Indian deputy consul general arrested in US on visa fraud charges

[Bang Galore]

even with India reassigning her to the UN, US State department not giving retroactive immunity

No retroactive immunity for Khobragade, US says - The Times of India

Doesn't matter. If she is granted immunity, that's it. It is over. Immunity attaches to the person. No prosecution can take place.

 

[Pakistanisage]

It is not a crime by Indian Law, and she has diplomatic immunity from US laws. What part of that do you not understand ?

Actually she did not have " Diplomatic Immunity ". If she had Diplomatic Immunity he could not be arrested. She Had " Consular Immunity " which is one step below Full diplomatic immunity. Under Consular immunity she cannot be arrested for her consular duties but can be arrested for her Personal Conduct.

What Part of this don't you understand ?


Kaisa @Imran Khan ?

 

[favabeans]

Arresting the Indian diplomat was justified. She isn't the victim, her maid is | Ritwik Deo | Comment is free | theguardian.com

Arresting the Indian diplomat was just. She isn't the victim, her maid is

Activists of a frontline Hindu organisation protest against the arrest and treatment of Devyani Khobragade outside the US embassy in Bhopal, India. Photograph: Sanjeev Gupta/EPA
It takes a lot to get Indian politicians united, but from the right-wing Bharatiya Janata Party to the ruling Congress party, all have issued the strongest condemnation of the US government in the way it dealt with a female Indian diplomat in the US.

Devyani Khobragade, the deputy consul general for political, economic, social and women's affairs was handcuffed and strip-searched when being arrested for submitting false visa documentation. The US government contends that they were well within their rights to exercise a court arrest warrant as the junior diplomat did not enjoy full immunity.

Yet here's the point most in India are missing: Khobragade isn't the victim here, her maid is. Not one Indian politician, not one Indian media station highlighted the real story about paying your domestic help a mere $3.31 an hour (in a country where the minimum wage is $7.25 and the diplomat stated on official documents that she would pay the maid about $9.75 an hour).

America is far from an egalitarian state. However, at least it tries. The media furore in India, the cancelled appointments with the US delegation and the obligatory tramping of the stars and stripes on Indian streets shouldn't come as a shock to anyone familiar with India's sensitivity towards the treatment of one of its educated and urbane middle class representatives abroad.

The Indian establishment is one that demands VVIP treatment; no security checkpoints for them, chauffeured cars with flashing lights and diverted traffic in rush hour are mandatory. Somnath Chatterjee, former speaker of the Indian parliament, once cancelled his trip to Australia when told he would have to go through airport security. He called it an affront to India. For a middle class Indianbabu to be frisked is unimaginable.

Compare that to how Indian maidservants – the aayahs and the bhaiyas – live. They are the early risers and the last ones to bed. Armies of servants live in shanties and slums in urban agglomerates nannying and mopping, cooking and scrubbing for their masters. Slaving for a pittance and with no job contracts in place, they enjoy few protections.

Those that serve the Indian middle classes are voiceless. Often from the lower castes, their views and interests go unconsidered. The plight of Indian domestic help being mistreated in the Middle East is well documented. Though they are sexually assaulted, beaten up and made to forgo their passports and basic human rights, the Indian Ministry of External Affairs does little (arguably nothing) to help.

In India, the fact that an upper class Indian is put in cuffs for something as petty as violating their servant's rights is seen as an aberration. Considering a servant as an untermensch is not an exception; it is a way of life. Indians are desensitised to the plight of their servants in the way the west is not. As a privileged son of Brahmin Indian doctors, I have had a ringside seat view. We are infamous for turning a blind eye to the daily depredations on the lower socioeconomic classes' rights.

Americans should understand the larger context here: the Indian middle classes, the purveyors and consumers of India's media channels, are in turmoil. The economy is floundering, inflation is sky high and dreams of real-estate and glitzy cars now seem unreal. Superpower allusions are in tatters. This arrest makes for a perfect vent for a Napoleonic complex.

