Burying Bofors
As I was clearing my backlog of articles from past few weeks, I chanced upon this interview of Digvijay Singh by Karan Thapar.
Read the excerpts against the backdrop of events leading up to the elections and the 2009 mandate to Congress (I)…and you will see why I chose the title of the post.
*** Excerpts from Devil’s Advocate: Digvijay on what if Cong loses ***
Karan Thapar: The revelation that your government has withdrawn the red corner notice against the Bofors scam accused Ottavio Quattrocchi, is an embarrassment. What justification you can have for this blatant attempt to help a man who is a fugitive from the Indian justice?
Digvijay Singh: First of all let me confess that I am not a legal person and therefore I don’t understand the nuances of the Quattrocchi case or the legality of the Bofors case. I am a political man and therefore I would like to answer politically.
Bofors case has been pending since 1986-87. Successive governments came and gone. If they had something in this case why didn’t they file a chargesheet, why didn’t they make it public, what is there to hide?
.
Karan Thapar: Let me tell you the facts of the case. The CBI believes that they have documentary proof given by the authorities that proves that he is a recipient of kickbacks from Bofors, he has been chargesheeted an Indian court, he has a warrant of arrest against himself since 1997, he has been absconding from Indian justice and you have attempted so many times to get him back but now suddenly you have decided to throw him in the towel.
Digvijay Singh: Why would we be interested? Why would we support Quattrocchi? I fail to understand. We are interested only when there is a case against Rajiv Gandhi, why is Quattrocchi linked with us?
Karan Thapar: Quattrocchi is being linked with you (Congress) because he was a very close friend of the Gandhi family during 1980s. He is an Italian and there is a lot of suspicion that it is under the influence of Sonia Gandhi the Congress party is bending over backwards to help him.
Digvijay Singh: It is very unfair on your part to say all this. Mr Jogendra Singh was the CBI chief in the mid 90s. Since then for six years India had a NDA government, what made them not go ahead with the Bofors case.
Karan Thapar: Let me answer that as well. Under the NDA four attempts were made in the Malaysian courts to extradite him (Quattrocchi) but unfortunately it was turned down by the Malaysian courts. But after it was turned down by the Malaysian high court turned it down and it (NDA government) could appeal in the supreme court, he absconded from Malaysia. He is now gone to Italy and the government refuses to extradite a citizens to India.
As long as the red corner notice was active, Quattrocchi would have lived with this fear that whichever country he might visit that country might extradite him to India and you could have brought him to justice. Now, by removing that red corner notice, that one fear he had is gone. You have done that one thing for him, you have made him a free man?
Digvijay Singh: Why are you blaming the Congress or the UPA Government for it. The autonomy of the CBI is well known. We have not been interfering in this case. The NDA government failed to chargesheet him, extradite him.
Karan Thapar: He was chargesheeted in the 1990s, long before the NDA government came into the power; the arrest warrant was issued against him in 1997, again before the NDA government came into power and in fact much of it happened when Narsimha Rao – a Congress prime minister was in office.
Digvijay Singh: Then why you blaming the Congress for it?
Karan Thapar: Because if you look at the history of Quattroacchi’s history under the last fives of Dr Manmohan Singh, there are three instances where the Congress bended over backwards to help him. In 2004 you deliberately chose not to appeal against the Delhi High Court judgment in the Supreme Court, in 2005 you in fact gave evidences that his frozen accounts in London were released and you even told the crown prosecutor in England that there were no cases against him. Again in 2007 when his extradition from Argentina was bungled the Government chose not to appeal in the Argentina high court. There is a clear pattern one after the other of helping Quattrocchi.
Digvijay Singh: I told you earlier that I don’t know the legal nuances of this case. But one thing that I know is that if there were a corruption charges against Rajiv Gandhi no one has been able to prove, his name doesn’t figure out anywhere. We have nothing to do with Quattrocchi.
Karan Thapar: His (Rajiv Gandhi) name was on the chargesheet which was dropped after his death. Now lets come to political implications.
*** End of Excerpts ***
Read the interview in full here.
Related Posts: Did someone say it is “election season”?
W’end Links: Celeb Crusades, Armed Intrusion, Bofors
Somewhat related post: B Raman on Musharraf, Kargil and lies…
Shantanu,
Thapar bullying Digvijay Singh is one thing. But why is Karan Thapar not asking the same questions to say MMS or Sonia?
