The ongoing diplomatic conflict between India and US is a
case in point. Trawling the online news and joining the dots paint some jagged
pictures. Devyani is a dalit IFS and is currently posed in US. Strangely, a
section of Indian media is trying to give it a dalit vs. non-dalit cast conflict
colour. But isn’t it really ridiculous to blame US for caste bias. Does US
really care about India’s cast system? Her father is crying hoarse that his
daughter is not a criminal as she has not committed any murder. As if murder is
the only crime that calls for punishment.
So what really happened? Well, we hear that Divyani who
earns around $4000 as the India’s Deputy Consul General in New York in charge
of Political, Economic, Commercial and Women’s Affairs at the consulate,
appointed a nanny for her kid(s?). There was some visa fraud involved and some forged
documents submitted during the appointment of and transportation of the nanny. Also
as per the minimum wage rules for unorganised sector workers in US, the nanny
had to be paid $4500 per month. As per their rules the violations fall under
human trafficking, slavery and exploitation. Some where it has been pointed out
that Indian government was informed about the charges way back in September.
Question is, if the government of India knew about the issue why did it not
pull up its diplomat and waited for the crap to hit the fan!
In India some people are saying how could a diplomat earning
only four grand pay more than her salary to the nanny? To them the question is,
is it justified to cheat so that you can get something that is beyond your
means? If you can’t pay the nanny why you have to have one?
Devyani is no stranger to media footage for all the wrong reasons. She was
also involved in the Adarsh Housing Scam and admitted to the investigators that
she owned 2 flats in the illegal buildings. Devyani, who is the daughter of the
former BEST GM Uttam Khobragade, disclosed that she had acquired a flat in the
Meera Cooperative Society in Oshiwara, built on government land, when her
father was the CEO and Vice President of MHADA (Maharashtra Housing &
Area Development Authority). She also said her father had signed the
application on her behalf when she had applied for the flat in the Adarsh
Housing Society, as she was posted in Germany at the time. Clearly, this person
has a not too clean background and now she is holed up in US with Visa fraud
charges that can attract a jail term of up to 10 years.
Now coming to India's diplomatic offensive, currently there
are two differing voices emerging from the country. Online forums and main
stream media are speaking in differing voices. People on the street are
actually pointing out the fact that breaking law with impunity is a typical
Indian trait and this becomes a style statement for the people in power. She,
being an Indian might have overestimated her stature and hence brazenly
indulged in illegal activities and hence must be punished. She forgot that in
US there is no culture of a call from the bada
sahib. At the same time people are happy that India is showing some spine
in its diplomatic brick batting with US. But this support from the populace is more for Indian
strategy and less for the person in question.
But the mainstream media is harping about the nation’s pride
and diplomatic privileges and is trying to stoke some sort of hysteria. This is
the voice that is more audible as this section is governed by the powers that
be. Media is trying to harp over the fact that since Devyani had diplomatic
privileges she should not have been arrested and handcuffed. This is the same
media that did not report any follow up news regarding Mukesh Ambani’s son’s
involvement in current car crash in Mumbai where 2 people got killed. The jury
is still out, literally and metaphorically, and hence the last stone is yet to
be cast into the cesspool of Indian diplomacy and media harangue.
We hope Devyani gets full support in her fight for justice,
but if she has committed the crimes she has been charged with, then, she must
face the law of the land. Let a case of law not become a war of ego between two great democracies.
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