Devyani Khobragade is a well connected scion of a family of powerful government officials. A minor Indian diplomat not granted full immunity, she was subjected to the same treatment as any human trafficker would have got in the US, and for this India rages. Here is a classic case of privilege if there ever was one.

This might come as a humiliation for a section of Indians who fervently believe that the divine rights of their gilded few must be preserved at all costs, but perhaps for the rank and file of the underclasses, this arrest is the best possible advertisement of their situation.

 

[Airboss786]

What is a full body cavity search? - India - DNA

What is a full body cavity search?

A full body cavity search is a visual search or manual internal inspection of body cavities for prohibited material such as illegal drugs, money, jewellery, or weapons. This search is different from a strip search as it involves poking fingers or inserting the entire hand into suspect's rectums.

There are two types of BCS — visual and manual.

Visual body cavity search involves checking of body cavities like nostrils, ears, mouth, penis, vagina and rectum with the help of a flashlight. The person undergoing this search needs to regulate the body parts for a proper examination.

Manual search involves body cavities being examined using a finger or the entire hand. However, this type of search is restricted to individuals who either refuse to cooperate with the authorities or when there is a proof of the suspect carrying any of the barred substances.

Guidelines to conduct the search:

According to a Hindu report, the US Marshals Service's (USMS) protocol documents, called the Prisoner Operations Service Directives, have a separate section dedicated to body searches.

As per the body search guidelines in the document, the USMS is authorised to carry out four types of searches — pat-down search, in-custody search, strip-search and digital cavity search.

The guidelines also state that while conducting a strip search that Marshals need to ensure that it is done in a private location where only designated personnel are allowed examine the detainee.

The rules further state that that the search be conducted by a member of the same sex unless it is a physician or nurse, and all efforts be made to protect the modesty of the person.

During the search, the designated officer can instruct the prisoner/detainee to take off all the loose things and conduct a thorough visual examination of the prisoner's body from head to toe.

In the next stage of inspection, the officer can check behind each ear and look inside the prisoner's ear canals, nostrils, and mouth, (under the tongue also), roof of the mouth, and between the lips and gums.

They are also authorised to visually inspect the front part of the body, paying close attention to areas such as armpits, breasts, and genital area.

The protocol also authorises the officer to direct the prisoner to “spread her legs and bend forward at the waist [to] observe the anus area and genitals from the rear.”

Lastly, the protocol advises conclusion of the examination with an observation of the bottoms and between the toes of both feet.

This Woman Is Definitely A South Injin!
Pathetic, Injins are calling her to be of the 'Dalit' Caste!

 

[Imran Khan]

Actually she did not have " Diplomatic Immunity ". If she had Diplomatic Immunity he could not be arrested. She Had " Consular Immunity " which is one step below Full diplomatic immunity. Under Consular immunity she cannot be arrested for her consular duties but can be arrested for her Personal Conduct.

What Part of this don't you understand ?


Kaisa @Imran Khan ?

immunity or not ab kya faida ab to kapry uter gaay or jail ki hawa kha li

 

[Solomon2]

I suppose the long-term solution is for India's consuls and their other lower-ranking officials here to make do without servants, since their home country doesn't pay them enough to afford even one. If they need help for a party at their home they can hire the occasional caterer or bring staff or students to their homes to help at official functions, or not have parties at home at all. Even the French sometimes choose to stage an event at a local restaurant here rather than an embassy or residence.

This change might affect a diplomat's self-image but does not affect their status according to protocol. A U.S. deputy consul in an expensive European capital like Paris will live in a tiny apartment even if she's got a spouse and kids. (If you don't like it there's always somebody else who wants to live in Paris.) I've even known foreign ambassadors who didn't have servants (I don't count the chauffeur) in their official homes here in the D.C. area.

