Reputation smudged by dirty stories, says Sujatha Singh

New Delhi, January 31

Two days after she was abruptly relieved of her post, former Foreign Secretary Sujatha Singh on Friday said her reputation had been tarnished by adverse stories coming out about her on social media and that “it was not necessary to get low and dirty”.

Singh, who sought early retirement after the Narendra Modi government appointed S Jaishankar to replace her on Wednesday night, told a news channel in an interview that she believed in team work and in strengthening the institutional framework of the Ministry of External Affairs.

Without referring to her successor, she said she had always believed in keeping a low profile and if she had wanted she could have beaten the drum about her achievements all these years.

Singh said she was doing the interview “because I felt that I needed to do it, because I want an honourable exit; I don’t meant a tenure as an ambassador, I don’t mean a tenure in the UPSC, I mean an exit in keeping with what I have been as an individual, in keeping with what I have been as an officer, with what I have been as a Foreign Secretary”.

She said the “commentary” that she had seen about herself over the past two days “has pained me deeply. I believe that it was not necessary to get low and dirty”.

“I wanted to give in my papers and leave, without any ceremony and without any fuss, but unfortunately that has not been the case, and I believe that my reputation has been tarnished. I believe the social media has gone into overdrive and I believe that there are stories that are being planted that tarnish whatever I have been as an officer over these years in service,” she said.

She said her exit was “probably a decision that had been taken, and that nothing I could have done would have made a difference”. — IANS