Journalist: Mr. Ambassador, in the just concluded elections to the Tripura State Assembly, the Congress (I) has dislodged Communist Party of India (Marxist) that was ruling the state for the last ten years.
Ambassador: That’s right.
Journalist! The ousted Chief Minister has accused the Center of using army and paramilitary troops to rig the elections.
Ambassador: Very correct.
Journalist don’t you think using army for political purposes is a dangerous game which can recoil very dangerously especially at a time when Rajiv Gandhi is facing serious corruption charges?
Ambassador: Not in national interest to disclose.
Journalist: Mr. Ambassador, more than 130 persons have been gunned down in Punjab during the month of January, 1988.
Ambassador: According to official sources nearly two thirds of the victims were Sikhs, most of whom have been described as police informers.
Ambassador: Very correct.
Journalist: Don’t you think innocent Sikhs are being killed by the police to discredit the freedom fighters?
Ambassador: Not in national interest to disclose.
Journalist: Mr. Ambassador, political commentators rightly hold the central government responsible for making the Punjab problem murkier every day in order to get political mileage out of it.
Ambassador: That’s right.
Journalist While suggesting solutions, they go off the tangent in using expressions like “isolating the freedom fighters” or release of only “innocent” Sikhs detained in Jodhpur and other jails.
Ambassador: Very correct.
Journalist: Don’t you think wisdom lies in recognizing that Sikh nation has never deserted its freedom fighters? Isn’t it sheer foolishness to talk of isolating them? Isn’t it a fact that Sikh masses simply love them and took upon them as nation’s jewels fighting to throw away the shackles of slavery?
Ambassador Not in national interest to disclose.
Article extracted from this publication >> February 12, 1988
