The Case against Devyani Khobragade

 – Causing an unbelievable Diplomatic Spat between the US and India, and has implications for ALL countries!  

DK as I will refer to the lady, of the Dalit Caste, was the 40 something, attractive, Deputy Consul General for Political, Economic, Commercial and Women’s Affaires at the Consulate General of India in New York. She employed an Indian Nanny and to get her a visa to work in this position knowingly made a false claim in an affidavit, which was presented at the Indian Embassy in New Delhi, and has been accused of perjury, arrested after dropping of her 6 yr child at day care or Montessori, handcuffed, and stripped searched, including the humiliating body cavity search, and thrown in a jail with common criminals in New York. She was later granted bail $250K.

For the text of the full statement issued in New York for ‘Visa fraud’ and ‘making a false statement’ (complaint) see the link:  http://www.thehindu.com/multimedia/archive/01692/Text_of_complaint__1692362a.pdf

Just as an aside, she is a product of preferential treatment, where lower castes were given an allocation to positions, to give them a fairer representation in her chosen field, and that does not imply that she is in any way less qualified or talented and is also an experienced diplomat of approximately 15 years in the Indian Foreign Service.   

In simple English she agreed to pay her Indian maid an hourly wage that was greater than the minimum wage in New York that works out at US$4,500 for the hours that the maid actually worked instead of the US$550 she actually earned. The maid went to the authorities and complained and they threw the book at her and now the elite in India are incensed!!  There is an almighty row and the US Law Enforcement authorities are NOT bothered and will go the whole way in making this charge stick all the way to get a guilty verdict!

http://www.thehindu.com/news/international/world/no-retroactive-immunity-for-devyani-says-us/article5481901.ece?ref=relatedNews

In her position she does not enjoy diplomatic immunity for this action. The Indians have now given her a position in the UN which enjoys Immunity, but the US will NOT give retrospective immunity, which means she will be prosecuted to the full extent of US law. The Indians have taken some action against the US diplomats in India, withdrawing many grace and favor privileges they enjoy, making life difficult for them. The Indians are threatening more action if this is NOT immediately resolved to the satisfaction of the Indians who believe it is an affront, to their Country, and note, many Indians working in their missions in the US do not even earn minimum wage anyway and are NOT covered under this law as they are accredited diplomats, whose wages are NOT the concern of the US!

The reality is when half the staff in the Indian missions in US earn less than minimum wage, how can they pay a nanny more than the wages paid to the Diplomat? it is JUST not possible. The US will say tough cheese, and the Indians will just have to withdraw from the US as they will not wish to work in the US if they are NOT able to get visas for Nannies, especially if the diplomat is the mother in the first place!! YOU GET MY POINT  

  http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/indias-efforts-to-have-charges-against-devyani-dropped-hit-a-wall/article5482610.ece?ref=relatedNews

That is why I say that this issue cuts across all countries, especially third world countries that pay their diplomats nothing, and give allowances so that they can actually live in the US and do their work!! 

Is this a test case that will AFFECT ALL MISSIONS FROM POORER COUNTRIES? Will all the underpaid staff from SL missions in the US do the same thing? Or are they working illegally anyway so the problem does not arise, as they cannot go to the US Authorities to complain? The Indians by getting a legitimate visa by making the false statement they had to make to get the Visa, are therefore being held accountable for committing perjury.

http://www.thehindu.com/news/international/south-asia/us-law-enforcers-should-be-mindful-of-global-realities-haqqani/article5482777.ece?ref=relatedNews

Make no bones about it that there are NO Indians working in the US embassy in India in any capacity, or for its staff in India, who earn anything like the minimum wage in New York! 

For good measure, this employee’s whole family have been ‘evacuated’ to the US from India by the US Prosecutors for fear that Indians may pressure them to withdraw the case, annoying India further about this brazen act of defiance and arrogance by the US. The latter saying that otherwise the possibility of a fair trial could be compromised in the US with witness tampering!

http://www.colombopage.com/archive_13B/Dec19_1387474763CH.php

So you can see this turning out to be a royal fist fight! Worse the attorney who is behind the prosecution is an Indian American. Wonder what caste he is? A Brahmin perhaps disgusted by the Indian Govts allocation of places to the untouchables! Is the nanny of higher caste, who wanted to teach her better educated and wealthy employer a lesson? The imagination does run riot and the US in their limited level of common sense are in the midst of a Caste War being played out in the US Courts. What do you think? A proxy war by Indian Exiles in the US, against the elite of India in the two tier society there!