Rafale exposé

The Central Government’s stand in the Supreme Court, on the Rafale deal, on the ground that the documents on which it is based were ‘stolen’ is untenable. So long as the authenticity of the documents is not challenged, how they came into the hands of the press is irrelevant in a vast majority of cases. Let’s also remember that today’s government was yesterday’s Opposition, and that in its earlier avatar, it took the then government to task on the basis of numerous press reports based on ‘leaked’ documents. The AgustaWestland case, for example, saw a blizzard of leaked papers.

Secunderabad

The whistle-blower who made available the ‘secret documents’ must have done it after being thoroughly convinced that it was a murky deal and disappointed over the way the government has been trying to bury the hard facts. In my opinion, the one who has taken such a grave risk to bring out the truth and expose the government for its suspicious involvement in the deal must be a true nationalist.

Chennai

The issue in the deal is that there has been avoidable financial loss; there is no official secret about this fact. Every Indian is entitled to know what his government is doing and he has the right to question/criticise his rulers. The BJP has a mindset that no one should oppose its writ. This newspaper has done the job courageously with all one can expect from ethical journalism.

Chennai

I came across a Reuters report, published in The Fiji Times (March 8), headlined “India may prosecute newspaper under secrets act over Rafale documents”. It is the job of good journalism to hold power to account in its public watchdog role to ensure the conduct of any government transaction is above board, and consistent with the public good. When big government contracts are undertaken, it is not uncommon for wheeling and dealing to occur, involving influential corporations. It is also not uncommon for the state to use the threat of prosecution to forestall any questioning or criticism. The Hindu has not divulged any state secrets. All it was doing was to make sure there is no secrecy surrounding this big government military hardware deal. The daily should be applauded for doing its job diligently. It is a shame that it has been threatened with state persecution instead.

Glenfield, Sydney, Australia

For the Attorney General to belatedly assert that “secret documents” had been “stolen” from government custody is to tacitly admit that the documents are in fact genuine, and worse, that the government has been woefully lax in safeguarding such important documents. This is an absolutely inept way to handle the issue, with elections just around the corner. It betrays the total disarray among the crisis managers in government on how to tackle the issue. They need to douse the fire rather than ignite it even more. The cartoon (OpEd page, March 8) captures the irony.

Chennai

While there is nothing ostensibly wrong with The Hindu’s stand on disclosure of sensitive documents for the public good in this particular instance, the only solid argument in the daily’s favour is its stellar record of journalistic integrity. This, however, cannot be set as a precedent, considering how vulnerable prudence and restraint are to the pressures of competitive journalism.

Aravind S.,

Thiruvananthapuram