Assange slams India?s response to black money

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh?s response to WikiLeaks exposures on Indian illicit funds purportedly stashed in Swiss banks left a lot to be desired, said founder of the whistleblowing website Julian Assange in a TV interview telecast on Tuesday.

Assange said that while the rich from almost every country had ?black money?, India was the single largest nation in terms of assets concealed in offshore bank accounts away from the prying eyes of income tax officials and law enforcement.

In January this year, WikiLeaks had obtained details of over 2,000 prominent individuals and companies allegedly involved in tax evasion from former employee of Swiss bank Julius Baer, Rudolf Elmer.

Based on the data, Assange, speaking to an Indian news channel, said that India needed to do a lot more to bring back syphoned off funds which were debasing the rupee. He also criticised the Indian government’s feeble efforts at nabbing offenders.

Speaking on the data and its Indian context, Assange said, ?It was clear to me that Prime Minister Mr. Singh was deliberately attempting to mislead the Indian people on what type of material this was.?

??People tell me that he is not personally corrupt, I do not know myself as I don?t have information on that. But, his reaction left a lot to be desired,? he said, reiterating that there were several Indian names in the list of people trying to conceal their wealth.

He asserted that Swiss banks like Julius Baer charged hefty fees just to keep their accounts open and had complex mechanisms of keeping the funds below tax radar. The only reason one would go to such lengths is if they had something to hide, he said.

Meanwhile the Congress party, which heads the ruling coalition government at the Centre, was quick to dismiss Assange?s accusations, reports said. A Congress party spokesperson trashed details cited by the WikiLeaks founder as ?hearsay?.

The main opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), however, spared no effort to rub in the Assange interview. A BJP spokesperson lambasted the government for ?not doing anything? to bring back the alleged funds stashed offshore.