"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. She hit out at the government saying, "My reputation is being maligned, my record being trashed. Why was this necessary?"
READ ALSO: Sushma knew Jaishankar would replace Sujatha
Affirming that she wanted to put up her papers and "leave without any ceremony and without any fuss", former envoy to the US Sujatha 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 2pm 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.
Sujatha Singh (C) with new foreign secretary S Jaishankar (L) and foreign minister Sushma Swaraj. (File photo)
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 7pm seeking early retirement "as instructed by the Prime minister".
READ ALSO: It's about institutions, not individuals, says Sujatha Singh
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.
In the interview to NDTV, she asked "Why has it become so low and dirty?". She told the TV channel that she wanted to set the record straight as she believed that a campaign on social media "is being manipulated and deliberately driven."
READ ALSO: Why PM Modi was unhappy with Sujatha Singh
Sujatha is the first foreign secretary to be removed unceremoniously after Rajiv Gandhi removed AP Venkateswaran 28 years ago in 1987.
Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, India's ambassador to the US, who's a batch junior to Sujatha in the service, appointed as new foreign secretary.
From all accounts, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had been unimpressed with Singh and her work, and had made no secret of it in the past months. There had been talk of a change for some time, but foreign minister Sushma Swaraj is said to have wanted Singh to stay on.
(With inputs from PTI)
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