THREE MISSIVES

I. To the First Citizen of the U S:

Hi Barak!

Surprised? You shouldn't be, as post-Wikileaks, the skies haven't fallen--yet, that is.  Now the leaks that hog the front pages are the ones from Fukushima. That is, until a few days back-- when the Hindu burst an Indian bombshell by starting publication of the India-related cables sourced from Wikileaks.

I am no longer sure whether you have been briefed/updated about this as I have my own reasons for not trusting those guys around you in government and diplomatic circles to keep you tuned to what is happening around the world --and hence this letter.

But what triggered my missive was in fact the letter by one Mr T Darmalingam from Chennai published today (19 March, 2011) in the Letters to the Editor column of the HIndu itself. (http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-opinion/article1552233.ece) To me he seems to be a particularly perspicacious gentleman and his thoughts rightly deserve some attention, and perhaps consequent action,  from you. The reader's thoughts, if you will allow me an edgewise pun, do not leak and hold water very much. Let me quote:

"...the US diplomatic staff, like their counterparts elsewhere, have a lot of spare time at their disposal. They collect plenty of gossip and pass them on to their bosses to justify their presence..."

Apparently Mr Darmalingam is one who knows very well the rarefied levels at which the diplomatic corps cavort and is somewhat of an insider when it comes to knowing first-hand how the diplomats stretch the truth somewhat just to make their reports entertaining and 'authentic' with local colour, so that the State Department would accept their raison d'etre withour demur.

I dont know much about what kind of Americans generally opt for the diplomatic services. But a comparatively "khushi" (the Brits spell it 'cushy') diplomatic junket in the East is not exactly what I would call a "bitter pill" to either a young man or woman, or to the more mature person who knows his marbles. As has been said ad nauseum, the East is East and the West is West..etc etc, and consequently it may not be easy for the average westerner to understand fully the complicated working of the Eastern (here please read Indian) mind--at the best of times, we, born and brought up and guaranteed to die or commit suicide or be killed here in this land of our fathers and father's fathers, do not understand the Indian mind!! In the light of this holy, unalloyed truth, read in conjunction with certain other truths revealed by our honourable PM in the Parliament itself yesterday, the statement of Mr Darmalingam merits closer study and analysis,and eventual acceptance.

Our most honourable PM has indicated that the so called India Cables, as leaked by Wikileaks and now published by the Hindu, are in effect fictions. The other people whose names have unfortunately been quoted in the leaked documents too have, to borrow the words of the PM himself, "stoutly denied the veracity of the contents". You know Barak, you cant dispute the honourable words of the PM of the largest democracy of this world. As the First Citizen of the most powerful democracy of the world you know it as well as we do that lies, half-/un-truths and obfuscations are anathema to those who habitually uphold the best traditions of democracy, come hell or highwater or even colossal leaks.

Let me urge you to come to the obvious but unpalatable conclusion after considering what that master sleuth Sherlock Holmes has said about particularly  trying circumstances: "....however improbable something is, it is not wholly impossible.." when all things are considered. Your diplomats, enjoying to the hilt their high life in the post-cold war era, and that too in a land (in)famous right from the days of the Raj for the charms of its dusky high society wall flowers, have been feeding you, excuse me, very tasty bits that were basically crafted with crap. If you attend a couple of parties, particularly in Delhi where the high and the mighty and those wannabes and those who imagine themselves to be the H & M throng such watering places in droves, it wouldnt be too difficult to garner a few names that mattered. The diplomats, being mostly men of high education and imagination and a great degree of resourcefulness, and highly romantic to boot, soon found that they could with ease fabricate a "serial fiction" in the best traditions of the Indian TV soaps, with intrigues galore, and send it as cables to HQ back in the US. Like the Indian housewives emoting in front of TV sets before, during and after the "serial killers", those in the State Department, in the thrall of "what is going to happen next?...will she poison the other woman??..or will he be pulled into a damning situation once the pregnancy is discovered..." etc etc, failed to see, as they say, the wood for the trees. This is my best surmise, under the circumstances.

And guess what? Diplomats know only too well that they have immunity, not only from colds, cruelty and AIDS, but from more virulent and dangerous things. They thought the boffins at the State Department knew their marbles and would play the game properly. It is plain that their confidence that the cables were never going to see the light of day emboldened them into garnishing the tales with the most salacious of intrigues and allegations and outright inventions and figments of fancy. Didnt you notice the half-smile of Mulford as he dreamily kept to his lintany of 'no comments'? He didnt deny writing those cables, but couldnt bring himself to say anything about what he thought was never going to be discussed in public. Actually the gaffe was not theirs, but you know whose.

High diplomacy is one helluva job spiced with intrigues and stuff as everybody including Mr Darmalingam knows. The prevailing cloak of mystery is what contributes to its mystique. Once the mystery is lost in the glare of public disclosure, it becomes as stale as a magic trick demo-ed step-by-step. It was the certainty that their sacrosanct cables were never going to come to light that led your diplomatic functionaries give free rein to their imagination. How on earth could someone in their right senses believe that the stalwart politicians of India, who eat, sleep and breathe democracy, and sweat and toil for the poor of the country, be 'bought' with a few dollars, so to speak??!! Stuff and nonsense, if not fiction and farce...