The hypocrisy of the Indian media has reached ridiculous levels. For all the faults of George Bush, he at least gave a few interviews where he was grilled by the press.
How many real interviews has Sonia or boy wonder Rahul given?
The public deserves to know the truth. But unless they demand the media ask the real questions how will that happen?
Hon Defence Minister Sh A K Antony:
I am reminded of a word called “selective amnesia”
***
DD: why is Karan Thapar not asking the same questions to say MMS or Sonia?
That would be the day.
What is shocking in the whole episode is how the likes of Arun Shourie, Arun Jaitley, V P Singh and others who built their political careers on the Bofors scandal have milked the issues each time there is elections. When in power, they had the might of Indian govt to have brough the people involved to justice.
But rather than bring those involved to justice, the leading lights of the movement against Bofors were busy targetting Rajiv Gandhi for perceived links to Ottovio Quottrochi. Also they went on to give Arun Nehru a ticket to contest from Rae Bareily, this is the person many in Congress hold responsible for the fiasco and to have back stabbed Rajiv Gandhi. Also to note why is the media and the opposition dont take cognisance of the fact that Arun Singh who was the then Defence minister and V P Singh have made statements to the effect that they never though Rajiv was involved personally. V P Singh went to the extent in his later years to say, he targetted Rajiv as he was the PM and it was nothing personal and also he felt that Rajiv would never have taken kickbacks and it was his personal view.
Like everyone, i like to know the truth and bring people to justice, but what i am against is to milk the issue each time there is an election. To be very true people of India are fed up with the opposition politicians. From 1989 to 2009 Congress has been in power for 9 yrs and opposition in power for the remaining part. Of the 9yrs of Congress rule 4-5yrs had no memeber from Nehru-Gandhi family in politics, so if there was enough evidence and clearly there was a political will amongst the opposition to bring those involved with Bofors scam to justice, why did BJP leading members who were Law minister and minister for disinvestments and an ex-PM did not do anything?? This says something about the moral bankruptancy.
I still maintain, truth needs to be brought out, but to be very true, i am not bothered as evey one of those alleged suspects in the scam barring Qutorochi are dead.
What i am clearly against is targetting Nehru-Gandhi family for the mere link with Qutrochi. Neither am i naive, but if you feel it is a navie point, then i would say please prove that Quttrochi did pay money and trace it to Nehru-Gandhi family. UNtill proven guilt dont pass judgements on the issue or accuse one.
This one by Rajinder Puri
Hope you can access it.
http://outlookindia.com/full.asp?fodname=20090428&fname=puri&sid=1
well said Ashwin… we need a judicial revamp to fast track such cases… not to drag them for 20 years…
Avinash: Thanks for reminding me of this link. I am posting excerpts from this article below… They make for some shocking reading…Read on:
Excerpts from Is Sonia Above Questioning? by Rajinder Puri.
…If the BJP is serious about fighting corruption there is no dearth of issues. Take one glaring example.
On August 15, 2006 this scribe wrote: “Dr. Yevgeniya Albats is a Soviet journalist who …was appointed as member of the official KGB Commission set up by President Yeltsin in 1991. She had full access to secret files of the KGB. She authored a book, The State within a State: KGB and Its Hold on Russia …. Dr. Albats disclosed in her book that KGB chief Victor Chebrikov in December 1985 had sought in writing from the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU), ‘authorization to make payments in US dollars to the family members of Mr. Rajiv Gandhi, namely Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi and Ms Paola Maino, mother of Sonia Gandhi.’ CPSU payments were authorized by a resolution, CPSU/CC/No 11228/3 dated 20/12/1985; and endorsed by the USSR Council of Ministers in Directive No. 2633/Rs dated 20/12/1985. These payments had been coming since 1971, as payments received by Sonia Gandhi’s family, and ‘have been audited in CPSU/CC resolution No. 11187/22 OP dated 10/12/1984.’
In 1992 the media confronted the Russian government with the Albats disclosure. The Russian government confirmed the veracity of the disclosure and defended it as necessary for ‘Soviet ideological interest’. The Hindu of July 4, 1992 carried this report….In November 1991 the respected Swiss magazine, Schweitzer Illustrate, published a report alleging that Rajiv Gandhi had 2.5 billion Swiss francs, equivalent roughly to two billion US dollars, in numbered Swiss bank accounts….Surely, Mrs. Sonia Gandhi owes herself and the nation an emphatic and effective rebuttal of the Albats charges?
