Am sure most of us have read enough on this issue. Am trying to add my two bits of wisdom.
Issue no 1: Devyani Khobragade was arrested on charges of violating US labor laws and Visa Fraud. She was handcuffed, strip searched and allegedly a body cavity search was also done. According to India this is not how a diplomat should be treated according to the Vienna Convention. India insists she has diplomatic immunity (US state department begs to differ), however it is clear that she was treated like a petty criminal. This is the most important issue currently.
Issue no 2: Kobragade's maid (Sangeeta Richards) was underpaid (as per US laws). When she complained, a case was filed against her family (including her) in Delhi. The High Court passed an order against her and for a short period of time her husband and son were detained (I could not come across any source which confirmed that they were arrested). This is a separate issue and I definitely feel that it should be investigated, if she (Richards) was illtreated then she deserves justice. But it should not be confused with issue no 1 nor should we form opinion basis this.
Issue no 3: There are allegations that Khobragade and her family illegally acquired properties across the country. They were also allocated a flat in the infamous Adarsh Housing Society despite the fact that they owned a property in a MHADA housing complex. Assuming for a second that this is true, how exactly does it make the allegations in Issue no 1 less serious is something I cant understand. And those who say that 'She deserved it because she is corrupt', I think you have extremely low IQ and cannot distinguish between issues.
Basis whatever I read on this subject, am drawing a few conclusions and have a few questions which I would like to ask the US and Indian governments.
- Khobragade was mistreated, this was NOT in sync with her position and they way a foreign diplomat is to be treated in ANY country.
- It is not very clear if this is she had complete diplomatic immunity (she was a Consular officer).
- Her maid's passport was revoked by the Indian government and she is currently living in the USA illegally. As of now USA has not granted her formal asylum, so her status is illegal.
- Khobragade did NOT submit any of the so called fraudulent documents personally, they were submitted by her maid in her visa application. The maid is claiming that Kobragade instructed her to lie and faisify documents.
- There are reports that officers in the Russian embassy took part in a medical insurance scam, some of them were junior consular officers (as compared to Kobragade), however no action was taken against them by the US government.
- Mr Preet Bharara believes that this falls under the category of a heinous crime,
- US government granted visas to Richards' family and made them come to America, so that they do not have to face persecution in the case filed against them in India. This is a blatant interference in India's internal issue. Mr Bharara goes a step further in justifying it.
Some Questions for the US Government:
Questions for the Indian Government:
Issue no 1: Devyani Khobragade was arrested on charges of violating US labor laws and Visa Fraud. She was handcuffed, strip searched and allegedly a body cavity search was also done. According to India this is not how a diplomat should be treated according to the Vienna Convention. India insists she has diplomatic immunity (US state department begs to differ), however it is clear that she was treated like a petty criminal. This is the most important issue currently.
Issue no 2: Kobragade's maid (Sangeeta Richards) was underpaid (as per US laws). When she complained, a case was filed against her family (including her) in Delhi. The High Court passed an order against her and for a short period of time her husband and son were detained (I could not come across any source which confirmed that they were arrested). This is a separate issue and I definitely feel that it should be investigated, if she (Richards) was illtreated then she deserves justice. But it should not be confused with issue no 1 nor should we form opinion basis this.
Issue no 3: There are allegations that Khobragade and her family illegally acquired properties across the country. They were also allocated a flat in the infamous Adarsh Housing Society despite the fact that they owned a property in a MHADA housing complex. Assuming for a second that this is true, how exactly does it make the allegations in Issue no 1 less serious is something I cant understand. And those who say that 'She deserved it because she is corrupt', I think you have extremely low IQ and cannot distinguish between issues.
Basis whatever I read on this subject, am drawing a few conclusions and have a few questions which I would like to ask the US and Indian governments.
- Khobragade was mistreated, this was NOT in sync with her position and they way a foreign diplomat is to be treated in ANY country.
- It is not very clear if this is she had complete diplomatic immunity (she was a Consular officer).
- Her maid's passport was revoked by the Indian government and she is currently living in the USA illegally. As of now USA has not granted her formal asylum, so her status is illegal.
- Khobragade did NOT submit any of the so called fraudulent documents personally, they were submitted by her maid in her visa application. The maid is claiming that Kobragade instructed her to lie and faisify documents.
- There are reports that officers in the Russian embassy took part in a medical insurance scam, some of them were junior consular officers (as compared to Kobragade), however no action was taken against them by the US government.
- Mr Preet Bharara believes that this falls under the category of a heinous crime,
- US government granted visas to Richards' family and made them come to America, so that they do not have to face persecution in the case filed against them in India. This is a blatant interference in India's internal issue. Mr Bharara goes a step further in justifying it.
Some Questions for the US Government:
- One of the allegations against Khobragade is Visa Fraud and falsification of documents, what document did she falsify and submit to the US government?
- Is violation of US labor laws is a heinous crime, under what category would you classify living illegally in USA? What actions have you taken in cases where you have discovered that a person has been staying illegally in USA for 5 months?
- Have you in any previous instance granted visas to family members of people who have been staying illegally in the US to reunite them with their family?
- As per the State Department, what is a greater crime: defrauding the money of US taxpayers through medical insurance schemes or paying low wages to a foreign national (which are much higher than the standard wages paid in Asia for such jobs)?
- There are media reports that Richard Davies was granted full diplomatic status AFTER he murdered a pakistani citizen, still US insisted on full diplomatic immunity for him. Why exactly is the US State Department saying that since Khobragade has been given full diplomatic status after her arrest, it wont be considered?
- Does the US government justify the act of assisting foreign nationals escape their country so that they do not have to stand trial in the cases filed against them in their home country?
- A request was made to the State Department in September-2013, informing them that Sangeeta Richards' passport has been revoked, hence she should be extradited to India immediately, why was this request not honoured?
- A complaint was lodged with NYPD by Khobragade against her maid claiming theft, was this investigated, if yes, what was the outcome?
- There are a lot of Indian and Mexican workers in USA who are not paid as per US Labor laws, are all their employers arrested? Are all the families of these workers given US visas? If not, then why was Khobragade singled out for such treatment?
Questions for the Indian Government:
- Was a full background check conducted on Khobragade before she was appointed to represent India in USA?
- The State Department claims that India was informed 3 months ago about the case against Khobragade, what actions were taken at that time?
- Why was Khobragade not given full diplomatic status 3 months ago, when GOI was made aware of this case, to prevent this into escalating into such a big mess?
- If media reports are correct why were the husband and son on Sangeeta Richards detained / arrested by Delhi Police?
- Why is there a disconnect in the statements made by the US State Department and Mr Salman Khurshid regarding a discussion between Mr John Kerry and Mr Khurshid?
