India lately has been outraged by this Devayani Khobragade saga, and the in general high-handedness of US. A lot of people, even from the affluent IT sector, who hold almost daily interaction with their american counterparts, and hence nurture a soft-corner towards US if not a very pro-US mind-set, stand highly annoyed and disillusioned about the way this Indian diplomat is treated for paltry reasons.
The perception of fuck-the-business-if-no-respect-towards-India is quite palpable in at the people I observed. So i decided to pen down my own perspective vis-a-vis American arguments.
What's this visa fraud all about?
Here is a link, that details the 'fraud'. In short Khobragade promised ~$10/hr, paid about half of that and tried to suppress that afterwards. That's all there is to the 'fraud'.
What about the Blackmailing Angle?
Going by this timeline of the Khobragade case as published by Times of India, one is inclined to wonder if this is really a fraud as touted by holier-than-thou United States of America, or if this is a gross overstepping of jurisdiction by US authorities in general. Especially since the Indian HC had issued restraining order on the maid, while the US authorities kept neglecting complaints and information since July.
What treatment was she meted out?
- Handcuffed in front of her school-going children
- Strip searched
- Cavity searched
- Confined in the same cell as drug addicts
Doesn't she have diplomatic immunity?
Well, the US says she doesn't. To quote their state department deputy spokesperson Marie Harf -
"Under the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations,
the Indian deputy consul general enjoys immunity from the jurisdiction of U.S. courts only with respect to
acts performed in the exercise of consular functions. So, in this case, she fell under that specific kind
of immunity and would be liable to arrest pending trial pursuant a felony arrest warrant."Hold on a second there, lady. Raymond Allen Davis killed 3 pakistanis working under-cover sometime back. Yet, under the same Vienna Convension on Consular Relations, you argued he perfectly enjoyed diplomatic immunity, even though he had killed 3 people in a foreign country, despite being some administration attache to the embassy (or under-cover CIA agent?).
I take it - paying $6/hr less than promised by a Depuly Consul General of India, is a wayyy graver crime than merely killing a few here and there in a foreign country by some administration attache of US embassy.
So grave, that not only is she denied any diplomatic immunity, but is strip searched, cavity searched, and confined in the same cell as drug addicts.
What does US media say?
This WaPo author - Swati Sharma tries to tone it down saying similar/worse treatments were given to other Indian diplomats as well in the past. Then why so much noise this time? So past wrongdoings justify present ones? Is that what you are trying to say Ms Sharma?
She states drug-offenses are minor in US. And under-wage charges are as grave? Are you sure you guys have got your priorities right there?
This post in TOI quotes some NYT post about Indian reaction being unworthy of a democratic govt. Excuse me? Now you will teach us about what is democratic and what is undemocratic? The same people who disregarded the whole world, even the UN, and attacked a sovereign country of Iraq - destroyed the whole country, killed its people - for what? A baseless mirage of WMDs - that were never found there.
The same people who run Guantanamo Bay, are now lecturing the most tolerant country in the world (nothing to be proud of really), about human rights violation in underpaying of a maid by a diplomat.
Opportunist Indians, in the US itself, keen to prove how 'american' they are, are using this unfortunate incident to lecture India about how it's wrong about siding with the diplomat. What they seemingly fail to understand is it's not about the diplomat. It's about the country. A diplomat represents his/her country. Faceless. So insulting, humiliating a diplomat is like insulting, humiliating his/her country.
Under-currents in the Social and National Media
While the general perception is that of anger and outrage, there is this section of not only national, but even the social media, that's busy digging out Khobragade's and her family's alleged links to corruption. What is it that you are trying to prove? That she was all corrupt and hence deserved to be humiliated by some foreign country for the graft she committed here, while she was representing India as a diplomat?
If at all true, try her in the Indian courts for those charges. I don't see any point in confusing the humiliation with India's internal business.
What Next?
While initially people were quite happy with the Indian govt showing some spine and taking some strong actions, soon it's becoming clear how sincere they were. The Delhi elections have shown that the Indian electorate is not some fool that you can deceive by mere posturing before elections.
The banana republic, that India has become due to these spineless and corrupt rulers, busy siphoning out tax payer's money through whatever outlet available, doesn't have the willingness and guts to say and do what's necessary.
Over the time, the mellow govt will meekly surrender, accept these insults and will get back to what they are good at - money-making; while the self-respecting neo Indian youth will keep licking these invisible wounds resulting out of such uncalled for arm twisting. Sad thing it is, but a fact, that we are not an Israel yet.
Update [Thu, Dec 26, 2013]:
Further to this, here are a couple of more blogs that throw some light on different aspects of the story.
Swagato Ganguly interprets Preet Bharara and his possible intentions in this interesting read - In Khobragade's hounding, an ambitious brown man assumes white man's burden
Peter Van Buren, former US foreign service employee, and now a whistleblower, analyses graver wrongdoings by US Embassies around the world, including but not limited to underpayment and abuses of domestic help by their own diplomats; exposing yet again the double-standards of holier-than-thou US - Diplomatic Abuse of Servants: Not Just for Indians
