Opinion Wrong targets

“The manner in which it is handling the date of birth controversy involving the army chief and the callousness with which it has besmirched the image of our nation’s top scientists have not come as a surprise. After all,we have a prime minister who does not tire repeating that he would quit the moment Rahul Gandhi so much as indicates he wants the chair”,says the Organiser lead editorial.

It hints that one of the reasons the army chief is being targeted on the age issue is because he has tried to intervene in defence deals. “The unprecedented number and amount of defence deals signed under the UPA are being linked with the controversy. It is being increasingly seen as V.K. Singh being too upright for the comfort of the dealmakers inside and outside the government,especially the Congress party,” it says,and adds that in such a situation,President Pratibha Patil should speak her mind to the government,in confidence.

The Organiser also defends Madhavan Nair,saying the government has humiliated the acclaimed scientist by issuing the public order debarring him from taking up government positions. “If the scientific community in the ISRO had committed an error of judgment,it needs to be rectified,but that cannot take the form of personal,whimsical indictment of people who served the nation well all their lives. And the PMO has to share the blame for any wrongdoing. Clearly the government is looking for scapegoats” the article says.

Licence test

The Panchjanya,in its lead editorial,has said that the Supreme Court’s scrapping of 122 licences relating to 2G spectrum has put the Manmohan Singh government in the dock. The article claims that the court clearly said that the government was not transparent and failed to play by the rules in the allocation of 2G spectrum to private players.

However,those in government continue to claim innocence,the article says,with telecom minister Kapil Sibal foremost among them stating that it was all A. Raja’s doing and that the UPA cannot be blamed. This is the same minister who had earlier propagated a zero loss theory after rejecting the CAG’s figure of 1.7 lakh crore loss,the Panchjanya says. “If the government’s record was clean,they why did the court scrap the 122 licences?” it asks. The cancellation of the licences clearly means that guidelines and policies were not followed properly while then were being alloted and huge bribes had exchanged hands. “Neither the prime minister nor the then finance minister,P. Chidambaram,can distance themselves from this issue. Both are as culpable as the then telecom minister,A. Raja,” says the Panchjanya.

Compiled by Swaraj Thapa