22 January 2014

DEVYANI KHOBRAGADE


Link to Karan Thapar article is here

 

 

 

 

The Editor                                                                             Date 20.1.14

Hindustan Times

New Delhi

 

Please refer to the article "We'hv rushed in where angels fear to tread" by Karan Thapar published in Sunday  Hindustan Times dated 19.1.14.

 The Khobragade episode has largely cooled down when Karan has decided to take a quick snipe again at the Indian establishment by raising the issue and that too in a partisan manner. It would have been better if restraint was practiced. But journalist are known to go to any length to establish their version of the truth as if fighting a war. Karan Thapar line of arguments to prove that the story of the maid deserves more attention than the insult heaped on the diplomat of sovereign nation is not tenable. He has missed the forest for the trees. The issue here was largely that the conduct of the US gravely impinged on the dignity and respect of a  foreign diplomat of a strategic partner posted on its soil. It was a question of mutual respect between friends. It was a question of  not condoning the misdemeanour of a diplomat( here breaking US laws which itself is disputable) by finding a way out. We must keep in mind that the so called crime was not of such a huge dimension which threatened the existence of US. It was a matter of wage dispute and not a matter of murder and terrorism. Remember Raymond Davis who got away with murder. What the Indian Goverment was doing primarily was to make the US realise that this sort of treatment to Indian diplomats would not be tolerated. All its energy was focused to first extract Devyani Khorbagade from this mess. And here Karan Thapar like a parrot keeps on repeating that the sob story of the maid is more important. He came on CNNIBN several times and has never realised that how much he is hurting the fight of the Indian Goverment by his campaign for the maid. He talks about neutrality but he himself failed to maintain it by siding with the maid only.

 I find the article rather shallow and the points he raised rather flimsy. Let us analyse it.

 1. He says the response was not in favour of the maid since she was not a dalit. It does not occur to him that the response rose out of indignation on the treatment of our diplomat by a foreign Govt. Indians have always stood together against any nation which dares to insult us or harm us. Be it Pakistan or the strongest nation in the world. I do not understand how caste has to do anything with it. It was pure patriotism. The results are here to see. Devyani is back in India.
Regarding the maid the entire allegation is mired in controversy. How is Karan Thapar so sure that the maid was cheated? According to the facts which have emerged it seems that it was a well planned conspiracy to immigrate to the US. First the maid disappears in the US then the family leaves India with the help of US embassy. Both have now obtained permanent residence status in the US. So who has suffered? Only Devyani Khobragade who was made a scape goat in this matter. Therefore the response was due to two factors. Calculated and preplanned act of insulting India and second due to the charges being controversial due to circumstantial evidence pointing towards a trap. Cast has nothing to do with it.

 2. The main charge was that the maid was being paid below the minimum US wage. The visa application contained wrong facts. Both these allegations are not correct. The passport issued to Richards was a official passport. It means that she was part of the diplomatic staff and therefore US laws could not have applied to her. The fact should also be taken into consideration that the dispute was pending before a Indian court which has restrained Richards from proceeding against Khobragade in the US. The US had therefore had no right to intervene in the dispute till this issue was pending in a Indian court. The other thing to note is that Richards went to the US embassy to be interviewed for visa issue. Why did she accept before the visa officer that 4500$ would be paid to her when she very well knew that this was not the case? And why did the visa officer accept this if he knew that for the past several years nobody is paying US minimum wages to domestic workers of diplomatic staff? Also facts have emerged that the salary mentioned 4500$ in  the visa application was relating to the diplomat and not of the maid. The US Justice deptt committed a grave error. But the most important fact is that the maid was being paid  US minimum wages which is 9.75$ per hour. The working hours stated in the contract signed and attached with the visa application was 40 hours per month and the salary comes to 1560$ per month. The maid wanted 30,000Rs( separate contract signed between the maid and Khobragade) to be paid in India which amounts to 560$. She was being paid 560$ in India and 1000$ was being paid to her in New York. So there was no infringement of US laws.Moreover her entire expenses of board and lodging and travelling expenses were beared by the diplomat. So the entire sob story was part of a larger immigration racket which is for all to see. I wish Karan Thapar would have researched the issue before unnecessarily embarrassing the Indian Goverment.

 3.Mr Karan Thapar has quoted a letter dated 4th September,2013 written by the US State department to the Indian Embassy, New York which according to him states that " action under US law us imminent". This is entirely false. Nowhere it states that "action is imminent". The letter states that the allegation should be probed. This is a one sided letter. It is interesting to note that the Indian embassy lodged a written complaint in June,13 informing the US State deptt that the maid Richard has gone missing. It also informed that her passport has been revoked. It requested the State department to help trace the maid since she was illegally living in the US. There was no response from US deptt on this subject(inspite of reminders ) and even the NYPD refused to register a missing person complaint. Suddenly our embassy receives the above letter which is not a reply about tracing of the missing maid but about allegations by the maid! This means that the US State deptt was hiding the maid all along with the intention of building a case against India. Therefore the action of the US State Department in helping a fugitive instead of handing her over to the Indian Embassy amounts to a criminal act.

Mr Thapar suggests that on receiving the 4th Sept letter the diplomat should have been sent back to India is erroneous. Firstly because the letter did not contain a warning of imminent arrest. Secondly because US was silent on the status of the missing maid. Thirdly because withdrawal of the diplomat meant accepting that some crime has been committed.

 4. Now the question of equalising the privileges of  US and Indian diplomats. Mr Karan Thapar states that dont make a current problem to be the reason for correcting past problems. But this what precisely happens in real life. You know a friend for many years and has given him many privileges out of respect to him. One day your friend slaps you in his own house since you opened his fridge and peeped inside. According to him this was against the law prevalent in his house. Now even if you were wrong this was no way to treat a long standing friend. So you withdraw the privileges extended to him in the past. There is nothing wrong if India has withdrawn the privileges. This was the right time when it had to happen.

 In the end the entire episode smacks of  US arrogance,a deliberate plot to defame India, blatant thrusting of US laws and absolute disregard for extending basic courtesy to diplomats.

I am sure had Mr Karan Thapar been neutral and objective and also researched the subject he would have written a more balanced article.

 

AK BUNDI

 

 

 

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