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| Ebullient Jethmalani drops the brick | | Jaswant's tale of 'mole' puts BJP in a hole | |
B L KAK
NEW DELHI, JULY 31: The BJP stalwart and former Union Minister, Jaswant Singh, has maintained enigmatic silence over the identity of the 'mole' in the Prime Minister's Ofice (PMO) during the PV Narasimha Rao government. One day he insisted that he would divulge the information to the present Prime Minister alone. Next Day he came out with a story for the media that he had communicated to Manmohan Singh identity of the 'mole'. And the day that followed had only moments of embarrassment for both Jaswant Singh and his BJP.
With the official disclosure on Sunday, July 30, that Jaswant Singh had not, in his letter to the Prime Minister, named the spy, the embarrasment for BJP depeened by the day. And quite expectedly the heated discussion over the question: Can Jaswant Singh be allowed to get away without naming the 'mole'? Jaswant Singh, who is also Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha, continues to kep his own counsel over the person alluded to him as an American 'mole' in the PMO of PV Narasimha Rao.
Jaswant Singh's book, 'A Call to Honour', has had the best possible pre-release and post- release publicity, but the same cannot be said of the BJP. Members of the BJP think-tank have yet to offer convincing answers to yet another important question: How could Jaswant Singh virtually place half-a-dozen former civil servants under the cloud of suspicion and then leave the matter hanging?
At a time when Jaswant Singh seems keen to defend himself, Ram Jethmalani, eminent lawyer and Rajya Sabha member, has dropped the brick, proclaiming that he (Jaswant) has committed a "criminal offence" by not revealing the name of the alleged mole in the PMO several years earlier. Jethmalani has takers for his words conveyed to Jaswant Singh in writing: "It was your plain duty to denounce the mole to the police authorities. This was your plain duty as a normal citizen under Section 41 of the Code of Criminal procedure. While you were writng your book, you were committing a criminal offence from day to day under Section 176 of the Penal Code".
Congress circles cannot be faulted for the way they arfe thoroughly enjoying the BJP's discomfiture as well as the opportunity to pull the BJP leader down a peg or two. There is, within the BJP, both concern and consternation over the maner in which a 'frivolous' issue has managed to hold political centrestage. Worse still, the RSS mouthpiece, Organiser, has described the Kandahar hijack issue and the then NDA government's response as "shameful". The RSS organ has in an editorial also questioned the timing of the release of Jaswant Singh's book.
In the book, Jaswant Singh recalls that after his return from Kandahar he celebrated with champagne. He revealed that he invited officials of the External Affairs Ministry to drink champagne at his home in New Delhi on his return from Kandahar on December 31 after securing the release of the passengers and crew in exchange for three terrorists held in Indian jails.
The Organiser editorial accused the governments led by former Prime Ministers HD Deve Gowda, IK Gujral and Atal Behari Vajpayee of "soft-pedalling" on terrorism and making Kashmir an international issue. The RSS moutnpiece has questioned the timing of the release of the bok and the controversies it created on various issues, ranging from the Kandahar hijack to an American mole in the former Prime Minister PV Narasimha Rao's government.
Jaswant Singh has never been in the good boks of the RSS. In his book, Jaswant Singh recalls the Sangh Parivar's opposition to inducting him into the Union Cabinet after he lost the Lok Sabha elections in 1998. Without identifying the RSS, Jaswant Singh writes in the book: "I was again to be sworn into the office, but could not be immediately, due to a last minute difficulty. This arose from the objection being raised suddenly from senior and responsible quarters about my inclusion in the ministerial ranks. When informned...I immediately stepped back".
Giving a new twist, on Monday, July 31, to the whole 'US mole in the PMO' controversy, Jaswant Singh revealed that he had no further information to give on the matter after handing over letters in his possesion to Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh. Jaswant Singh told members of the Rajya Sabha that he had mentioned in the letter that he conveyed all that he had on the issue to the PM, and added that he had also forwared a note to the Chairman of the Rajya Sabha and the country's Vice-President, Bhairon Singh Shekhawat, saying that he is willing to make a statement in the Upper House on the issue if required.
"I am willing to respond to any query that the honourable members of this House have but if the queries are to be answered, may I request Sir that the queries be raised in an orderly manner at an appropriate time that you can decide. I have no difficulty whatsoever in responding to anything that the House wishes to have clarification but I do wish to because it is a serious ssue," Jaswant Singh said. "I had not intended to, I do not intend it to be sentsationalised. I appeal to the House that raise your queries by all means and do me the courtesy by listening to what I have to say and also restrain. Any time that you decide, in any session that you decide, whatever queries are raised I am ready to answer all of them,"he added.
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