Analysis
How far can We Trust Sites like WikiLeaks?
For the people associated with media and for millions of internet users who are even little aware of the happenings going around the world and especially in the world of cyber space, WikiLeaks has become quite a familiar name and as a website, one of the most sought after domain in the history of web world.
As WikiLeaks was formed in 2006 as an international non-profit organization that has been publishing news related with the secret documents from various world governments after getting a peek inside the most protective classified records varying from intelligence to military, revenue to banking secrets etc. and has been making stir from time to time in various nations right from the United States of America to this Asian sub-continent called India.
The recent disclosure by WikiLeaks has once again created stir in the Indian Parliament when the website disclosed that money was exchanged in 2008 to save the UPA-I government over nuke-dispute when the Left withdrew its support and the government survived because Member of Parliament from Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) of Chaudhary Ajit Singh were given 10 crore each. As soon as this report was made public by the web site, the house witnessed pandemonium and there were noisy scenes going on inside the Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha as well. Leader of opposition in Rajya Sabha, Arun Jaitley (BJP) spared no moment in calling it a shame and asked the government to come out clean on the issue. He also asked for the Prime Minister to resign on moral grounds. Arun Jaitley also accused Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee of the “cover up” on the issue.
While defending the Prime Minister, Pranab Mukherjee said the government can’t accept or deny the charges as made by the cable and there was no way of going into the authenticity of the charged that money was paid in 2008 to save the government. Mr. Mukherjee also pointed out that the present government was not responsible for the happenings of 2008 as the previous term of the Lok Sabha expired in 2009, and it was a new government which can comment and answer on the issues related with this Lok Sabha. Pranab Mukherjee also asked whether the facts revealed by the website could be admissible in the court of law in India.
Meanwhile, while talking to sections of media outside the Parliament Congress leader Rajeev Shukla and BJP leader Shahnawaz Hussain attacked each other parties as usual. Rajeev Shukla while defending his party said there was no question of PM putting his resignation and the facts are very much different to what WikiLeaks has printed. As we all know and the records can well establish the facts that all the RLD MPs then did not voted in favour of the UPA-I and they all voted against the government along with the NDA (National Democratic Alliance). So if money was paid to them by the Congress then why they voted against the party wishes? BJP leader Shahnawaz Hussain said the government has lost on moral grounds and that the PM should resign.
In the Lok Sabha, leader of opposition Sushma Swaraj said the WikiLeaks report has brought shame to the nation. Earlier also the WikiLeaks had published some cables on Indo-US nuclear deal in which Congress leaders were also named that several crore were paid to them to see the nuke deal gets through in the Parliament in order to please the then US president George W Bush.
Now there has been a lot of debate going on in India on the disclosures made by the WikiLeaks, but how far can we trust the authenticity of these revelations, is a big question. Can we trust these websites blindly or should be use our common sense in order to see what is right and what is wrong in the larger interest of the nation.
17-Mar-2011
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Ratan Sharga
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