Journalist: Mr. Ambassador, Indian Administrative Service is the most prestigious and powerful organ of the Indian Government. It is rightly called the backbone of Indian administration.
Diplomat: That’s right.
Journalist: Promotions in this service are determined by rigid regulations and no officers is superseded unless there are specific adverse entries in his service record.
Diplomat: Very correct.
Journalist: How is it that two Senior Sikh officers, S. Mohinder Singh and S. Avtar Singh Gill of 1950 batch with excellent record of service have been superseded by a junior man P. K. Kaul of 1951 batch in the appointment for the post of Cabinet Secretary?
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Diplomat: Not in national interest to disclose.
Journalist: Mr. Ambassador, the spy scandal that rocked the corridors of power in Delhi has shown that even highly classified information was treated with a casualness bordering on indifference by some Senior Officer.
Diplomat: That’s right.
Journalist: All the Senior Officers, with the exception of P. K. Kaul, whose junior staff was involved in the scandal have been shifted from sensitive positions and most of them have been reverted to their home states.
Diplomat: Very correct.
Journalist: How is it that Mr. Kaul has been promoted to the highest position as Cabinet Secretary even though his own personal assistant is under arrest for spying? Why has he not resigned as did P. C. Alexander? Does it mean that Kashmiri Brahmins in general and Rajiv’s relation’s (Kaul being his 1st cousin) in particular are above law?
Diplomat: Not in national interest to disclose.
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Journalist: Mr. Ambassador, Golden Temple has the same sanctity for the Sikhs as Mecca for Muslims, Vatican for Catholics and Wailing Wall for Jews.
Diplomat: That’s right.
Journalist: It is only natural that persons with deep faith and reverence for their religion should feel hurt when their holy places of worship are wantonly destroyed.
Diplomat: Very correct.
Journalist: How is it that all those Sikhs who expressed their concern at the Army invasion of their most sacred shrine have either been detained under the draconian laws or declared proclaimed offenders on one pretext or the other? How is it that Senior Sikh Civil Officers, police officers, lawyers, doctors, professors and progressive farmers are being increasingly and falsely accused of having some kind of undefined association with so called terrorists?
Diplomat: Not in national interest to disclose.
Article extracted from this publication >> March 1, 1985
