The Congress party on Thursday raised questions about the abrupt removal of Sujatha Singh as the Foreign Secretary and the appointing of Dr. S. Jaishankar as her replacement.
"The entire country is surprised and shocked as to the manner in which the senior-most woman Foreign Secretary Sujatha Singh has been summarily terminated without any reason, post a supposedly successful visit of the United States President [Barack Obama]. It raises serious doubts on the intent, objectives, and the administrative policy that this government, including the External Affairs Minister [Sushma Swaraj] and Prime Minister Narendra Modi are following," Congress leader Randeep Surjewala told ANI.
"The Prime Minister and the External Affairs Minister must come forward and place all the facts in public realm," he added.
The Congress leader further pointed towards the removal of other senior people from various key positions.
"The argument being given by the BJP that it is their 'administrative discretion' but is administrative discretion exercised in a manner to humiliate the senior-most women officer in the country, more so after a successful visit of such a foreign dignitary? Is the administrative discretion exercised in a manner where you remove heads of various organisations be the DRDO, the SPG or IIM in such casual, cursory manner?" Surjewala asked.
Meanwhile, Congress leader Anand Sharma stated that the removal of Sujatha Singh is a matter of concern.
"It is not a question of who has replaced her. It is a question about the manner in which senior civil servants and senior diplomats have been humiliated by the government. That is the matter of concern," he said.
"This is not the way mature systems work. You cannot create an atmosphere of distrust, fear, and insecurity amongst the senior most civil servants of the country," he added.
Earlier in the day, Dr. S. Jaishankar took the charge as the new Foreign Secretary. He replaced Sujatha Singh, whose tenure has been curtailed by nearly seven months.
The decision was taken on Wednesday night by the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Modi.
Sujatha Singh's two-year tenure was to end in August this year.
