Thursday, June 3, 2010

Tale of Two Traitors

Two incidents which unfolded recently have jolted the Indian government and shocked the public. These incidents have exposed the ugly side of the higher level of the government administrative set up.

Commodore Sukhjinder Singh, who was posted to Russia as head of the Indian team overseeing the refit and repair of aircraft carrier Admiral Gorshkov, never actually ever went to the site. Instead, he grew an “amorous relationship” with a Russian woman and spent all his time in her service.

The second incident is that of Indian diplomat Madhuri Gupta.

The Indian Navy was expecting the Russian aircraft carrier to reach Indian shores by 2008, four years after it was purchased from the Russians. The aircraft carrier Admiral Gorshkov, rechristened as INS Vikramaditya, would make the Indian navy the most powerful in this region. But this dream is put on hold due to the irresponsible behaviour and lax attitude of the man who was in charge of seeing this project through.

Both these individuals add to the long list of traitors which have been caught in the act when in government service. Highly influential and highly paid yet their greed overwhelms them and they forget their loyalty to their motherland. They deserve the same harshest punishment just as any other traitor of this country deserves.

Surprisingly, those objecting to the marriage of Sania with Shoaib Malik have adopted a criminal silence in this issue. Where has their claim of being the only patriotic community in this country gone? They must condemn it and demand the severest punishment for these inside enemies as they have put the safety of India at stake.

The Indian Navy was expecting the Russian aircraft carrier to reach Indian shores by 2008, four years after it was purchased from the Russians. The aircraft carrier Admiral Gorshkov, rechristened as INS Vikramaditya, would make the Indian navy the most powerful in this region. But this dream is put on hold due to the irresponsible behaviour and lax attitude of the man who was in charge of seeing this project through. Singh, who was sent to Russia on such an important mission, did irrepairable damage to his country and now stands accused of loose moral conduct and illicit relationship with a Russian woman.

Commodore Singh was posted as the Indian warship production superintendent overseeing Gorshkov's refit in Russia from 2005 to 2007. Besides its reassembling, many sensitive types of machinery like radars, cannons, anti aircraft guns and lazer beam guns are to be planted on the ship.

Singh had more important things on his mind and reportedly never once visited the dockyard to check over the refurbishing of the aircraft carrier. The defence ministry was misinformed every time there was an enquiry about the progress of this assignment. All this while he kept himself busy checking out women of that country. All his extravagant spending were adjusted in the expenses towards refurbishing the ship.

Singh had more important things on his mind and reportedly never once visited the dockyard to check over the refurbishing of the aircraft carrier. The defence ministry was misinformed every time there was an enquiry about the progress of this assignment. All this while he kept himself busy checking out women of that country. All his extravagant spending were adjusted in the expenses towards refurbishing the ship. This has been revealed in a Board of Inquiry report by the Navy which was initiated when the Navy received "objectionable" photographs of the officer along with Russian woman.

Due to the delay in its refurbishment process, the delivery of the aircraft carrier has been rescheduled for 2012 and on a much higher price.

The original agreement with the Russians was for $974 million for the carrier's refurbishment and upgrade, Gorshkov itself being offered free of cost. The delivery was then set for August 2008. Now India will have to pay a total of $2.3 billion for the same 45,000-tonne ship. Rising prices of oil, which is used during the trials and increase in the cost of arms, are among some of the reasons quoted for this second revision of the Gorshkov cost. Whether Singh was deliberately used by the Russians to raise the final price of the ship and whether he is getting any benefit from this is also being probed.

Though it is still unconfirmed what secrets she passed on to Pakistan, there is reason to assume that the documents she shared were of importance.

The second tale of personal gratification at the expense of national interest is as mentioned earlier, of Madhuri Gupta. According to reports, her external affairs with an ISI agent compromised India’s strategic plans. She partially leaked India's strategic plans in Afghanistan to her Pakistani friend.

Ms. Gupta was posted as the Secondary Secretary with the Press and Information Wing of the Indian High Commission in Islamabad. She was recently promoted from Urdu interpreter to secondary secretary. Gupta was allegedly meeting Pakistani ISI officers and also sent emails to her Pakistani handlers from fake accounts. Earlier she had postings in Baghdad, Kuala Lumpur and the UN mission in Africa.

Though it is still unconfirmed what secrets she passed on to Pakistan, there is reason to assume that the documents she shared were of importance. The common innocent citizen, who is only concerned with feeding his family and living with dignity and has no capacity to harm the country is harassed by intelligence agencies. Whereas these government servants sell their motherland for sex and money.
Gupta had reportedly come under the radar of the Indian intelligence agencies after she allegedly started taking interest in matters beyond her brief. Convinced that she had purportedly been passing on secret information to a Pakistani handler, the authorities called her to Delhi under the pretext of holding discussions.

Subsequently, she was arrested by the Special Cell of the Delhi Police. She has been booked under the Official Secrets Act 1923. The Act is India's anti-espionage act and deals with any action which involves helping an enemy state against India. It also states that one cannot approach, inspect, or even pass over a prohibited overnment site or area. According to this Act, helping the enemy state can be in the form of communicating a sketch, plan, model of an official secret, or of official codes or passwords, to the enemy. The maximum punishment under this is 14 years.

However, Madhuri's lawyer Joginder Dahia said she had told him that she is innocent and is being framed in the espionage case. "I have been framed in this case and I am innocent," she told the lawyer.

Contradicting her earlier claims of innocence she also said that she did this not for money but to teach the IFS a lesson and because ISI agent Rana was her friend. According to a police official, unmarried Gupta, also said that she was not a senior officer and could not have passed on sensitive information to her contacts in Pakistan. But she said she had revealed the identities of Indian undercover agents in Pakistan.

However, Madhuri's lawyer Joginder Dahia said she had told him that she is innocent and is being framed in the espionage case. "I have been framed in this case and I am innocent," she told the lawyer.

The government says that both Singh and Gupta will be meted out the toughest punishment as an example to others. But this is what the government always says. Why does it react only after the damage is done. Indian embassy staff behaving in this once outside the country is nothing new. Loyalty for the country is only in the speeches of politicians.

The blame game is on. Rumours have been sent out stating that Gupta had long ago accepted Islam. What message does the media want to convey through this unauthenticated information is not clear but a common man, after reading this news, thinks that the reason behind her treachery was that she was a Muslim. It is said that she has relations with a well to do Muslim family from Lucknow but does that make her a muslim. Is this the time to create an image of her being a Muslim or a non-Muslim. Being a traitor to your motherland is unforgivable. Media should be unbiased in reporting these sensitive news. If it tries to sensationalise the news it is betraying the country a second time.

About 10 more officers are being questioned in the spying scandal. The question is how a secretary level officer managed to get in contact with an ISI high ranking officer like Rana without being noticed by the Indian intelligence. If it was only love, even then how was it possible while employees at the high commission are bound to inform their seniors before going anywhere or meeting any person. Are there other senior officials involved as well?


By: Staff Writer

No comments:

Post a Comment