There is, I believe, no need to chastise those poor guys who walk the tightrope of diplomacy. Let them have their share of fun. Also, on many occasions the least said is often the best. Let the diplomatic corps continue to attract men and women of imagination and romance and send them off to exotic lands all over the world to foster 'relationships'. Come to think of it, without the charming diplomats and their parties,  this world would be a dull place indeed.

But when you do need information, and that too authentic information, it is best to rely on the old stalwarts of the "cloak and dagger and trenchcoat" brigade. Just tell them to go easy on the dagger part and make greater use of the cloak. Trenchcoats, sadly, are passe and are seen only in period movies. The three-piece suit too has lost some of its cutting edge. The trendy thing is to wear a Sherwani or such stuff and 'blend' with the 'desi' crowd or perhaps cleave into them as the Bible puts it very succinctly and play your cloak/uncloak stuff. Surely their reports are likely to be more reliable than the Booker-winning tales of your diplomats.

In one word, dont trust them for your information, though there is no harm in reading them for sheer entertainment.

Yours, as always.

--Aam Aadmi.

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II. To Her Excellency the President of India

Your Excellency,

It is with trepidation and hope that we, the average upright, law-abiding, tax-paying, non-bribe-taking, more-or-less honest citizen of India makes bold to write to you. Again, you being woman of sensibility, the Mother figure, holding this august position, gives us the courage to speak to you directly about our worries and concerns. We shall be brief.

The country as you know has been passing thorugh the "radiation belt" of scams and allegations ever since the new year dawned. The seriousness of these allegations have woken up the Supreme Temple of Justice of the land to take what action is deemed best under such circumstances.

If the scams of yesterday were primarily economic, the present transgression, if it is to be called that, is into the territory of morality and integrity. Serious allegations have surfaced as a result of the airing in public of what are called the India Cables as released by Wikileaks and published serially by the Hindu newspaper. No one in their right mind would say that the allegations are frivolous. On the other hand, if they are true, they point to absolute rottenness to the core at the highest levels of government and diplomacy, not to speak of politics.

These allegations are to be met by something more substantial than "stout denials" by the parties concerned. As the Rashtrapathi ( or shall we say, as the Rashtramatha) your concern shall be for justice and truth as it reflects on the integrity of the government and its mechanisms. We are not looking at the integrity of individuals or the innocence or lack of it of individuals. We are concerned about the manner in which the collective mechanism of government has come under a black cloud of the suspicion of serious wrongdoing.

After all, the government is an elected body of ordinary and fallible men and women. So it would be best if the government is asked to step aside for a while and undergo a litmus test for truth and probity administered by you and the Supreme Court directly. As has been pointed out in the article 'Bribery charge must now be investigated' by Siddarth Varadarajan (The Hindu, Page 10, 19 March, 2011; http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-opinion/article1552023.ece ), it would be an easy matter for our investigation agencies to 'triangulate' the various bits of information and  navigate to the very core of truth.

Rather than let the atmosphere fester with allegations and counter-allegations and truths and half-truths and what not, it would be in the interests of the Nation and its people if the truth was discovered at whatever cost and revealed before the people and the world. Such an effort would send powerful signals to the wrongdoers from within the country or without, and also give us the tools to weed out anti-democratic and anti-people practices with strong laws that call for absolute transparency and total accountabilty in government and governance.

Praying for sensible, decisive and immediate action, we remain, Madam,

Most sincerely yours,

-- Aam Aadmis

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III. To the Honourable Chief Justice of India

Your Lordship,

Permit us to place before you the copy of our missive to Her Excellency the President of India, in which we have attempted to address our concerns.

Your Lordships had recently echoed our very thoughts when in exasperation the highest Bench of Justice of this land expostulated "What the hell is happening in this country?"

My Lord, we too do not know what is happening in this country, and most of us would like an answer to that lakh-crore rupee question that is uppermost in the minds of most Indians. It is time, we believe, for an independent investigation, directly overseen by the Supreme Court of Justice of this land, to be ordered into all the murky issues that plague this nation of ours. The truth is only feared by the obsurantists and wrongdoers, but is welcomed by the citizenry at large, as your  Lordships know. The PM's pointed admission of the pressures of "coalition dharma" leaves not even the principled individual free of the taint of graft and the stench of nepotism. The current crop of "leaks" is more serious -- if there is even an iota of truth in them. The wilful erosion of democratic and sovereign values, if true, is a prospect that frightens the right-thinking citizen beyond measure.

To put this Nation back onto the rails of democracy, respectability and truth, honesty and probilty in public life calls for an immediate diagnosis of the cancer and its excision once and for all.

The last sanctuary of the honest citizen, we are convinced, is the Citadel of Justice that you command.
My Lord, we pray for Justice that should be seen to be done, with fear or favour to none.

Most truly yours,

--Aam Aadmi


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