INDIAN ENVOY DEVYANI KHOBRAGADE HUMILATED BY THE US

 

The statement issued by Preet Bahara US attorney defending the action against Devyani Khobragade is available here. It is a well contrived bundle of lies and proves the Indian assertion that the entire chain of events was to humilate Indians. Arrogance and US superiority stinks through out the statement issued by Preet Bahara . Let us examine the statement :

 1. The statement mentions that a complaint was received. It is not clarified from whom the complaint was received. From reports emerging till date , no complaint was  ever lodged with the US Govt  by the maid servant of the diplomat .Moreover the maid servant Sangeeta Richard was reported missing by Indian Govt and her passports were cancelled. This was informed to the US authorities.  Incase the maid approached the US authorities for lodging a complaint it was their duty to hand over her to the Indian authorities. It is therefore obvious that the US Govt suo-motto took the decision to prosecute the lady diplomat and to humilate her.

He further states that a US law which has been made to prevent exploitation of servants of diplomats/consular employees has been broken. First of all I am really aghast at the arrogance of the US to decide how much a national of a foreign nation should pay to his employee. I can understand a advisory/guidelines in this regard but here surely the US is acting as if it has the right to dictate others. Should a nation pay their employees according to the per capita income of its people or should pay it according to US standards? Should the servant be paid $4200 dollars when the diplomat is getting a salary of $4500? It is ridiculous to think even that this is possible.
So let us be clear on one thing that there was no exploitation of the servant. Her entire boarding charges,travelling expences,medical expenses plus her salary comes to a handsome amount. There was even no complaint from the servant during her tenure that she was being exploited.

It is unfortunate that a US attorney is drumming these charges of exploitation on technical grounds to hide its real intention of targeting the Indian Govt.This person Preet Bahara is of Indian origin and it seems that to enhance his acceptability among the white people he is particularly enthusiastic in targeting the Indians.

There is one other point which I want to bring out especially when the US in this case is projecting itself as a superman coming to the rescue of  the poor and exploited. Does the US pay the domestic helps employed by their diplomats US minimum wages? Surely the US embassies are US territories by definition and the local domestic helps working there should get salaries according to US standards. But the US empathy for the poor ends here. According to reports the salaries of these employees in their south asia centers are a meager $1 per day!

So this US law about enforcing US minimum wages on foreign diplomats is not only defective but obnoxious and unfair. The other fact is that the unpractibility of this law was in the notice of the US Govt and they knew that almost all the third world embassies were not adhering to it. The anomaly between the salary paid and that declared on the visa application form was known to the US authorities. And this practice was in vogue for the past several years. Then how is that suddenly they woke up to this great injustice being done and arrested  the Indian diplomat. To be precise not only arrested but handcuffed and body searched. If they suddenly woke up to the issue then in all fairness they should have given prior notice to all the embassies and consular offices warning them of strict implementation of the law. The diplomats would have either terminated the services of the domestic helps or would have taken some other appropriate action to protect themselves. But here I would again like to point out that this was preplanned operation to target the Indian Govt.

Therefore as claimed by Mr Preet Bahara there was no evading of the US law but a mere continuation of  the custom prevailing till now with the silent approval of the US. It is another matter that the US suddenly decided to implement it without issuing any warnings.

It is also incorrect as alleged that the diplomat created false documents knowingly. The visa application was signed by the maid servant fully aware that the salary mentioned would not be paid and was a mere formality to complete the paper work. It is already stated above that this practice was in vogue since past several years  because of the simple reason that the salary of a servant cannot be more than a employer and US was well aware of it.

The statement further expresses its dismay that a petty matter like the treatment to the diplomat is being given more importance instead of  focusing on the treatment meted out to the servant. This statement proves in a nutshell that demeaning and humiliating behavior towards Indian diplomats is a insignificant matter for the US. How was that Mr Preet was so sure that the the maid servant was not indulging in a well thought out plan to blackmail  her employer to extract financial gains and to seek permanent residence in the US? Obviously this attorney was acting with a ulterior motive  and therefore completely avoids this angle.

I would like  to present several facts which points towards a conspiracy by either Sangeeta Richard alone or in connivance with the US authorities.

 First the maid servant accepted the employment fully aware that the salary mentioned in the visa application would not be paid to her. Second  she worked with the employer for 8 months and never complained about her salary. One fine day she tells the employer that she wants to work outside during holiday.Note that she was given holidays also. No exploitation. The permission is refused rightly by the employer since it would violate the terms of employment in the US. The diplomat goes out of station and when she returns the maid is not there.  The date was 23.6.13 .She has just disappeared. The Indian Govt informs the US authorities and revokes her passport. There is no help from the US side to trace the missing maid. On 1.7.13 the diplomat Khobragade receives a anonymous call asking for certain favors in return for not filing a court case against her. Is this not blackmail and clearly shows the intention of the maid servant.? On 2.7.13 the diplomat reports the matter to NYPD and tells them that she is being blackmailed and to trace the call received by her. There is absolutely no action. It seemed that a plot designed by top US authorities was at work to ensnare the lady diplomat. In despair the diplomat files a case in India for restraining Sangeeta Richard from filing any case against her in the US and also praying for anticipatory bail. Then one fine day on 4.9.13 the Indian Embassy receives a letter from US authorities informing that the charges made by the maid is serious. So it was admitted that the maid was in contact with the US authorities and deliberately not handed over inspite of missing complaint lodged by the Indian embassy . This clearly proves the conspiracy angle.

