’ and wholly ineffective issue. Minister took refuge behind the “court of the join a criminal investigation. He could tell dents of Benghazi who resisted him and also defence of the government. Second, he said the cable was a sovereign people,” declaring that since the Congress us, for example, where his conversation with threatened retaliatory targeting of all air and maritime The July 17, 2008 cable sent by U.S. communication between different branches got re-elected in 2009 the charge of bribery Mr. Kapur took place. The staffer reported traffic in the Mediterranean. Charge d’Affaires Steven White stated that a of the U.S. government, was covered by dip- had been “rejected by the people.” By this back to Mr. White that he was told Rs.50 The possibility of air strikes against one’s own peo- Congress politician named Nachiketa Kapur lomatic immunity and that the information logic, the Congress has no right to accuse crore or Rs.60 crore was “lying around the — described as a “political aide” to Captain it contained could neither be confirmed nor of complicity in the 2002 ple, combined with Mr. Qadhafi’s imprecations, might house.” Which house was he referring to? Satish Sharma, M.P. — showed an Embassy denied by India. Despite the U.S. State De- massacres since this allegation has been “re- Even if the Embassy “staff member” was a bring to mind the widely publicised possibility raised in staff member “two chests containing cash partment saying publicly last year that Sec- jected by the people” not once but twice. diplomat — one theory is that it was the 2009 of Indian Air Force action against Maoists, which and said that around Rupees 50crore-60 retary of State Hillary Clinton had spoken to Instead of hiding behind technicalities Political Counsellor himself who dropped would surely affect civilians as well; this was quickly crore (about $25 million) was lying around External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna to and dubious political arguments, govern- his descriptor because he had inadvertently ruled out. The Libyan strongman’s threats, however, the house for use as pay-offs” to MPs to warn him of the impending publication of ment managers could have defused the crisis become party to a criminal act — diplomatic were of a quite different order, especially in the context ensure that the Manmohan Singh govern- confidential cables by WikiLeaks, Dr. Singh by promising that the information contained immunity would not come in the way of him ment won the confidence vote that was set told Parliament: “The Government of India in the cable would be probed. It is nobody’s informally helping the police in their in- of his regime’s acts of brutality against its own people. for July 22. The cable, which was accessed by cannot confirm the veracity, contents or claim that the contents of a U.S. Embassy vestigation. India can also ask the U.S. to As for the U.N. Security Council, while its tough stance The Hindu from WikiLeaks, also quotes Mr. even the existence of such cable should be treated as gospel truth. Of waive his immunity. Moreover, the call re- might have worked for now, the course of action in- cords of Captain Sharma and Mr. Kapur can dicated in the resolution is deeply flawed. Jana, the be examined to fix their physical locations official Libyan news agency, has reported that govern- and ascertain the nature of their relation- ment forces might cease military operations on Sunday CARTOONSCAPE ship, especially on the day the meetings mentioned in the cable took place. This can so that rebels could hand over weapons; a “general then be triangulated with the telephone decision on amnesty” has also been mentioned. It is not number of the U.S. Political Counsellor, clear what kind of Libyan action would qualify as suffi- whose number is known to the Indian au- cient compliance for the resolution not to be imple- thorities. These are the minimum steps that mented. A no-fly zone would not stop Tripoli’s ground any self-respecting democracy would want to take in the face of such a serious charge. troops and armour from advancing on and attacking On the eve of the July 22, 2008 vote of rebel-held areas; the 1990s NATO no-fly zone in Bosnia confidence, I wrote an op-ed in The Hindu failed, with terrible consequences for civilians. Finally, where I said: “Even if the government wins the Security Council resolution has no clear political the trust vote on Tuesday, the Prime Minis- objective. Is it to protect rebels or all Libyan civilians? ter and the Congress will not be able to live Remove Mr. Qadhafi in what will amount to regime down the taint of impropriety surrounding their victory.” The more I think about it, the change? Something else? The U.N. has not even waited more convinced I am that the listlessness, to hear from its Special Envoy to Libya. External mil- drift and corruption that so many commen- itary intervention in Libya would be both wrong and tators have indicted the Manmohan Singh disastrous. Given the murky circumstances, India has government for in its second innings have done well to express its reservations and abstain in the their origins in the manner in which that trust vote was won. The UPA lost its moral Security Council vote. centre that day, and with it, its political bearings. In a hideous coincidence, the taint of brib- ery has come back to haunt the government at a time when the nuclear dream which was supposed to make it all worth it is slowly A multi-pronged evaporating in plumes of deadly radioactive steam above Japan. “If implemented in the way it is promised, [the nuclear deal] would strategy increase the country’s energy options in the long-run,” I wrote in the same op-ed. “But no he Reserve Bank of India’s action in hiking deal is so good that it merits the short-cir- cuiting of democratic propriety through the short-term policy rates — the repo and the horse-trading or worse.” reverse repo rates — by 0.25 percentage point The Opposition is wrong to insist that the T was not unexpected. That the central bank Prime Minister must resign because of the would continue its focus on inflation was also well leaked cable. But he has a moral obligation to known. However, the tone of the latest review, the last ensure the cable’s contents are investigated properly. Refusing to do so would be an act of before the annual credit policy, is distinctly hawkish on immense political folly, especially in the inflation. In raising its short-term inflation target from light of all the scam allegations that have 7 per cent to 8 per cent for March 2011, the RBI is, in buffeted his government. effect, admitting that all the monetary measures un- dertaken so far have not been able to contain inflation within the pre-stated range. (The policy rates have Letters emailed to [email protected] must carry the full been