India, US tension over diplomat arrest?

Question

Devyani Khobragade and Indian diplomat was arrested, handcuffed in public when she went to drop her kids at school. Then she was strip searched, and kept in cell with drug addicts and prostitutes. All because she was accused of underpaying her servant. (The servant already has an arrest warrant in India issued several months before this whole thing happened)

In retaliation of her arrest and treatment, India has taken some severe steps.

- US diplomats and their families in consulates all over India have been asked to surrender their identity cards and withdrawing airport passes for them

-Security barricades around the US embassy in Delhi have been removed
-A visiting US congressional delegation snubbed.

-India has sought salary details of all Indian staff employed in US consulates, including those working as domestic help at the homes of US diplomats in India.

- It has asked for visa and salary details of teachers at US schools here to determine if they are paying tax or not.

- It has also stopped all import clearances for the U.S. Embassy, including for liquor.

-According to some politicians and diplomats the Indian government could retaliate against the gay partners of U.S. diplomats as homosexual relationships are illegal in India.

Apart from this, the treatment of this lady diplomat has angered the Indian public and the media like never before.

So far the relationship between India and US has been friendly, and India was seen as a key ally in handling Chinese threat and terrorist threats from Pakistan and Afghanistan. It should also be mentioned that this is not the first time an Indian diplomat or politician received harsh treatment from US authorities. This I believe is one of the worst of its kind. Also this is the first time India has responded toughly. It should also be mentioned that US diplomats in India haven't had any harsh treatments so far, and in fact so far they have received more special privileges than diplomats from most other countries due to the friendly relationship between India and US.

Do you think US authorities treated the lady diplomat in a fair way? How / Why?
Do you think India has over reacted? How/Why?
Do you think the treatment of the diplomat is worth this mess?

Answer 1

I think that the Indian government is a joke.(I'm an Indian so I know) She was treated like any other person who got arrested. The Indian government's reaction to this idiotic issue is ridiculous.



The US authorities definitely treated the lady diplomat in a fair way. She committed a crime and got arrested. The strip search and stuff is what goes down when someone is arrested.

About the immunity: She was a DEPUTY consul general so

1. She isn't even the real deal. (Consul general)

2. Consular immunity is only applicable to a consul if the crime directly relates to her work as a diplomat. Cheating a housekeeper out of a lot of money does not fall under this category.



India has over reacted. The bullshit measures they have taken puts many people in danger like the people working at the US embassy.



The crime she committed wasn't extremely bad or anything(murder, rape,etc) but it is still fraud and it should be punished accordingly.

Federal prosecutors say Khobragade told the housekeeper she would be paid 30,000 rupees per month -- about $573, or $3.31 per hour. The woman worked for the family from about November 2012 through June 2013, and said she worked far more than 40 hours per week and was paid even less than 30,000 rupees.



Indians treat upper class people as above the law. If a famous politician's son committed a crime like murder the crime would be overlooked. (Who killed Jessica?) They probably expected Khobragade to receive special treatment because of some bullshit. Its all bullshit from us Indians I tell you.

Answer 2

I am not surprised that Indians are indignant about this. Look at the postings on the Travel, India boards flaunting the unfettered forced prostitution traffic. It stands to reason that the Indian public would perceive paying the housekeeper slightly less than U.S. minimum wage and falsifying documents a super generous deal worthy of a humanitarian-of-the-year award.



To the police who strip searched and put the diplomat in jail before discovering, oopsy, she has diplomatic immunity, as an American I say good job!

Answer 3

Currently, the topic of women is very sensitive in India. Maybe that's why India is reacting so harshly because she was humiliated,strip-searched and kept with drug-addicts in jail.



I don't understand this one thing of America. It tries to improve it's relationship with a country, keeping it all real, stable, happy and suddenly it takes a step which yanks away all the stability and creates a mess.



Similar thing happened during the Miss World thing. Out of no-where there was a rage on the internet. Maybe US is taking revenge lol. What do you think?

Answer 4

Did we treat her in a fair way? Yes, absolutely. The lady had her housekeeping staff working in slave-like conditions, and lied to US authorities about it. She does not have diplomatic immunity, because she is not a diplomat. So she got arrested, and if she does not flee the US, she will serve time in jail.



India definitely overreacted, because their society believes that the upper class is above the law. This is the same country that sees massive protests against the prosecution of rapists, so their entire mindset needs to change a bit.



The mess is the mess, but no one is above the law here. If relations crumble between the US and India, it will hurt them more than us, because India needs us more than we need them. Of course, all of the companies who outsourced their jobs to India will be in trouble, but I think that's a good thing.

Answer 5

hopefully the state dept will shut down the consulates in undia

and stop giving out visa for a week ....

Answer 6

It will calm down eventually.