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Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi and the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party are buoyant over the WikiLeaks revelations, as reported in The Hindu on Tuesday, suggesting that the U.S. was “recognising” the “fast-paced developments” in the State.
Mr. Modi was happy about U.S. Consul-General in Mumbai Michael S. Owen describing him as an “incorruptible” leader. “It is one thing to describe someone as non-corrupt and quite another to be told that he or she is incorruptible. It feels great to be described as incorruptible,” Mr. Modi told journalists on the sidelines of a seminar on “Water for inclusive growth” held on the occasion of World Water Day here.
He said he was happy that at a time when other WikiLeaks reports had raised accusing fingers against the Congress-led UPA government at the Centre, the cables described the Gujarat administration under him as “corruption-free” and attributed the State's development to this aspect.
Mr. Modi was also happy that the U.S. Consul-General reported “faithfully and correctly” the details of the meeting he had with Mr. Owen in November 2006. “When he broached the subject of alleged human rights violations in Gujarat in 2002, I looked straight into his eyes and told him that at least the U.S. is not competent to teach me about human rights. I told him that I am a proud son of India where human rights are highly honoured and recounted a list of instances where the U.S. had blatantly violated human rights. It is nice on Mr. Owen's part that he had reported this to his higher-ups faithfully and correctly as revealed from the WikiLeaks,” Mr. Modi said.
Asked whether he considered the cables on the Gujarat riots and such other issues as U.S. interference in the internal matters of the country, Mr. Modi said the question should be directed at the Central government.
“U.S. keen on ties”
State Cabinet spokesman and Health Minister Jaynarayan Vyas said the revelations proved that the U.S. was not only “repenting” the “mistake” of not granting Mr. Modi a visa but had also showed keenness to try to improve relations with the Chief Minister. “Now has the U.S. started realising the reality,” he said.
BJP spokesman Vijay Rupani said the WikiLeaks reports would propel Mr. Modi into the national stage. The reports showed the importance the U.S. attached to the Gujarat Chief Minister as a prospective national leader. “This has become a matter of pride for us.”
Leader of the Opposition in the Assembly Shaktisinh Gohil, however, described Mr. Modi's “interpretations” of the WikiLeaks as “day-dreaming” and said the Chief Minister was deliberately “misreading” the reports to mislead the people in the State.
“Now that he has realised that he cannot get a good conduct certificate from the people of Gujarat, he is trying to get “bogus certificates” from outside,” Mr. Gohil said. At no stage had the U.S. Consul-General described Mr. Modi as “incorruptible” and only stated that corruption at the lower levels of the administration had been considerably reduced. The same cable mentioned that at the higher levels and particularly in relation to the big industrial houses, “corruption had increased manifold,” Mr. Gohil claimed.
Human rights activists and other non-governmental organisations also refused to attach much significance to the WikiLeaks reports. “They merely show that the U.S. is concerned about his rise. Had the U.S. been really warming to him, they would have lifted the embargo on him,” Fr. Cedric Prakash, human rights activist and director of the voluntary organisation, Prashant, said.
Mr. Modi was happy about U.S. Consul-General in Mumbai Michael S. Owen describing him as an “incorruptible” leader. “It is one thing to describe someone as non-corrupt and quite another to be told that he or she is incorruptible. It feels great to be described as incorruptible,” Mr. Modi told journalists on the sidelines of a seminar on “Water for inclusive growth” held on the occasion of World Water Day here.
He said he was happy that at a time when other WikiLeaks reports had raised accusing fingers against the Congress-led UPA government at the Centre, the cables described the Gujarat administration under him as “corruption-free” and attributed the State's development to this aspect.
Mr. Modi was also happy that the U.S. Consul-General reported “faithfully and correctly” the details of the meeting he had with Mr. Owen in November 2006. “When he broached the subject of alleged human rights violations in Gujarat in 2002, I looked straight into his eyes and told him that at least the U.S. is not competent to teach me about human rights. I told him that I am a proud son of India where human rights are highly honoured and recounted a list of instances where the U.S. had blatantly violated human rights. It is nice on Mr. Owen's part that he had reported this to his higher-ups faithfully and correctly as revealed from the WikiLeaks,” Mr. Modi said.
Asked whether he considered the cables on the Gujarat riots and such other issues as U.S. interference in the internal matters of the country, Mr. Modi said the question should be directed at the Central government.
“U.S. keen on ties”
State Cabinet spokesman and Health Minister Jaynarayan Vyas said the revelations proved that the U.S. was not only “repenting” the “mistake” of not granting Mr. Modi a visa but had also showed keenness to try to improve relations with the Chief Minister. “Now has the U.S. started realising the reality,” he said.
BJP spokesman Vijay Rupani said the WikiLeaks reports would propel Mr. Modi into the national stage. The reports showed the importance the U.S. attached to the Gujarat Chief Minister as a prospective national leader. “This has become a matter of pride for us.”
Leader of the Opposition in the Assembly Shaktisinh Gohil, however, described Mr. Modi's “interpretations” of the WikiLeaks as “day-dreaming” and said the Chief Minister was deliberately “misreading” the reports to mislead the people in the State.
“Now that he has realised that he cannot get a good conduct certificate from the people of Gujarat, he is trying to get “bogus certificates” from outside,” Mr. Gohil said. At no stage had the U.S. Consul-General described Mr. Modi as “incorruptible” and only stated that corruption at the lower levels of the administration had been considerably reduced. The same cable mentioned that at the higher levels and particularly in relation to the big industrial houses, “corruption had increased manifold,” Mr. Gohil claimed.
Human rights activists and other non-governmental organisations also refused to attach much significance to the WikiLeaks reports. “They merely show that the U.S. is concerned about his rise. Had the U.S. been really warming to him, they would have lifted the embargo on him,” Fr. Cedric Prakash, human rights activist and director of the voluntary organisation, Prashant, said.