 

[sms]

I suppose the long-term solution is for India's consuls and their other lower-ranking officials here to make do without servants, since their home country doesn't pay them enough to afford even one. If they need help for a party at their home they can hire the occasional caterer or bring staff or students to their homes to help at official functions, or not have parties at home at all. Even the French sometimes choose to stage an event at a local restaurant here rather than an embassy or residence.

This change might affect a diplomat's self-image but does not affect their status according to protocol. A U.S. deputy consul in an expensive European capital like Paris will live in a tiny apartment even if she's got a spouse and kids. (If you don't like it there's always somebody else who wants to live in Paris.) I've even known foreign ambassadors who didn't have servants (I don't count the chauffeur) in their official homes here in the D.C. area.

Plausible solution!!
Or they send them as Govt. employee on temp contract with what ever salary deems correct based on Indian rules/ conditions.

 

[Solomon2]

Or they send them as Govt. employee on temp contract with what ever salary deems correct based on Indian rules/ conditions.

You can't employ domestics overseas on a temp contract by Indian rules under the Convention. But I have seen college students employed - perhaps as unpaid volunteers - to help host parties at the official residence of their ambassador.

 

[sms]

You can't employ domestics overseas on a temp contract by Indian rules under the Convention. But I have seen college students employed - perhaps as unpaid volunteers - to help host parties at the official residence of their ambassador.

What I was trying to imply that there are too many loop hole in system to take advantage. Leaving a case open like this is act of stupidity!!

In this case both either or both ladies tried to take advantage of situation. We'll know details once media frenzy and act pf scoring brownie points stops.

 

[adwityagrata]

Actually she did not have " Diplomatic Immunity ". If she had Diplomatic Immunity he could not be arrested. She Had " Consular Immunity " which is one step below Full diplomatic immunity. Under Consular immunity she cannot be arrested for her consular duties but can be arrested for her Personal Conduct.
What Part of this don't you understand ?
Kaisa @Imran Khan ?

Even under Consular Immunity, she still CANNOT BE ARRESTED unless the charges agaist her are GRAVE.

So far the charges against her are NOT for "slavery" or "wage dispute". The Charges against her is for "lying in visa form".

That is NOT a Grave charge for which she can be Arrested.

What part of this don't you understand you idiot ?

 

[Solomon2]

No more fresh-ground spices in the homes of Indian diplomats. That's what the domestics really do, you know. The spouse and kids do the cooking while the domestic grinds spices and does some washing. The aroma is wonderful. Still, it's not like you can't buy the same stuff in stores and if you use it promptly you're unlikely to notice the difference - no, that's not true, of course you will. You'll just have to accommodate yourselves to the change.

 

[adwityagrata]

No more fresh-ground spices in the homes of Indian diplomats. That's what the domestics really do, you know. The spouse and kids do the cooking while the domestic grinds spices and does some washing. The aroma is wonderful. Still, it's not like you can't buy the same stuff in stores and if you use it promptly you're unlikely to notice the difference - no, that's not true, of course you will. You'll just have to accommodate yourselves to the change.

No more child sex victims for these US diplomats. That's what these diplomats really do, you know.

I guess US diplomats and consulate members will have to accommodate themselves to the new set of rules.

Were you a cook or a man servant in an Indian diplomat's house ? You sure have enough suggestions on how to provide for replacements and what happens in the household

 

[Solomon2]

No more child sex victims for these US diplomats. That's what these diplomats really do, you know.

Fine by me. You're talking to the kid who learned to run away from slow limousines with diplomatic tags at age twelve.

 

[adwityagrata]

Plausible solution!!
Or they send them as Govt. employee on temp contract with what ever salary deems correct based on Indian rules/ conditions.

Nonsense. Nothing of this sort is required.

Article 47 of the Vienna convention on consular relations clearly says domestic staff can be brought in from India and can be paid Indian salaries.

No need to accommodate any more US arrogance.

 

[manlion]

No more fresh-ground spices in the homes of Indian diplomats. That's what the domestics really do, you know.

Shalom and how about suggesting instant curry -