Natwar Singh and his son continue to dominate the news ? no fresh inputs, no worthwhile responses except for the left position on the issue. Had the minister stepped down on day one, saying he wanted a probe into this ?report? that he categorically stated was false, our press would have been at sea and the ?story? would probably have died a natural death. Today, with his arrogant and aggressive posturing through television interviews, the public perception is fast moving against Natwar Singh, hitherto seen to be honourable and old-world. His constant references to Sonia Gandhi and Manmohan Singh being supportive of him, assist in discrediting them too in the eyes of the public.

The Volcker report, sponsored by the UN does not merit the ?importance? that it has been given by the Indian media. Where was the UN when the United States walked into Iraq? And why didn?t the Indian press get as energetic about that event? How about an international demand for a report on that inhuman act? How can any thinking person ?trust? a report without the adequate supports? Any institution can institute a biased report against its detractors. This kind of defamation, based on superficial data without adequate empirical evidence, is dangerous. Had the UN commissioned a similar report on the illegal invasion of a sovereign state like Iraq by the US, would the secretary of state have been compelled to resign? No. One set of values for the US and another for the rest of the world, particularly our part of the world. We are there to be exploited by this strange animal ? the ?unipolar US?.

Media mayhem

The UN has never had any teeth when it has had to deal with the US, a nation that arbitrarily institutes sanctions upon countries that do not align with it politically, that refuse to be its client states. The unipolar status of the US allows it to believe it can invade sovereign countries breaking every decent code of conduct. It does so without remorse. It creates the ?monsters? that torment the world and then blames all nations, except itself, for the backlash. It then declares a ?war against terror? having inflicted terror on the world. Economic terror, military terror, social terror. Many such aspects of US foreign policy are uncivilized. How about a Volcker report on that?

Having said this, the allegations made against Natwar Singh need to be cleared and till they are, he should step aside as minister. It will put him in a league apart. It will reinforce the honour of the Congress president and the prime minister, and therefore, the government. So far the moves through the Congress spokespersons have been tactically weak and have not done any good to those in question. The whole saga appears to have been mishandled, allowing the opposition to get an upper hand just before parliament resumes on November 23.

India and the US have been poles apart vis ? vis positions on Saddam Hussein and Iraq. We were friends, they were not. Who knows what international political games are being played out today, what manipulations are happening? So a timebound and independent judicial probe into this ?report? is essential. Reputations are being damaged with assumptions, not evidence. Endless press reports are adding fuel to this fire. The issue must be cleared as rapidly as possible, the truth must prevail and those defamed, if wrongly so, must be exonerated. If illegalities are proven, the law must be allowed to take over.

Maybe the time has come for the media to address itself and its rather superficial reporting of events that need serious investigation and proof. Flimsy reporting based on hearsay and speculation smacks of what my generation called ?yellow? journalism. Our lead stories on television and in our national dailies seem to be competing with the tabloids.