New Delhi:
Axed from the post of foreign secretary two days ago, a “deeply pained” Sujatha Singh today hit back saying that stories were being “planted” in the media to tarnish her reputation after having served for 39 years.
“The commentary that I have seen over the past two days has pained me deeply. I believe it was not necessary to get low and dirty,” she said.
Affirming that she wanted give her papers and “leave without any ceremony and without any fuss”, Singh said, “but unfortunately that has not been the case and I believe that my reputation has been tarnished”.
Giving details of the abrupt “curtailment” of her two-year tenure seven months before it was to end in August, Singh said External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj had telephoned her around 2 pm on Wednesday, telling her she was calling to give “not so good news” and that the Prime Minister wanted to appoint S Jaishankar as the Foreign Secretary.
Singh said that she had kept her resignation letter ready but she was told that she would lose her retirement benefits in that case. Therefore, she sent a letter around 7 pm seeking early retirement “as instructed by the Prime Minister”.
Couple of hours later, an official announcement was put on a government website stating that her tenure has been “curtailed” with immediate effect, she told NDTV.
She disclosed that three weeks earlier she had been sounded whether she would consider moving out to a tenure post which was not spelt out. In any case, she was never interested in any government assignment including ambassadorship or UPSC membership.
