These Significant (Wiki) Leaks !!

From Julian Assange to Niira Radia, this "new age of espionage" has been lifted to stratospherical levels unseen of since the idiot box appeared in our living rooms. We have the Press to thank for this, alongside ample backing from the liberal activists.

With an approximate 250,000 US Embassy cables containing classified American opinions and sometimes coffee table humour about world leaders going public, the world, let alone America has ample reason be embarrassed. Of course as claimed by Wikileaks, "this is only the beginning (of sorrows)". As more and more documents enter public domain it remains to be seen the extent by which this (malicious) content would further rupture any of the existing political fault lines.

What is really unique is that these disclosures come at a time when the American juggernaut is down to its last bout of steam and is choking for want of more coal($$). Its economic power now is but a shade of what it once was just a few years ago when it could muscle its might around any high table with impunity. These days in a desperate attempt to portray its relevance to the changing world scenario, Americans are being seen a lot more in forums they used to once pay little heed to such as ASEAN.

In this light, the wikileaks episode however reveals nothing staggeringly earthmoving about American foreign policy. In fact, it serves to corroborate what most of us have known about the inscrutible Americans and their policies for quite sometime, whether its Karzai's paranoia in Afghanistan, Ahmadinejad's Hitler like attitude or Chancellor Merkell's lack of creativity. Most world leaders have however been mum in their condemnation of these leaks and there are very strong reasons for this.

Firstly, by knowing America's fundamental stance on various global issues they can devise more room to manoever or take up negotiating positions to their benefit. This would simply throw years of American diplomacy and deal-mongering out the front door.

Secondly (or should it instead be said as more profoundly), most Governments in the world know that the same cables could have so easily been planted in their own backyard and they could have been caught with their pants down. Silence on their part is a matter of paying lipservice to free press while secretly acknowledging that the game has been changing and that they still need to find their footing.

Back home in India the CEO of the TATA group (Ratan Tata), one of the most reputed Industralists on Indian soil has been caught in a similar kind of imbroglio for having liaised with an independant lobbyist (Niira Radia) to plead on its behalf for certain advantage when the 2G Licenses were being awarded. Transcripts of private telephone conversations with Niira are now commonplace in the center pages of "India Today" or "Outlook" weekly magazines.

Ratan Tata, the soon to be retired incumbent scion is pulling out all stops to ensure that his legacy isn't torn into shreds by an overzealous media that have already played their part in one of the key ministors (Telecom Minister Raja's) resignation. Ratan Tata has tried to move the court on a motion to prevent the tapes between him and the lobbyist from being aired on Primetime TV.

The Press's argument is nevertheless crystal clear:- The telephone conversations were intended to influence a cabinet minister in power and to secure an uneven advantage for a specific business group. This constitutes corruption and hence being a democracy the contents of the tapes are an offence and hence do belong in public domain.

The public in India has been rather taken by surprise to see one of its finest industrialists being dragged through the grovel of the glare. Unfortunately the slide for Ratan Tata and the Tata group is just about to begin. Only time will tell as to whether the damaging disclosures wreck havoc on their stock price (these days the measure of everything), their Brand Image or worse still, both.

All said, humanity will sweep these wire-taps under the carpet for the common good as the alliance between greenbacks and power is as old as the dollar itself. Issues of Individual Privacy take a back seat as far as lobbying or the affairs of state are concerned. No one can and should be allowed to hide behind the bench stating legalities.

Activist journalism has however begun to get a whole lot of bad press when Expose's happen, for all the wrong reasons. The sheer magnitude at which they are happening these days should make one question the system and not the methods. The Press is a necessary evil. The Unnecessary one being corruption!!