India’s
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh helped
set his country on the path to modernity, prosperity and power, but critics say
the shy, soft-spoken 79-year-old is in danger of going down in history as a failure.
The
architect of India’s
economic reforms, Singh was a major force behind his country’s rapprochement
with the United States and is a respected figure on the world stage. President
Obama’s aides used to boast of his tremendous rapport and friendship
with Singh.
But
the image of the scrupulously honorable, humble and intellectual technocrat has
slowly given way to a completely different one: a dithering, ineffectual
bureaucrat presiding over a deeply corrupt government. Every
day for the past two weeks, India’s Parliament has been adjourned as the
opposition bays for Singh’s resignation over allegations of waste and
corruption in the allocation of coal-mining concessions.
The
story of Singh’s dramatic
fall from grace in
his second term in office and the slow but steady tarnishing of his reputation
has played out in parallel with his country’s decline on his watch. As India’s
economy has slowed and as its reputation
for rampant corruption has reasserted itself, the idea that the
country was on an inexorable road to becoming a global power has increasingly
come into question.
“More
and more, he has become a tragic figure in our history,” said political
historian Ramachandra Guha. The historian told the Caravan, an Indian magazine,
last year that Singh had been fatally handicapped by “timidity, complacency and
intellectual dishonesty.’’
The
irony is that Singh’s greatest selling points — his incorruptibility and
economic experience — are the mirror image of his government’s greatest
failings.
Under
Singh, economic reforms have stalled, growth has slowed sharply and the rupee
has collapsed. But just as damaging to his reputation is the accusation
that he looked the other way and remained silent as his cabinet colleagues
filled their own pockets. In
the process, he transformed himself from an object of respect to one of
ridicule and endured the worst period in his life, Sanjaya Baru, Singh’s media
adviser during his first term, said in a 2011 interview with the Caravan. In a
telephone conversation, Baru said his sentiments had not changed.
Attendees
at meetings and conferences were jokingly urged to put their phones into
“Manmohan Singh mode,” while one joke cited a dentist urging the seated prime
minister, “At least in my clinic, please open your mouth.”
Singh
finally did open his mouth last week, to rebut criticism from the government
auditor that the national treasury had been cheated of billions of dollars
after coal-mining concessions were granted to private companies for a pittance
— including during a five-year period when Singh doubled as coal minister.
Singh
denied that there was “any impropriety,” but he was drowned out by catcalls
when he attempted to address Parliament on the issue. His brief statement to
the media afterward appeared to do little to change the impression of a man
whose aloofness from the rough-and-tumble of Indian politics has been
transformed from an asset into a liability.
Indian prime minister’s office responds to
Washington Post’s profile on Manmohan Singh
By Anup Kaphle
The office of India’s prime minister objected to The Washington Post’s front-page
article, published Sept. 5, 2012, on Manmohan
Singh’s evolution as a leader.
The following is a letter from the Prime Minister’s office:
Dear Simon,
We do not complain about criticism of the government which is a
journalist’s right. But I am writing this letter for pointing out unethical and
unprofessional conduct at your part.
I would like to put on record my complaint about your article which was
published today on many counts:
— Despite all lines of conversations open, you never got in touch with
us for our side of the story though you regularly talk to me about information
from the PMO. This story thus becomes totally one sided.
— You have been telling the media here in India that your request for an
interview was declined though the mail below says clearly that the interview
was declined “till the Monsoon Session” of the Parliament which gets over in
two days.
— When I rang you up to point this out, you said sorry twice though you
tell the media here that you never apologised.
— Your website where we could have posted a reply is still not working,
11 hours after you said sorry the third time for its inaccessibility.
— The former Media Adviser to the PM Dr Sanjaya Baru has complained that
you “rehashed and used” an 8 month old quote from an Indian Magazine.
We expected better from the correspondent of the Washington Post for
fair and unbiased reporting.
Without going into your one sided assessment of the Prime Minister’s
performance, as comment is free in journalism, I hope you will carry this
communication in full in your paper and your website so your readers can judge
for themselves what is the truth.
Sincerely
Pankaj Pachauri
Communications Adviser to the Prime Minister’s Office
The Washington Post’s front-page article, published Sept. 5, 2012, on Manmohan Singh’s evolution as a leader.
The views expressed and Information provided
by the authors are their own and left to public to judge and rationalise for
themselves.
Washingtonpost has told the truth..
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