Integrity Dr Singh?

The CVC is appointed over the protest of the Leader of Opposition. The person has been chargesheeted in a case. And is one of the persons responsible for the 2G scam. The Supreme Court questions how the person can be investigating cases of corruption. The CVC still occupies office, though there is just a chance he may resign.

The election commissioner was appointed while there were allegations of having received money in a charity run by him, from ruling party members.

Raja was finally ousted by pressure from the parliament - and is now being investigated.

His boss - Dr. Singh, continues in office, unscathed and unaffected - constitutional propriety be damned.

Teesta Setalvad is now being investigated by a sessions court for filing false affidavits. A Delhi court had to instruct the Delhi police to file an FIR against Arundhati Roy and her separatist supporters - over-ruling the objections of the police that no case was needed. For this government, Kashmir is not a problem, the government is busy finding and prosecuting "saffron terror".

Various government banks and bankers were found to be taking bribes, and are now being investigated.  Rumours abound that the aviation minister and his party boss have shareholding in two major private aviation companies - companies that he is supposed to regulate, and who have increased airfare by well over 100% in the past one year. Kalmadi roams free - the Rs70,000 crores that were spend to host the CWG remain to be investigated.

Government lies extend to economic growth figures. Gross fixed capital formation for the first quarter this year have been revised from 7.6% to 18.9% (because a new set of inflation deflators are being used) !

Indian defence is in tatters - the latest wikileaks quoted the USA ambassador as estimating that India's "cold start" military doctrine is now in cold storage !

Sometime earlier this year, a movie called LSD made waves. It could describe the operating motto of the Singh government. But Dr. Singh is an honourable man.

Hounding wikileaks

The Chinese government is often lectured for being secretive, of suppressing dissent . So are governments in several other parts of the world - Burma and Iran to name a few. Apparently, this same standard should not be applied to diplomatic missives - or so the US government would have you believe. Disclosing what goes on behind the diplomatic curtain is a crime !

USA government now wants to file a criminal case against Wikileaks founder. Paypal has stopped accepting payments to support the site, and google has stopped offering the site which it hosts. Both these service providers disclaim any pressure from the government. How believable is that?

Eventually, what matters is that ALL countries look after their own interest (and that usually means the interest of the government in power). So take the justification for the action against wikileaks - the assertion that this puts people at risk - for what it is - protestations of a government caught lying.