On November 8 2006 I again wrote: “…Until now there has been only deafening silence from Mrs. Gandhi and the Congress party….If the Albats allegation published in a reputed research book is false, Mrs. Sonia Gandhi should promptly deny it. Otherwise, her silence could be perceived as assent.”
The government remained silent. But so did all the opposition parties! Why? Are the opposition leaders themselves also vulnerable and compelled to maintain discreet silence? Draw your own conclusions.
*** Excerpts End ***
@ Ashwin: Like many others, I doubt if the Late Rajiv Gandhi personally benefitted from Bofors.
The question then is where did the money go?
As for milking the issue at election-time, well that is democracy for you.
You say …to be very true, i am not bothered as every one of those alleged suspects in the scam barring Qutorochi are dead.
Well, I hope you will agree that the people of India have a right to know the truth…regardless of who is alive or dead.
Anways, what is your take on Rajinder Puri’s article above?
Funny that people praise a gandhi-nehru even when he/she has a very remote link with success (like UP), while they are reluctant to suspect them when they have good links with bad things /people…
Another equally funny thing is when the congi is corrupt, all politicians are corrupt!
Shame on the slavery
“”DD: why is Karan Thapar not asking the same questions to say MMS or Sonia?”" –
Sonia or MMS are not stupid like Advani that they will court the slime-bags in the media. I still remember the day when Advani walked up to receive some prize from Prannoy Roy of NDTV (of all people!). Neither MMS nor Sonia gave *ONE* interview in 5 yrs and are still ruling India, whereas Advani (even Modi) are blabbering in front of the media like crazy, diminishing their stature. Its high time these BJP leaders show some guts and stop talking to the ELM, for once and all!
@Bhavananda,
The point is not about the inability of Indian leaders to maintain a media presence. It is about the inability of the Indian media to do their job which is providing investigative journalism and fact based reporting to inform the public about where their tax rupees go.
The BJP leaders should continually hammer the point to the media and the public about why the leaders of the Congress continue to blackball any interviews?
We have to remember here that the politicians are all people who belong to the same club, and have one common enemy, the public. An enemy today can turn into a friend and ally tomorrow and vice versa. So there is no point in hoping that they will actually strike the final blow at any time. To expect them to strike a blow for honesty and decency is a bit too much, considering all they have at stake. A little bit of jostling while we try to come to power is OK, the high-decibel drama that we are committed to the overthrow and destruction of the people who are selling the republic down the river is OK, but, dear deluded subjects, to expect anything more is childish. Remember the Jain havala case, where all our public figures were seen standing in line at the ATM with terrorists? And how it sank without a trace? The CBI complaining, in effect, that the Jain brothers did not keep proper books of accounts or preserve stamped receipts for the payouts? In the same way, any scandals which might actually cause some harm to the rules of the game have been air-brushed out of existence. A Bangaru Laxman here or a Sukhram there are scraps thrown to us dogs to make us feel important. Happy animals make for easy slaughtering.
We have seen how our rulers have been stealthily grasping more and more power, quoting the case of the Republic being at risk from its enemies. Our mullahs and pundits do the same in a slightly more ham-handed fashion, quoting the risks to our religion and our culture. Bakasura was decent in that he demanded his wages in a well-defined manner at the first meeting. He made our roles very clear. His modern day progeny, starting out as our servants, have been snipping away a bit here and and a bit there, till we have come to accept the reversal of roles, and them as our masters.
The Rajinder Puri article from outllookindia is surprising, considering outlookindia is out and out an anti-BJP media. Puri is a reputed cartoonist and journalist. Looks serious.
BJP leaders being infront of media and not MMS and company, looks like it was well planned. When the entire media is pro-Cong , what will they ask them. They cannot call them to have chaipani. Since they are all one family , why call them to appear on TV. So the BJP leaders obliged for the fun. They should have also refused.
@ Shantanu
I want to know the answers to the question you are asking as well. But inspite of having the political will to bring those allegedly involved to justice, the leading lights of the movement against Bofors scandal have ratehr made it a one point agenda of targetting Rajiv Gandhi and they have not even bothered to try out establish even a half broken link that moneies were paid out and that could be traced to Nehru Gandhi family.
