Washington Post Offers No Apology for Manmohan Story

Washington: As a Washington Post article on the allegedly poor leadership of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh created a strong reaction in Delhi, the influential U.S. daily's correspondent said he stood by the story and offered no apology.

"I stand by the story," wrote Simon Denyer, the Post's India bureau chief and author of the story, in a blog post in response to a complaint from Pankaj Pachauri, communications adviser at the Prime Minister's Office.

"My apology was for the fact that the website was down and the PM's office could not post a reply directly. As soon as the problem was fixed, I informed them," added Denyer.

In a front page story Wednesday, the Post had called Manmohan Singh "a dithering, ineffectual bureaucrat presiding over a deeply corrupt government" and quoted sources who described a man "fatally handicapped by his timidity, complacency and intellectual dishonesty."

Responding to the Post article, Pachauri in a letter to Denyer, wrote: "We do not complain about criticism of the government which is a journalist's right. But I am writing this letter for pointing out unethical and unprofessional conduct at your part."

In his complaint, the official said: "Despite all lines of conversations open, you never got in touch with us for our side of the story though you regularly talk to me about information from the PMO. This story thus becomes totally one sided."