On 21.9.13 Delhi High Court passes the order restraining Sangeeta Richard from filing any court case against the diplomat outside India and on 19.11.13 issued a arrest warrant for her arrest. Inspite of these orders being immediately forwarded to the US authorities no action was taken. The orders of the Indian court was rather treated as a piece of garbage.A completely opposite action was taken, that is to file a case against the diplomat and then to arrest her.

And now the best part. The husband and the daughter was secretly granted visa by the US embassy in Delhi and flown away to USA on the same day. It is now reported that they are being granted green cards. The question  is whether the objective of the  Richards( quite a impressive name) was to gain permanent status? Or they were part of a conspiracy to malign India? Or may be  Sangeeta supplied some information to the US intelligence and her family received a reward in the form of permanent immigration.

Therefore it is surprising that Mr Preet Bharara did not look into the possibility of conspiracy and blackmail by the maid.

The entire timeline of the episode can be found here

 2. Here Mr Preet only repeats the justification of his action. He completely refuses to acknowledge the chain of events ending with the escape of the husband. The hand of the US in keeping the maid hidden. Inaction of NYPD. Ignoring of Indian court orders for the arrest of the maid servant and for not initiating any legal action against Devyani. This is amazing Mr Preet !

The truth is that she was betrayed by the US and ensnared and used for ulterior reasons. The entire truth will come out some day.

 3. The third paragraph by the most loyal servant of the United States is entirely devoted to the allegations made by the maid. The allegations among others that she was made to work 40 hours a week  and was forced to change the contract are merely in the realm of speculations. Arrest,handcuffing and other atrocities are not required just because somebody has made certain allegations. That too without even hearing the other side which happens to be a diplomat of a friendly country. Obviously the learned attorney was more interested to serve  the orders of his superior masters rather than administering justice.

 4. This part in which Mr Preet sketches a rosy picture of all the courtesy accorded to the victim is most interesting. Earlier the State Deptt officials completely washed their hands off the entire matter of subjecting the diplomat to humiliating treatment. Saying that once the case is transferred to the arresting authorities they have no role to play in it. But now Mr Preet remembers every detail vividly. Everything was hunky dory ! they even offered her food. But he also cleverly does not deny handcuffing and cavity search. Of course it was all standard procedure.

It does not occur to this learned attorney that under the Vienna convention for consular's all due respect is to be extended. The diplomat could have been called to the office of the arresting official and then questioned and offered bail. Of course it is another thing that by doing such a thing they would be defeating the very purpose for which this intricate web was woven. That is demeaning and humiliating India before the international community. This is a classic example of rubbing salt to the injuries.
In the Raymond Davis case the US demanded diplomatic immunity from Pakistan even though he was not a diplomat attached to the US embassy there. He was a US citizen as a consular. So how is that our diplomat is not covered under immunity? But then Mr Preet conveniently becomes blind to the fact .

 5. Here Mr Preet acknowledges that the US arranged for extracting the family of the maid from India and clandestinely flew him to the United States. All in the name of dispensing justice! What other proof one needs that the entire operation was meticulously planned. Just after 2 days after the arrival of the family in the US, Devyani was arrested. It all looks like a spy thriller. Till now spies were being secretly extracted from enemy territory. Now even in cases of wage disputes the US is ready to transcend all international laws and undermine the sovereignty of nations. This is a dangerous trend. Does the jurisdiction of the  justice deptt of the US envelopes all nations in the world? But the learned attorney justifies it in the name of justice. If this concept is followed by other countries,complete chaos would reign. Each country has its own laws and the concept of justice varies. Should a country in which death penalty is not allowed should start extracting people under sentence of death in the US. What type of attorney is Mr Preet ,giving such a ridiculous argument? If his argument is followed then we would be completely justified to give asylum to Snowden.

 Mr Preet please note that the world is not the private domain of the United States. People like you with inflated ideas of greatness do utmost harm to friendly relations and sow the seeds of hatred and contempt for the US. You have done nothing in this case for the sake of justice but for the sake of feeding the inflated ego of the US. The entire case is fabricated,preplanned ,unconstitutional and contrived deliberately to bully India. Iam  sure that the details of the conspiracy would surface one day.

In the end I would state that the Indian people are united to condemn this nefarious action of the United States. Rest assured Ms Devyani Khobragade would emerge out of this episode clean and shining. The humiliation would be of the United States

 

 

AK BUNDI

19.12.13