WASHINGTON: Indian ambassador to the U.S. Karan Singh has said he is referring to the external affairs ministry all papers relating to the authentication by New York consul general Rajendra Kumar Rai of the documents purporting to show that Prime Minister Vishwanath Pratap Singh’s son, Ajeya Singh, violated India’s foreign exchange regulations.
Singh was responding to the charge by an ethnic paper in the US that Rai was allegedly guilty of misconduct.
The ambassador absolved Rai of any blame, saying that authentication did not confirm the truth or otherwise of a document.
‘Singh’s action late Tuesday came after 83 persons of Indian origin in the U.S. — 20 to 25 percent of them USS. Citizens and the others Indian passport holders — petitioned the ambassador for an inquiry. They had complained that their earlier letter to him and inquiries at the embassy were being stonewalled.
Ramesh P. Ravella, an engineer with IBM, said in a statement to the press, “our protest is not against an individual but against a system that makes such practices possible and tolerable.”
“Unfortunately, during the previous government’s rule, erosion of civil liberties and’ corrosion of moral values went unchecked, and the alleged incident in New York was just an example of the moral turpitude of the previous government.
The statement added that the alleged abuse of the rights of a citizen took place during Karan Singh’s term as ambassador and that “his office has repeatedly ignored our inquiries into the matter.”
“We urge the Indian government to investigate the allegations against Mr. Rai thoroughly and to take appropriate action so that such incidents do not occur again.”
Answering questions Ravella said he would like to know the truth of the allegations if it turned out that the documents authenticated were not fabricated.
Four of the signatories — RaveIla, Prof Soma Kumar, Prasad Rao, who is working at the National institute of health, and Dr. S.K Vadlamudi, president of the India Cultural Coordination Committee in Washington held a press conference to release the statement and copies of the petition sent to the ambassador and to the prime minister and foreign minister in New Delhi.
Soon after the press conference an Indian embassy spokesman told reporters that the statement issued by Ravella and others had been brought to the notice of Singh.
“The ambassador is satisfied that the attestation of a signature by the counsel general in New York, Rajendra Kumar Rai, was a bona fide act within the parameters of the consular manual.
“It also makes it clear that attestation of a signature does not guarantee the truth or accuracy of the contents. No misconduct therefore, is involved. However, the ambassador has directed that the entire case with all the background material should be sent to the ministry of external affairs in Delhi immediately for such action as they may deem appropriate.”
Article extracted from this publication >> February 9, 1990
