The Hindu Joins Hands with WikiLeaks

The Hindu publishes India related wires from WikiLeaks starting this Tuesday.

Rajat Arora | Delhi | March 16, 2011

The Hindu has joined hands with WikiLeaks and is publishing the India related wires from Wikileaks. The Hindu started this series from Tuesday and the impact of this development was evident on the first day itself as there was uproar in Indian Parliament over these cables.

Earlier, the UK and US government had condemned the publication of these cables by the major newspapers like The Guardian and The New York Times. The repercussions in India are yet to be felt.

Recently Julliane Assange, founder of WikiLeaks, told the Assosiate Press that WikiLeaks hopes to enlist as many as 60 news organisations from around the world in a bid to help speed the publication of its massive trove of secret US diplomatic memos.

He also said that he was making an effort to reach beyond the major newspapers — such as The New York Times and The Guardian — that worked with him on earlier releases, saying that he already has about 20 media partners, and could triple that number within the next three months.

The 39-year old Australian, who is currently staying at a supporter's country home in eastern England, is also fighting attempts to extradite him to Sweden on sex crimes allegations.

In a note, Editor N. Ram, The Hindu, wrote that the publication has access to 5,100 US Embassy and consulate cables relevant to India, aggregating to six million words. This is a part of the Cablegate release which began at the end of November 2010, and provides insight into the way US diplomats have operated within India, and the information they've relayed back to the State Department in Washington D.C. Wikileaks has a standalone (non-commercial) arrangement with The Hindu, which was initiated in the second week of December 2010. The cables cover politicians, diplomats, businessmen, journalists, India's relationship with various countries, specific issues like nuclear policy, terrorism, bureaucracy, and more importantly, an overview of 26/11, Kashmir, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bangladesh, and Myanmar, among other things. Apart from The Hindu, Cablegate has involved other publications like The Guardian, The New York Times, Der Spiegel, Le Monde, and El Pais.

Update: The Hindu Wikileaks exposes of alleged US armtwisting and political pressure will be discussed today at 10.30pm by N Ram, Ronen Sen and Sanjaya Baru on CNBC TV18's 'India Tonight'.

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