Oligarchy of untruth
When Arun Jaitley issued a statement saying the Henderson-Brooks report will remain classified for the sake of 'national interest', it was laughable
Indian politics never fails to amuse. On Monday, when defence minister Arun Jaitley issued a statement saying the Henderson-Brooks report will remain classified for the sake of “national interest", it was laughable. He contradicted his own blog post of March in which he demanded the declassification of the report as “society is entitled to learn from past mistakes". The “mistakes" in question are believed to allude to Jawaharlal Nehru’s (then prime minister) choices during the 1962 Indo-China war.
The Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP’s) claims of difference are limited to words. Its behaviour is reflective of an oligarchy of untruth in India. The rule is simple: when in opposition, demand declassification, when in power, impose secrecy with impunity.
Successive Congress governments have kept the report secret while the BJP wanted it to be made public. Only the chairs and positions have changed.
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