US-Indian Diplomatic cables leak - wikileaks

Wikileaks project has been an eyeopener for many governments. There are already millions of leaked diplomatic cables of United States which basically tells how US feels about various other countries.

Following is how US diplomats feel about India, major global issues involving india and their views about Indian politicians as provided in leaked cables. No body can prove authenticity of the cables but it should be true. The Indian cables throws light on various aspects of indian Government and how USA thinks about those aspects. This list is compiled with help of wikipedia, which I think is most genuine information source available over internet.

Must Read Posts:
Arwind Kejriwal vs Rahul Gandhi
Members of Lokpal Standing Committee
Robert Vadra Corruption video

So I will take various issues of Indian subcontinent and what does corresponding diplomatic cables reveal.

J&K Army Torture :
U.S. officials had obtained evidence from the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) on widespread torture and systematic abuse of detainees in Kashmir by Indian police and security forces. ICRC staff had made 177 visits to detention centers in Jammu and Kashmir between 2002 and 2004, meeting with 1,491 detainees. Out of these, 1,296 were private interviews. In 852 cases, detainees reported what ICRC referred to as the IT (intensive torture section): 171 persons were beaten, the remaining 681 subjected to one or more of six forms of torture:
electric shock (498 cases)
suspension from ceiling (381)
"roller" — a round metal object put on the thighs of sitting person, which prison personnel then sit on, crushing muscles (294)
stretching — legs split 180 degrees (181)
water torture — various forms (234)
sexual assault (302)
Numbers add up to more than 681, as many detainees were subjected to more than one form of IT. All the branches of the security forces uses these forms of IT and torture. The abuse always takes place in the presence of officers and detainees were rarely militants (because militants are routinely killed), but persons connected to or believed to have information about the insurgency. But still, the situation in Kashmir was "much better" as security forces no longer roused entire villages in the middle of the night and detained inhabitants indiscriminately, and there was "more openness from medical doctors and the police. There were some 300 detention centers ten years ago, but there are now "a lot fewer". ICRC, however, had never gained access to the "Cargo Building", the most-notorious detention center, in Srinagar. The abuse continued, because "security forces need promotions", while for militants, "the insurgency has become a business". ICRC concluded that India "condones torture" and that the torture victims were civilians. Since it is a land dispute between two countries such things can be expected to supress the voice of "what inhabitants of J&K actual want with their land".

Indian Support for LeT:
Rahul Gandhi in conversation with Timothy J. Roemer, U.S. Ambassador to India query about the activities in the region by Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), the Pakistan-based Islamist terrorist organization, Gandhi said there was evidence of some support for the group among certain elements in India's indigenous Muslim community. Now this is most dangerous for peace inside India and culprits should be hanged till death immediately after conviction.

US cables on Counter-terrorism coordination with India:
This cable reveals worst about indian politicians who are after muslim votes and thus compromise on integrity of country. The cable reveals India's "fiercely independent foreign-policy stance, its traditional go-it-alone strategy toward its security, and its domestic political sensitivities over the sentiments of its large Muslim population, have all contributed to India's caution in working with us on a joint counter-terrorism strategy. While India has been very keen to receive information and technology from us to further its counter-terrorism efforts, it provides little in return." Acting coordinator for counter-terrorism, Frank Urbancic, described India's police and security forces as "overworked and hampered by bad police practices, including the wide-spread use of torture in interrogations, rampant corruption, poor training, and a general inability to conduct solid forensic investigations

Congress vote bank politics over 2008 mumbai attacks:
Congress is presently biggest threat to communal harmony of India according to US cable on 2008 mumbai attacks. The INC tried to use the conspiracy theories behind 2008 Mumbai attacks, targeting its main political rival, the BJP, to gain support of the Indian Muslim community for the 2009 Indian general election, the INC cynically pulled back from its original dismissal and lent credence to the conspiracy. The cable alleged, "The entire episode demonstrates that the Congress Party will readily stoop to the old caste/religious-based politics if it feels it is in its interest.

Indian-tibet Relations:
Shiv Shankar Menon, the current Indian national security advisor said, though "the Tibetan movement has the sympathy of the Indian public, and India has been a generally supportive home to tens of thousands of Tibetans, including the Dalai Lama, for nearly 50 years, the tacit agreement that Tibetans are welcome in India as long as they don't cause problems is being challenged.

Maoist violence in India:
According to another leaked cable Indian Maoists are "not dependent on support from outside India" and are moving towards a more unified command system. A U.S. cable reproduced by the media said, "In some respects more so than the GOI (Government of India) -- are concerned that Naxal terrorism, which covers a broad region of Eastern, Central, and Southern India, is growing in sophistication and lethality and will be a significant long-term challenge." "Unlike terrorists in Kashmir, these Naxalite groups are not dependent on support from outside India; the GOI and independent experts assess that Naxals purchase some weapons from Nepalese Maoists, but (per the GOI) `the relationship is commercial, not ideological'." The cable pointed out that the Maoists, such as those in the Communist Party of India (Maoist), "are moving toward a more unified command system than the plethora of small jihadi groups that co-exist alongside LeT (Lashkar-e-Taiba) and JeM (Jaish-e-Mohammed)." It said that while jihadis are expanding their area of operations to conduct attacks, particularly in cities, "Naxals are expanding the area of (rural) territory they effectively control (i.e. collect taxes, adjudicate disputes, etc.)

Purchasing votes in South India:
South India politics is even worst then the north as one diplomatic cable revealed that Political parties regularly bribe voters, in the form of cash, goods, or services, before elections in South India. It may range from financing the construction of a community well to putting into an envelope and delivering it inside the morning newspaper. Politicians and their operatives have admitted to violating election rules to influence voters. The money used to pay for the bribes come from the money raised through fundraising. The practice is thought to have swung many elections where the race was close.

India-Pakistan Relations:
The U.S. conducted its own secret analysis of India's military contingency plans, which are codenamed Cold Start.[10] India has said that if sufficiently provoked, it would mount a rapid invasion of Pakistan. The U.S. said in a cable that it doubted the Indian Army was capable of doing so: "It is the collective judgment of the mission that India would likely encounter very mixed results. Indian forces could have significant problems consolidating initial gains due to logistical difficulties and slow reinforcement".[10] However, Roemer warned that for India to launch the Cold Start doctrine, would be to "roll the nuclear dice". It could trigger the world's first use of nuclear weapons since the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.[10] Indian leaders no doubt realize that, although Cold Start is designed to punish Pakistan in a limited manner without triggering a nuclear response, the Indians cannot be sure whether Pakistani leaders will in fact refrain from such a response".[10] To counter the Indian doctrine, U.S. diplomats in Islamabad were told Pakistan was working on producing smaller, tactical nuclear weapons such as nuclear artillery that could be used on the battlefield against Indian troops.

Wikileaks have been great move for making the governments open. You can read full text on leaked cables on wikileaks and wikipedia. For more eye opening posts on corruption go through the links on left of this post.