What I extract from this is that the unaccountability of Wikileaks has to be checked and doubled checked by the media itself, rather than jumping towards sensationalism. Indeed, a more responsible media would and should have held a public debate both on the issues that the cables bought (and continue) to bring to light and the veracity of the cables themselves.

I disagree with you that Wikileaks should be pushed into tabloid space. Should a responsible media be able to provide a correct counterbalance to some of the bogus information that is an inherent risk with whistleblowers, a lot of value can be extracted from Wikileaks’ disclosures.

And now, with the drafting of the Jan Lokpal bill, it will be interesting to see how that institution will react to such instances of whistleblowing.

Thank you for the comment. I agree with you completely that interests of the government and the interests of citizens may not always coincide. In fact, it is a fundamental premiss of constitutional democracies that the first step is for people to come together and form a government to control them; the second step is to set up mechanisms to control the government itself. Now when this disjunct becomes apparent, the most classic example of which is corruption by government officers, there must be ways of identifying and punishing the guilty. Where we disagree however is the relevance of Wikileaks in this process of identifying and punishing the guilty. This task, in a healthy democracy, I strongly believe should be done by accountable institutions- the judiciary, the police, the media (Again that on merits in India they may or may not perform this task well is a different matter). In principle, basing the drive for governmental accountability on, as the Prime Minister said, ‘unverified and often unverifiable cables’ is a wrong approach. Practically too it has dangerous consequences since the legitimacy and credibility of Wikileaks is in question, and will continue to be so, especially as it becomes more and more powerful. The other part of the problem is not Wikileaks itself but what people do with the cables. Certainly you are right, that the cables should be published and those in power must know that they are ultimately servants of the people. But people shouldn’t treat it as the truth on the basis of which governments should be toppled and parliament held up. And this reaction is a reflection of the sad state of our media which jumps at any story without a moment to reflect on its veracity. Wikileaks has its place in a democratic system yes, just not one which becomes the subject of parliamentary debate and calls for the PM to resign.