Below are the incomplete clarification put out by the Hindu as well as the original letter written by General VK Singh to the Editor-in-Chief.
If The Hindu tabloid claims to be the purveyor of truth, the Editor should publish these in FULL and without edits.
Suggestio falsi, suppressio veri ain't ethical journalism while publishing mischievous reports on security matters.
Kalyanaraman
1. Clarification put out by The HINDU
Nothing underhand in setting up TSD, says V.K. Singh
Edited excerpts from an email communication sent to the Editor of The Hindu by General (retired) V.K. Singh:
Your esteemed newspaper has published two or three articles on September 21 and 22 that allege that the Army (namely, the Southern Command) went into a tizzy destroying documents a few days before I retired as the Army Chief. The correspondent had sought my response by email, and my short response that he was fully aware of the issues including the framing of the individual involved was also published, dwarfed by banner headlines of the main report. Incidentally, the correspondent had sent exactly the same mail to me in April this year while he was with The Times of India. He did not do this great story of his at that time.
After going through the attachments and the three stories, I have no idea what your correspondent is trying to say or allude to. This is a story completely out of sync with the journalistic tradition of The Hindu. The two main underlying points seem to be:
(a) TSD was set up under me, and (b) documents were destroyed by a board set up for the purpose by the Southern Command five days prior to my retirement, some of which referred to the TSD.
Once again your newspaper is carrying stories planted by people with vested interests. Yes, the TSD was set up during my tenure. Perhaps you are not aware of the facts, but there was nothing underhand about its setting up, as it was done on the orders of the Government of Indiaafter the dastardly Mumbai attacks. What you, and perhaps your readers need to know, is that it was disbanded shortly after I retired, by officers who were entrusted with the responsibility of defending the country, for reasons which were purely personal. These officers (you don’t have to look far, be it J&K’s Janglat Mandi encounter or the Jorhat dacoity case) have used the media to regularly plant stories, and it defies logic how these fabricated reports continue to get published despite the presumed screening of articles by responsible editors. The consequences of disbanding the organisation have already been tragically felt on many an occasion, with quite a few of our own people being killed in cold blood.
And as for the shredding of documents, just use common sense – what does the Southern Command have to do with the TSD? Your same correspondent has implied it was the Chief’s ‘secret army’ which then presumably reported to me. Why on earth would a subordinate headquarters be dealing with a ‘top secret’ organisation?
In the last five years, all sorts of insinuating (and some accusatory) articles have been written. Time and again, it has been obvious that there isn’t an iota of truth in them. Still, the attacks keep coming.
May I, in all humility, with utmost respect for the freedom of the press, request you to kindly set the record straight?
______________________________
2. Original Letter sent by General VK Singh
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Vijay Singh <veekaysingh@gmail.com>
Date: 22 September 2015 at 21:06
Subject: Complaint against Defamatory article in your paper
To: editor@thehindu.co.inMs. Malini Parthasarthy
From: Vijay Singh <veekaysingh@gmail.com>
Date: 22 September 2015 at 21:06
Subject: Complaint against Defamatory article in your paper
To: editor@thehindu.co.inMs. Malini Parthasarthy
Editor-in-Chief
The Hindu
Dear Madam,
Your esteemed newspaper has published two or three articles on 21 and 22 September that allege that the Army (namely Southern Command) went into tizzy destroying documents a few days before I retired as the Army Chief. The correspondent had sought my response by email and my short response that he was fully aware of the issues including the framing up of the individual involved was also published , dwarfed by banner headlines of the main article. Incidentally the correspondent had sent exactly the same mail to me in April this year while he was with Times of India. he did not do this great story of his at that time maybe because the editors saw through his game.
Firstly, after going through the attachments and the three stories, I have no idea what your correspondent is trying to say or allude to. This is a story completely out of sync with the journalistic tradition of The Hindu. The two main underlying points seem to be a) TSD was set up under me and b) documents were destroyed by a board set up for the purpose by Southern Command five days prior to my retiring, some of which refer to the TSD.
Your three reports carry the byline of Mr Josy Joseph, who was earlier with the Times of India in New Delhi. This gentleman had even then kept up a relentless campaign of irrelevant and false reports that were aimed at trying to discredit me and the Army in general. Almost all his reports in the Times of India bordered on the ludicrous, and could not be taken seriously by anyone who knows how the Army functions. He had on occasion been served a legal notice, but frankly, other than being an irritant, his so called scoops were not worth even contesting. His main claim to fame as a defence correspondent was the fact that he claimed to hail from the same village as the then Defence Minister, Mr AK Antony, with whom he boasted to have easy access.
Now Mr Joseph resurfaces with the Hindu and in his wisdom, has decided to create the news. May I rather gently remind you that your newspaper had earlier allowed another Hindu correspondent to also do the same, and that the repercussions of that had been disastrous, with even some people getting killed.
Let me refresh your memory–on 24 September 2013, 'The Hindu' published a news story titled "V.K. Singh counters charges, admits pro-India NGOs' were funded" [http://www.thehindu.com/news/
Your paper, instead of taking cognizance of my letter telling in no uncertain terms that the interview was fabricated, 'upped the ante'. The editor at the time, Mr Siddharth Varadarajan, got a story generated from the J&K Bureau Chief and published it on the Newspaper’s front page on 25 September 2013 under the title ‘Our lives in danger, say sarpanches in J&K”[http://www.thehindu.com/news/
Subsequently, copies of threatening messages from your correspondent were forwarded to 'The Hindu's Board'. Needless to say, there was not even an iota of an apology, only an edited rejoinder of mine was published. Some journalism this!!
Once again Ma'm, the subject is the TSD, and once again your paper is carrying stories planted by people with vested interests. Yes, TSD was set up during my tenure. Perhaps you are not aware of the facts, but there was nothing underhand about its setting up, as it was done on the orders of the Government of India after the dastardly Mumbai attacks. What you, and perhaps your readers need to know, is that it was disbanded shortly after I retired by officers who were entrusted with the responsibility of defending the country for reasons which were purely personal. These officers (you don't have to look far, be it J&K's Janglat Mandi encounter or the Jorhat Dacoity Case) have used the media to regularly plant stories and it defies logic how these fabricated reports continue to get published despite the presumed screening of articles by responsible editors. The consequences of disbanding the organization has already been tragically felt on many a occasion, with quite a few of our own people being killed in cold blood.
And as for the shredding of documents, just use common sense–what does Southern Command have to do with the TSD? Your same correspondent has implied it was the Chief's 'secret army' which then presumably reported to me. Why on earth would a subordinate headquarters be dealing with a 'top secret' organization.
You could also perhaps have a word with Mr Josy Joseph as to the timing of this latest tirade against 'VK Singh's TSD'. Maybe it has something to do with the biggest unfolding scam which has the entire Army abuzz where a senior officer has been sent on leave pending retirement. The tactic has worked in the past – fire off a few missiles, more often than not in my direction, in the fond hope it'll create enough smoke to distract from the main issue. In the last five years, all sorts of insinuating (and some accusing) articles have been written. Time and again, its been obvious there isn't an iota of truth in them. Still, the attacks keep coming. Maybe it is also a reaction to a balanced article on the TSD in The Week magazine which may have prompted some to ask Mr Joseph to attempt defamation.
May I, in all humility, with the utmost respect for the freedom of the press, request you to kindly set the record straight. This kind of unending nonsense has done enough damage to the country in general and media in particular..
Thanking you,
Sincerely,
VK Singh
______________________________
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