As for the milking the issue during election time, well then the public have given a resounding anser to it time and again it has been raised. It was sad that th eissue was used to tarnish an individual rather showcassing the loopholes and the real culprits.
As for rajinder Puri or anyone else article, the reason i would not want to comment, or it is futiler to comment because they would not know the detauiled intelligence the govt knows on the issue. The likes of Jaitley, Shourie, V P Singh, and others who were at the forefront and vowed to expose the culprits have either said they dont think Rajiv was involved and or just making statements to stay in publicity or during election time.
I have lots of respect to Rajinder Puri, but sadly even he is one of us, but rather a more famed political commentator.
Especially on this issue, i would not attach much importance to anything other than truth comming out. Lets hope and wish we get something to this effect before Quttorochi dies.
@ Hemant
You might disagree with my views, but i am just trying to be practical and holistic in seeing the issue.
As for Congress, i have clearly said in various posts that, they should deeliver else they shall face the wrath of the public. Also i have made a point to the extent, the opposition needs to put the govt on alert mode all the time, sadly the famed iron man of BJP disrupted the parliament in the 14th Loksabha and after it was announced sine die, he challenged the govt for a debate – this clearly shows the bankruptancy of the BJP.
‘Cover up’ of Bofors case complete:
“At every stage, successive governments headed by the Congress have resorted to various devices to derail the case and protect (key accused Ottavio) Quattrocchi. The CBI was prevented from pursuing the case seriously,” the CPI(M) Politburo said in a statement here.
…”With this latest act, the cover up of the Bofors bribery case is now complete,” the CPI(M) said.
***
Also read this: http://ibnlive.in.com/news/cbi-to-withdraw-all-cases-against-quattrocchi/102378-3.html
Thanks to Harapriya for the link.
First expose of Bofors by CS.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chitra_Subramaniam
Go thru this, an interesting write up.
When the investigation is closed, and O.Q no longer a subject of investigation, I would think that RTI could be used fruitfully to pry out information. Or, am I wrong/plain naive ?
Excerpts from a shocking article by Rajinder Puri…Is Sonia Above Questioning?:
…The BJP has taken up the secret Indian Swiss bank money issue. Does it seriously contemplate recovering the money? Or is it just a poll gimmick?
…Are they political opportunists? Do they or don’t they really intend to deliver results on the Swiss money? If the BJP is serious about fighting corruption there is no dearth of issues. Take one glaring example.
On August 15, 2006 this scribe wrote: “Dr. Yevgeniya Albats is a Soviet journalist who …was appointed as member of the official KGB Commission set up by President Yeltsin in 1991. She had full access to secret files of the KGB. She authored a book, The State within a State: KGB and Its Hold on Russia …. Dr. Albats disclosed in her book that KGB chief Victor Chebrikov in December 1985 had sought in writing from the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU), ‘authorization to make payments in US dollars to the family members of Mr. Rajiv Gandhi, namely Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi and Ms Paola Maino, mother of Sonia Gandhi.’ CPSU payments were authorized by a resolution, CPSU/CC/No 11228/3 dated 20/12/1985; and endorsed by the USSR Council of Ministers in Directive No. 2633/Rs dated 20/12/1985. These payments had been coming since 1971, as payments received by Sonia Gandhi’s family, and ‘have been audited in CPSU/CC resolution No. 11187/22 OP dated 10/12/1984.’
“In 1992 the media confronted the Russian government with the Albats disclosure. The Russian government confirmed the veracity of the disclosure and defended it as necessary for ‘Soviet ideological interest’. The Hindu of July 4, 1992 carried this report….In November 1991 the respected Swiss magazine, Schweitzer Illustrate, published a report alleging that Rajiv Gandhi had 2.5 billion Swiss francs, equivalent roughly to two billion US dollars, in numbered Swiss bank accounts….Surely, Mrs. Sonia Gandhi owes herself and the nation an emphatic and effective rebuttal of the Albats charges?”
On November 8 2006 I again wrote: “…Until now there has been only deafening silence from Mrs. Gandhi and the Congress party….If the Albats allegation published in a reputed research book is false, Mrs. Sonia Gandhi should promptly deny it. Otherwise, her silence could be perceived as assent.”
The government remained silent. But so did all the opposition parties! Why? Are the opposition leaders themselves also vulnerable and compelled to maintain discreet silence? Draw your own conclusions.
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