FROM BAD TO WORSE: HUNDREDS HAVE DEMONSTRATED ACROSS INDIAN CITIES PROTESTING THE DIPLOMAT’S ARREST IN USA
Hundreds have demonstrated across Indian cities protesting against the diplomat's
arrest in the US.
India has alleged that the recent arrest of one of its top diplomats in the
US was part of a conspiracy, a charge that has gained momentum with the
emergence of new facts surrounding the incident threatening bilateral ties
between the two global powers.
Media reports on Wednesday suggested that Washington acted conspiratorially
against Indian advice and legal injunctions, and has even given visas to the
family of the nanny - at the heart of the dispute - who is being sought by the
Indian police.Reacting to Indian anger and measures in retaliation following the "common criminal" type treatment of senior diplomat Khobragade, US Secretary of State John Kerry said the issue must not be allowed to hurt ties between the two friendly countries.
He also said it was important that all courtesies be extended to foreign diplomats similar to the way the US expects its diplomats to be treated elsewhere.
Meanwhile, US federal prosecutor Preet Bharara, who made the highly unusual move of issuing a lengthy statement addressing the arrest and issues not in a criminal complaint.
INDIA REMOVES CONCRETE BARRIERS MEAN TO PROTECT U.S. EMBASSY?
The arrest and strip-search of India's deputy consul general in New York triggered an escalating diplomat dispute on Tuesday, as Indian politicians boycotted a visit by US congressmen and Delhi threatened to remove privileges for US diplomats.
Devyani Khobragade was released on bail two hours after being arrested last week for visa fraud and making false statements on an 
application for her Indian housekeeper to live and work in New York.
application for her Indian housekeeper to live and work in New York.
Prosecutors in New York say Khobragade, 39, claimed she would pay her maid $4,500 (£2,800) a month when applying for a visa at the US embassy in Delhi – but actually paid her $573 (£350) a month, or $3.31 – less than the US minimum wage.
But her public arrest and subsequent treatment as "a common criminal" has prompted outrage at home.
India's national security adviser called the treatment of Khobragade on Tuesday "despicable and barbaric".
Nancy Powell, US ambassador to Delhi, was summoned by the Indian foreign secretary, Sujatha Singh, last week and on Tuesday officials said that US diplomats would be asked to reveal full details of how much they paid their own domestic staff in India to ensure compliance with local laws.
Earlier on Tuesday bulldozers removed security barriers outside the US embassy in Delhi – the most visible evidence of the anger
in the country sparked by the incident last week.
Earlier on Tuesday bulldozers removed security barriers outside the US embassy in Delhi – the most visible evidence of the anger
in the country sparked by the incident last week.
Indian government officials told the Guardian that they were "hurt and shocked".
"No Indian diplomat has been treated this way for decades.
The U.S. is our friend and strategic ally and you can't just treat a friendly country's representatives like this. This is major, major ill treatment and is totally inexplicable," one said.
Source: Agency
INDIA VOWS TO RESTORE DIGNITY OF DIPLOMAT STRIPPED IN USA
Last
Friday, Devyani Khobragade, 39, India's Deputy Consul General(photo) has been arrested in New York after she paid her
house-keeper only $3.13 an hour and lied to get her into the country, federal
prosecutors said Thursday.She was arrested Thursday and released on $250,000 bail after surrendering her passport so she can't flee the country.
She
faces one count of visa fraud and one count of making false statements. If
convicted, the charges carry a total maximum penalty of 15 years in prison. Khobragade's
lawyer on Thursday said that his client enjoys diplomatic immunity and said he
would moved to have the charges dismissed on those grounds. But U.S. Attorney for Manhattan
Preet Bharara was adamant.
convicted, the charges carry a total maximum penalty of 15 years in prison. Khobragade's
lawyer on Thursday said that his client enjoys diplomatic immunity and said he
would moved to have the charges dismissed on those grounds. But U.S. Attorney for Manhattan
Preet Bharara was adamant.
According to US
Marshals Service Khobragade, 39, had been strip-searched like other prisoners
after being detained while dropping her two children off at school.
- However, India vowed on Wednesday to bring one of its diplomats home at any price after her arrest in New York, as she told how she broke down in tears after being stripped and cavity-searched.
- As a leading daily hailed the government for “taking on Uncle Sam”, Foreign Minister Salman Khurshid pledged to “restore the dignity” of the diplomat—whose treatment at the hands of a superpower has touched a raw nerve in India.
- Khurshid’s promise came a day after India announced a series of reprisals and despite an overnight plea by the US State Department not to allow the row to damage relations.
- “It is my duty to bring the lady back,” Khurshid told lawmakers.
- “We have to restore her dignity and I will do it at any cost,” he added in the highest-level intervention by an Indian official since deputy consul general Devyani Khobragade was arrested last Thursday.
- With a general election just months away, the ruling Congress and the nationalist opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) are both keen to be seen as standing up to the United States over the issue.
- Yashwant Sinha, a former BJP foreign minister, said Tuesday that India should now arrest American gays who were in India after a ruling last week that upheld a colonial-era ban on homosexuality.
- “India takes on Uncle Sam,” read the front-page headline of The Hindustan Times, while the Mail Today splashed with “Bulldozer Diplomacy” on top of a picture of a digger dragging away concrete barricades outside the US embassy on Tuesday.
- US consular officials have also been told to return identity cards that speed up travel into and through India. Import clearances for them, including for alcohol, have been suspended.
- The ultra-nationalist Shiv Sena organization staged an anti-US protest on Wednesday, shouting slogans such as “Down with Barack Obama!”
- “The way America has tortured our diplomat is wrong. They stripped her down and humiliated an Indian woman, an Indian representative and we will not tolerate that,” said Jaiprakash Baghal, one of the protesters.
Another could be
seen naked except for an American flag wrapped around his waist and a mask of
US President Barack Obama as the demonstrators marched towards the American
embassy.
State Department
deputy spokeswoman Marie Harf admitted the arrest was a “sensitive issue” but
insisted it was a “separate and isolated incident” which should not be allowed
to affect broader ties.
Harf added that
as a consular official, Khobragade does not have full diplomatic immunity but
has consular immunity applicable only to her professional duties.
Source: Mail
Online, Agencies
VISITORS GEOFLAGS SINCE AUGUST 26, 2009