raised eight times during the year) The tacit LETTERS TO THE EDITOR postal address and the full name or the name with initials. admission has led to an explicit recognition that in- flation can no longer be attributed substantially to Commendable resign, owning moral The standard refrain of our to their government? They are not diplomats heard and gathered from structural, supply side factors relating to food items. In responsibility. politicians is to deny all allegations, authenticated records. The small talk and gossip. fact, the prices of food articles, barring those of milk, The publication of India Cables C. Lakshmi Narain, call them “baseless,” observations pertain merely to the K.V. Ravindran, eggs, meat, and fish, have declined since January 2011. accessed by The Hindu through an Chennai “mischievous,” “politically interpretations of what the Payyanur arrangement with the WikiLeaks is motivated” and end up with the However, while the weekly food inflation index has by far the best journalistic The Hindu created history in the famous maxim “the law will take its been declining, the inflation linked to non-food manu- contribution in recent times. N. annals of investigative journalism course.” factured products rose from 4.8 per cent in January to Ram deserves praise for taking the when it uncovered the Bofors V. Vedagiri, 6.1 per cent in February. This is well above its medium- bold step of exposing our scandal. It now has the WikiLeaks Chennai CORRECTIONS AND CLARIFICATIONS term trend. The RBI has pointed out that the acceler- politicians and bureaucrats. The cash-for-votes exposé to its credit. exposés couldn’t have come at a Many have questioned the One thing the WikiLeaks exposé >>The front page news item (March 18, 2011) on ban on exit polls from ation is spread across manufacturing activities, indi- more appropriate time — with authenticity of the cables sent by has established beyond doubt is April 4 to May 10 referred to Assembly elections in five States. It should cating that producers are able to pass on higher input elections in five States approaching U.S. diplomats to the State America’s access to our corridors have been four States and one Union Territory. This is a repeat prices to consumers. High petroleum prices and the and instances of money being Department. It must be noted that of power. The Americans know correction. increase in administered coal prices have heightened seized appearing every day. so far neither the U.S. about the working of our the risks further. A. Raman, administration nor its diplomats democracy much better than we >>The abbreviation of was wrongly given as RJD in the news report, “Ajit Singh: we openly voted against UPA” (March 18, The latest budget, by aiming at a sharp reduction in Chennai here have denied the veracity of the do. No wonder they are able to pull reports. What is the harm in strings and blackmail us whenever 2011). It should have been RLD. the fiscal deficit, gives comfort to the RBI’s inflation The Hindu has done well to bring ordering a probe to ferret out the they want to. containment strategy on the demand side. Yet ques- the cash-for-votes issue out of the truth? D. Balakrishnan, >>The headline of the Edit Page Main article, “Gates, Buffet & the Art tions have been raised as to whether it would be pos- closet. The WikiLeaks exposé — C.A.C. Murugappan, Coimbatore of Giving” (March 12, 2011), got the spelling of Warren Buffett wrong. sible to compress public expenditure so aggressively. that Congress leader Satish Kothamangalam Much ado? >>In the Sport Page report on Spanish League titled “Benzema scores Nor is it certain that the outlays for subsidies on pet- Sharma showed a U.S. embassy employee two chests containing Few will believe the Congress I congratulate The Hindu on sifting twice in Real win” (March 14, 2011), it was said that Real Madrid moved roleum, and fertilizers as well as for the government’s cash meant for purchasing the party’s denial of wrongdoing in the through large volumes of within 4 points of Barcelona. It should have been 5 points. flagship social sector programmes will be sufficient. support of MPs during the crucial cash-for-votes scam for three WikiLeaks and publishing them as Economic growth has been in line with expectations. vote of confidence in 2008 — has reasons. First, the party’s attitude interesting reports. But are they It is the policy of The Hindu to correct significant errors as soon as Although there are a number of favourable indicators once again raised questions about towards corruption has always authentic? The U.S. diplomatic possible. Please specify the edition (place of publication), such as buoyant direct and indirect tax collections, the UPA government’s credibility. been benign and ambivalent. staff, like their counterparts date and page. significant downside risks have emerged. On the ex- More shocking is Finance Minister Second, The Hindu is not known to elsewhere, have a lot of spare time The Readers’ Editor’s office can be contacted by Pranab Mukerjee’s defence that indulge in sensationalism. Third, at their disposal. They collect ternal front, the central bank takes comfort from the Telephone: +91-44-28418297/28576300 (11 a.m. to 5 p.m., the allegation relates to the 14th there is no reason why the plenty of gossip and pass them on Monday to Friday); fact that the current account deficit at the end of this Lok Sabha and the government of American diplomats should distort to their bosses to justify their Fax: +91-44-28552963; year will be lower than expected, at around 2.5 per cent the day is accountable to the 15th and falsify facts while reporting to presence. Should our media, the E-mail: of GDP. However, this year has seen robust export Lok Sabha. their bosses. public and MPs spend so much [email protected] Krishna Kumar, V.N. Mukundarajan, time over such news? Mail: Readers’ Editor, The Hindu, Kasturi Buildings, growth and a relatively stable inflow on account of 859 & 860 Anna Salai, Chennai 600 002, India. remittances and invisibles, factors that cannot be taken Ahmedabad Thiruvananthapuram T. Darmalingam, Chennai All communication must carry the full postal address and for granted. There is a need to focus on the quality of Mr. Mukerjee’s argument is It is inconceivable that American telephone number. capital inflows, with greater emphasis on attracting unacceptable. The same party officials imagined all the Why should we give so much No personal visits. more stable foreign direct investment. named in the payoffs scandal is in transactions they have mentioned importance to what was The Terms of Reference for the Readers’ Editor are on power. The Prime Minister should in their cables with minute details. communicated by U.S. diplomats www.thehindu.com

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