Uproar over arrest of Indian Consular in New York
Asif Haroon Raja
Indians are notorious for their
impulsiveness and impish behavior and are famous for shooting first and taking
aim later. In other words, they react before thinking. Indian leaders backed by
their hyper media go wild whenever any incident concerning India take place
whether inside or outside India. They are quick to make a mountain out of a
mole by shouting at the top of their voice and creating war hysteria. Somebody
aptly said that Indians bewail like an old village woman, accusing and bad
mouthing others. As faithful disciples of infamous Chankya, they love falsehood
and trickery and are adept in putting their sins in the basket of others. They
revel in psychological war, propaganda and sensationalism and these tools are
employed, both in peace and war, to paint their enemies in black. Their
childish pranks and tantrums become more disgusting because more often they
consider themselves innocent as a lamb and others as the villains. They were at
their worst during Kargil conflict in 1999, terrorist attack on Indian
Parliament in December 2001 and terrorist attacks in Mumbai in November 2008.
Till recent the wrath of India’s high-handed tactics fell upon its neighbors,
particularly on its chief rival Pakistan.
Assuming itself to be a potential world
power, it seems India has started to show eyes to its chief mentor which has
since 1991 gone out of the way to systematically build its political, economic,
military and nuclear strengths. Arrest of India's Deputy Consul General in New
York Devyani Khobargade raised a storm in India and chilled Indo-US relations.
This incident is the third of its kind in three years. Previous New York Consul
General, Prabhu Dayal, was almost arrested for the same reason, but he quickly
settled the matter with his domestic help. In 2011, another Indian diplomat was
charged for underpaying her domestic servant. The court fined her $1.5 million.
Then in 2010, the daughter of a diplomat was arrested for sending a series of
obscene e-mails.
In an email published in Indian media,
Khobragade wrote that said she was treated like a common criminal. "I
broke down many times as the indignities of repeated handcuffing, stripping and
cavity searches, swabbing, in a holdup with common criminals and drug addicts
were all being imposed upon me despite my incessant assertions of
immunity". Indian media portrayed her as a victim who had been
insulted and humiliated and picked up cudgels to lambast the US authorities.
For days, the entire electronic and print media of India remained glued with
this so-called assault on the Indian Consular, referred to as a diplomat.
Indians spat poison against USA on social websites. Some said it was a betrayal
and a slap across the face of India. Akbaruddin, the MEA spokesman in New
Delhi, was quoted by Hindustan Times as "You cannot humiliate a mother of
two publicly. "What an asinine logic, as if "mothers of
two" have a mechanical immunity and others do not have it.
In no time the incident was turned into an
international incident. Indian officials claimed the consular official's
treatment was heavy-handed, immoral and degrading. External Affairs Minister
Salman Khurshid told reporters that Khobragade should never have been arrested,
and that the housekeeper should have been arrested instead. He stated,
"This is an extremely distressing and hurtful incident that needs to be addressed”
and demanded that the U.S. drop federal charges against her. Dozens of people
protested outside the U.S. Embassy, saying Khobragade's treatment was an insult
to Indian women.
Indians retaliated on several fronts, including dragging away
security barriers from outside the U.S. Embassy in New Delhi. U.S.
diplomat privileges have been downgraded. Their diplomatic ID cards were
revoked that brought certain privileges. They wanted to know the salaries paid
to Indian staff in U.S. Embassy households and demanded withdrawing import
licenses that allowed the commissary at the U.S. Embassy to import alcohol and
food. As of now, many US diplomat spouses are in danger of being arrested
for working without a work visa and evading taxes in India. Dozens of people
protested outside the U.S. Embassy, saying Khobragade's treatment was an insult
to Indian women. Indian media then trained its guns on the U.S. prosecutor
Preet Bharara, terming him over zealous and opportunist, and the maid Sangeeta
Richards saying that rather than arresting and deporting her on charges of
fraud, she was made to appear as the poor helpless victim by Preet. India is
demanding Sangeeta’s repatriation for trial in India.
