“Mayawati has betrayed rational thought... has she also betrayed the Dalit?”

Hitting back at Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati who wanted him to be put in a “mental asylum,” WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange on Tuesday said Ms. Mayawati needed to take up her case with the U.S. if she had a problem with the contents of American diplomatic cables that painted her as an “egomaniac.”

His statement came hours after Ms. Mayawati slammed him over the U.S. diplomatic cables released by WikiLeaks last week that described how the BSP supremo once allegedly dispatched her empty private jet to fetch her favourite sandals from Mumbai. The cables also claimed that she had food tasters to sample her meals and a “security entourage to rival a head of state.”

In a press statement, Mr. Assange said: “Mayawati has betrayed rational thought. The question is, has she also betrayed the Dalit? There is no question that the documents [leaked U.S. cables] are official papers...from the U.S. embassy. These papers have been proven the world over, including by the aggressive persecution of our people by Washington.”

“The allegations within them are made by U.S. diplomats in their private communications back to [Secretary of State] Hillary Clinton. If Chief Minister Mayawati has a problem with the contents of these communications, she needs to take it up with Hillary. I ask that Mayawati admit her error and apologise,” he said.

“Should she fail to do so, she is welcome to send a private jet to England to collect me, where I have been detained against my will, under house arrest for the last 272 days. I would be happy to accept asylum, political asylum, in India, a nation I love. In return, I will bring Mayawati a range of the finest British footwear.”