Opinion Day of the WikiLeaks

India is not spared either. Doubts are cast on the capability of the Indian armed forces and there is a disparaging reference by Hillary Clinton to India as a self-appointed forerunner for a permanent seat in the UN Security Council.

Many countries affected by the disclosures including India have played them down and adopted a prudent diplomatic approach. The worrying part is that disclosure of details of counter-terrorism measures jointly undertaken with foreign countries,and disclosure of names of persons involved in counter-intelligence could be very harmful and also risk the lives of the persons involved.

There is a humourous side to the leaks. For example,the description of French President Sarkozy “as an emperor without clothes”,Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi’s comments in July 2009 describing Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari as “dirty but not dangerous” and former prime minister Nawaz Sharif as “dangerous but not dirty” and the perception that Italian premier Silvio Berlusconi is not getting sufficient rest because of his frequent late nights and penchant for partying hard. Describing Iranian President as Hitler is no big deal,nor is there any serious danger to international relations by the disclosure that Libyan leader Gaddafi’s personal nurse is a “voluptuous” Ukranian blonde.

Fascism on the rise

The ideas and views of Mirwaiz Farooq,Geelani and Lone may be untenable and objectionable. But it is more objectionable to rough them up at seminars and other functions and thereby prevent them from expressing their views. The proper course is to rebut their ideology with cogent arguments and material and expose the hollowness of their ideas. Use of violence against speakers and disruption of meetings are fascist methods and in a democratic country which respects the rule of law that is entirely impermissible. This fascist trend is on the rise as is evident from the methods employed by Shiv Sena in Maharashtra. If this trend is not curbed stringently it will undermine our democracy,whose hallmark is that a dissenter should be free to express his views and there must be freedom also for the thought we hate provided of course there is no incitement to violence for forcible overthrow of the State. We should always remember the memorable words of Justice Chinnappa Reddy: “Our tradition teaches tolerance; our philosophy preaches tolerance; our Constitution practices tolerance. Let none dilute it”.

Election of judges

The undesirability of the system of election of judges and its adverse effect on judicial independence is borne out by the fact that three state supreme court justices in the US whose 2009 judgments legalised same-sex marriage have been rejected by voters. The election came after a bitter campaign against activist judges and was the first time that the state’s top judges failed to get the 50 per cent ‘yes’ vote needed to keep their jobs. In a statement issued,the three judges said that throughout their judicial service they adhered to the rule of law and made decisions fairly and impartially according to the law and the Constitution. The statement warned against the politicisation of the judiciary following an unprecedented attack funded by our-of-state special interest groups. Curiously the judges whilst affirming that fair and impartial courts require judges of integrity and fortitude said that judges also require the fervent and steadfast support of the people. And therein lies a paradox and the danger.