In an effort to contain the furor, the
U.S. State Department officials scrambled to taper off the tension. Secretary
of State John Kerry personally expressed "regret". But Preet
Bharara, who represents Manhattan, blasted the "misinformation and factual
inaccuracy" surrounding the case. He claimed the "inflammatory
atmosphere" that had developed was "unfounded," while
cataloguing the litany of alleged offenses committed by the Indian diplomat in
question. Khobragade stands accused of lying on a visa application about
how much she paid her housekeeper, an Indian national.
U.S. officials acknowledged Khobragade was
strip-searched, but described it as standard procedure. The body search and the
alleged cavity search is part of the procedures in the book after arrest. No
one is to be spared. It was further clarified that this was done in a
private setting by a female officer. Other claims of her mistreatment were also
disputed, clarifying that Khobragade was, among other things, given coffee and
offered food while detained. And that she was wasn't handcuffed, restrained or
arrested in front of her children as alleged. U.S. State Department disputes
hers and Indian authorities claim that she enjoyed full diplomatic immunity
against crimes. Officially, Khobargade had only limited immunity on work
related to consular functions.
In the U.S. there are minimum-wage laws at
the State and federal level. New York State's minimum wage is $9 or so.
Khobargade in her application for the maid's A-2 visa submitted a copy of a
contract with the maid showing a wage of $5,400 per month for a 40 hour per
week. Interestingly, Khobragade's own pay was $5,000 a month. Later, she
unilaterally changed the terms of the contract with the maid and made her sign
on a $3.00 per hour without mentioning the number of hours. Khobragade then got
a court order from a Delhi Magistrate forcing the maid not to complain to an
American authority. When the maid did, Khobragade got a warrant issued from the
same Delhi Magistrate against contempt of court.
The maid fled the household and reported
the matter to federal authorities in New York. Preet Bharara hailing from India
is a soft spoken and mild mannered young man and is reputed to be upright and
blunt. He has prosecuted a big number of Wall Street crooks for inside
trading. For these reasons he is the most respected and most feared
prosecutor in America. When he saw how the maid was being abused, he decided to
arrest and prosecute the offender Khobragade for violating the American laws.
He blasted the "misinformation and factual inaccuracy" surrounding
the case. He claimed the "inflammatory atmosphere" that has developed
is "unfounded," while cataloguing the litany of alleged offenses
committed by the Indian diplomat in question.
Khobragade stands accused of lying on a
visa application about how much she paid her housekeeper, an Indian national.
Prosecutors say the maid received $3 per hour for her work. Further, he
said, she's alleged to have treated the housekeeper "illegally in numerous
ways," paying her "far below" minimum wage and having her work
far more than the amount of time contracted. Further, he said she was alleged
to have created a second contract that was concealed from the U.S. government.
Plus he said the victim's family had to be brought to the U.S. amid an attempt
in India to "silence her." Khobragade would face a maximum
sentence of 10 years for visa fraud and five years for making a false
declaration if convicted.
Claiming to be champion of democracy and human rights, it is distressing to see
that the majority of Indians and the Indian media ignored the rights of the
poor maid and depicted her as a villain in the story. As if she was expected to
let herself be exploited by working for 24 hours at $3.00 per hour and support
her victimization. One wonders why there is so much outrage about the alleged
treatment of the Indian national accused of perpetrating these acts, but
precious little outrage about the alleged treatment of the Indian victim and
her spouse. Is it for U.S. prosecutors to look the other way, ignore the
law and the civil rights of victims, or is it the responsibility of the
diplomats and consular officers and their government to make sure the law is
observed?"
The dust has settled and Indian calculated
pressure has worked and Devyani Khobragade has been exempted from personal
court appearances. In all probability, her UN diplomatic credentials will be
approved by the UN and US State department, thereby facilitating her
return to India or staying in the US as long as the Indian government
wishes to keep her as a UN diplomat. The incident has however created a bit of
mistrust between the two honey-mooning partners for the first time in their
partnership spread over 22 years. It is said that friendship with USA is more
harmful than its enmity. Sooner than later, India will rue its decision to bed
with USA but will be unable to free itself from the US magic charm.
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