As Parliament expressed outrage on Wednesday over the treatment meted out to Deputy Consul General Devyani Khobragade by the US in New York last week, External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid said she was trapped in a “conspiracy” after she refused to “oblige an illegality.”
Making a suo motu statement after both the Houses of Parliament unanimously condemned the US Government’s action against the Indian diplomat, Khurshid said Khobragade was “innocent” and his top most priority now was to bring her back safely and restore her dignity. “If I fail to do so, I will not return to the House,” the Minister said while assuring the agitated members that the Government meant business.
“She (Khobragade) is innocent...It is not the illegality that she is accused of, but the illegality she refused to oblige,” he told Parliament. The diplomat was arrested and strip-searched for allegedly paying her maid servant a salary less than minimum wages as per the US laws.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh also termed as “deplorable” the treatment meted out to Devyani Khobragade by the US authorities. “This is deplorable,” he told the media outside Parliament when asked to comment on her ill treatment in New York. Making it clear that the US action against her was “totally unacceptable” and unwarranted, Khurshid said the treatment given to the diplomat had not happened out of the “blue” and there is a “history” behind it.
Giving details about the events leading up to the arrest of the diplomat, the Minister said her Indian domestic help, Sangeeta Richard, disappeared in June this year after which Khobragade duly lodged a report with the New York Police Depar-tment, but no action was taken.
The Deputy Consul General later received a phone call from a lawyer who refused to identify himself and offered to settle the matter that would require grant of permanent citizenship to her and a huge compensation, he informed Parliament. “It became clear that this was a conspiracy and some people trapped her,” the Minister reiterated.
In an effort to trace the missing maid, in July the diplomat contacted the maid’s husband, who is living in Delhi, but he was of no help, the Minister said. When the identified lawyer contacted Khobragade during the same period, the diplomat filed a case of harassment with the New York Police. The diplomat later filed a case under section under 420 against the maid. The Delhi High Court also gave a ruling in her favour, Khurshid said, adding that the Indian government then contacted the US Embassy here to initiate proceedings to repatriate the maid servant to India.
But, the absconding maid’s husband, Phillip, and her two children were given visa by the US and they flew to New York on December 10, just two days before the diplomat’s arrest. This could have been possible only with active connivance from US officials, and it strengthens the claims of the Indian government that it was the US which committed the “fraud” by granting a visa to the family of the absconding maid. The US granted them visa despite India being in touch with Americans since her disappearance and cancellation of her official passport in June. Sources said India has told the US that there was a risk of illegal immigration by Sangeeta and her family.
There is also resentment among officials here who feel that the US department gave “dead wrong” information about Indian mission being informed in writing in September of allegations of abuse made by an Indian national against Khobragade and that they were in touch with India on the issue.
Elaborating upon the steps taken by New Delhi to express its displeasure, the minister said the government was not over-reacting by taking certain measures against the US diplomats in India. “First and foremost, our effort is to bring her out of this situation and then we will talk to the US government, “ he said adding this was conveyed to the US Congressional delegation which met him here on Tuesday.
Earlier, Rajya Sabha Chairman Hamid Ansari suspended Question Hour to allow the Elders to express their dismay over the “shabby” treatment to the Indian diplomat. leader of Opposition Arun Jaitley said the issue pertained to national honour and the incident had caused anguish throughout the country.
Urging the government to take the matter seriously, he called for India addressing the issue at the highest level. Criticising the US for violating all international norms, the view shared by all political parties in the house, Jaitley called for a review of the country’s foreign policy. Citing the example of snooping of various countries by the US, the BJP leader said while some heads of governments cancelled their trips to the US to register their protest, India was yet to make its stand clear though it also figured in the snooping list.
Asking the government to “cozy up” with other countries on equal terms, he said, “We should negotiate as equals. We conduct our foreign policy in a manner that we can be taken for granted. We must ensure that necessary correctives are taken.” He also asked the government to sustain the momentum of measures taken against the US and “not climb down abruptly after getting atop the tree.”
Deploring the incident, BSP supremo Mayawati alleged that the government delayed in taking action to protect the diplomat as she belonged to the Scheduled Caste community. Congress members protested her remark, but she did not relent. Sitaram Yechury(CPM) said India should not bend backwards while having a strategic relationship with the US and said the incident cannot be “tolerated by a self-respecting sovereign country.”
Janardan Dwivedi (Congress) said India is “not a market but a country” and its civilisation is much older than the US while associating himself with the sentiments aired by all the Elders. Derek O’Brien (TMC) said US should stop pretending to be the self-appointed lokpal of the world. In the lok Sabha, Mulayam Singh Yadav (SP) demanded that the House should pass a resolution condemning the US action against Khobragade. He alleged that the government is “shaking with fear” of the US and this has led to increase in such cases.
leader of the Opposition Sushma Swaraj said the then Indian ambassador to the US, Meera Shankar, had to face insult, while some Cabinet Ministers and former president APJ Kalam too were subjected to disrespect. Sanjay Nirupam (Congress), Supriya Sule (NCP), JD(U) leader Sharad Yadav, M Thambidurai (AIADMK), Dara Singh Chauhan (BSP), Nama Nageswara Rao (TDP), Tathagata Satpathy (BJD) and Anant Geete (Shiv Sena) also condemned the incident.