{"id":2473,"date":"2011-04-05T09:18:04","date_gmt":"2011-04-05T04:18:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/calamur.org\/gargi\/?p=2473"},"modified":"2011-04-05T09:18:04","modified_gmt":"2011-04-05T04:18:04","slug":"how-to-read-wikileaks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/calamur.org\/gargi\/2011\/04\/05\/how-to-read-wikileaks\/","title":{"rendered":"How To Read WikiLeaks :)"},"content":{"rendered":"

From my column in today’s DNA<\/a> – “<\/strong><\/p>\n

“Read WikiLeaks, smirk and move on”<\/h2>\n

Tortuous Convolvulus<\/a><\/strong> is one of the most fascinating comic book characters. He appears in Asterix and the Roman Agent. Tortuous Convolvulus is a troublemaker par excellence \u2014 he just has to walk past two people to get them to start fighting.\u00a0He causes distrust, strife and fights wherever he steps foot. He is the ultimate anarchist – who revels in the discord that he is able to create. He is used by Caesar to create divisions in Asterix\u2019 village \u2014 till common sense, shared values and a wee bit of magic potion saves the village.<\/p>\n

Julian Assange, the Australian who is on the United States\u2019s \u2018most hated\u2019 list \u2014 is a modern day Tortuous Convolvulus. While on the face of it WikiLeaks \u2014 the organisation that he directs \u2014 has the stated aim of creating \u2018open governments\u2019 in the long run, in the short run WikiLeaks has become the ultimate tool of creating distrust and discord.<\/p>\n

Most countries, their ruling parties or coalitions and their opposition parties have been fairly mature and sensible about WikiLeaks. For one, the cables published so far \u2014 both in India and outside tell you nothing earth shaking. In the main, they are drawing room conversations between American diplomats and locals.<\/p>\n

There are the \u2018oh, I am so important\u2019 conversations, then there are the \u2018I am your friend, the rest of my team hates you\u2019 snippets, and the gossip \u2018he is really strange, people say this about him\u2019 reported back in official language.\u00a0Most people in power or aspiring for power may have read WikiLeaks and may have smirked at someone else\u2019s silliness, but they have more or less kept a dignified silence.\u00a0After all, there is no point making a song and a dance about the content of WikiLeaks, when you don\u2019t know what part of your conversation is in the US government cables and reported in what form. But, Indian politicians, as we all know, are a different breed.<\/p>\n

So how should one see the WikiLeaks \u2014 especially cables that concern India? At the first level one needs to look at the information gatherers \u2014 the United States of America.\u00a0A country, whose foreign policy since World War-II, has epitomised the statement, \u201cThe path to hell is paved with good intentions.\u201d They have been incredibly naive in their reading of local situations \u2014 reports of which they have got from their ground level diplomatic staff; they have misunderstood nationalism for anti-Americanism, they have looked at self-reliance as the onset of socialism, and to counter that they have gone about supporting the worst dictators, creating terrible conflicts and leaving societies tattered in their aftermath.\u00a0Their understanding of our world in its shades of grey is non-existent. Countries are for it or are against it. It may have been slightly more sophisticated in stating this than former president Bush \u2014 but, this has been the core of their relationship with anyone else in the world. Its employees across the world are in tune with this philosophy.<\/p>\n

At the second level, one needs to look at the information providers:the Indian ruling elite \u2014 Indian politicians and Indian politician wannabes. A breed that epitomises the line \u2018how do you tell a politician is lying. His lips are moving\u2019.They see the world as a set of alliances that will take them to the next level.\u00a0These alliances are not permanent, nor are enemies. Also, it is a tribe that mostly has no firm ideology \u2014 except staying in power. This is a breed, which throughout history, has tried to impress the \u2018foreigner\u2019 about how wonderful they are and how beneficial a long-term relationship would be to the foreigner, and more importantly \u2014 how terrible their opposition is.<\/p>\n

Wikileaks India is essentially a conversation between these two parties. One which sees no ambiguity in its world and the other which is totally ambiguous in all things, except its climb to power.<\/p>\n

The problem with accepting the Wiki cables as Gospel Truth has three issues attached to it. If you accept one cable as truth, you cannot question the veracity of the rest.\u00a0Related to this is that, you don\u2019t know what your side has said to impress the diplomat\u2014 it could be equally \u2018impressive\u2019.And thirdly, if you accept only one part and debunk the rest \u2014 you do look opportunistic at best and confused at worst.<\/p>\n

So how does one read WikiLeaks? As gossip. Nice, juicy gossip. Read WikiLeaks, smirk, and move on.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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