India to US: Devyani Khobragade re-indictment unnecessary, can hurt relations

[alp227]

Source: Indian Express

India expressed its disappointment over the US re-indicting IFS officer Devyani Khobragade on visa fraud charges calling it an unnecessary step.

India on Saturday said that any step taken consequent to the decision would hamper efforts on both the sides to build strategic partnership between the two countries.

Sources in New Delhi said the “second indictment” takes the situation back to where it was earlier this week before a US court quashed the first indictment of Khobragade on the ground that she had diplomatic immunity.

The MEA’s official spokesperson Syed Akbaruddin said that as far as India was concerned, the case has no merit and now that Khobragade has returned, the court in the US has no jurisdiction in India over her and the government will therefore no longer engage on this case in the US legal system.

Read more: http://indianexpress.com/article/india/india-others/devyani-khobragades-reindictment-is-aggression-against-india-her-father/

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Times of India: Preet Bharara will not bend, indicts Devyani Khobragade again

Hindustan Times: US visa fraud case: Arrest warrant issued against Devyani

Reuters: US prosecutors again indict diplomat Khobragade

[Chan790]

1. Gamesmanship.

The second indictment is simply to insure that she will never return to service in the United States. India should feel free to send her wherever they want, as long as it isn't here.

[cosmicone]

3. Short sighted

Countries act in national interest and not for egos of prosecutors.

Dr. Khobragade may end up being the foreign secretary or even the foreign minister of India.

What will happen to American interests in South Asia then?

[Chan790]

5. I should hope this largely ends her career in India's foreign service.

No matter how Delhi may wish to spin it, it's not in their interests either to keep representatives that inflame hostilities with foreign governments or create entanglements.

Regardless of the vindictiveness on the part of the US on the second indictment, it's an indictment of India's good sense in foreign relations if they do not fire her. Better than even odds, they wait a few years until she's no longer notorious and privately encourage her into academia or well...anywhere but foreign service.

She's not going to be "foreign secretary or even the foreign minister of India" She's likely going to be short-lined into shitty assignments until she quits or they can fire her without much attention.

[cosmicone]

6. On the contrary

Her treatment by Preet Bharara has made her even more popular in India due to national pride. She could easily get elected as a member of parliament and become a foreign minister in a coalition government.

Indians detest the heavy-handedness, duplicity and hypocrisy of US policies. One of the masterminds of the Mumbai terrorist attacks, a Pakistani ISI agent named David Headley (born Dawood Syed Gilani in Pakistan) was allowed to be interviewed by the Indian law enforcement only once and his plea bargain included a clause not to be extradited to India.

Despite Headley's involvement in other terrorist acts in India, the US Government has refused to extradite him even under the new charges which are not part of the plea bargain.

The hypocrisy is blatant. United States would protect a convicted terrorist against the laws of another country but throw the book at an official representative of the same country that has been injured by American support of the terrorist swamp - Pakistan.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Headley

The US has unclean hands and is in no position to act self-righteous.

[okaawhatever]

23. The hypocrisy is not blatant. In fact, it doesn't even exist. If the people of India want to defend

people like her, their own corruption, slavery and staggering wealth inequaltiy, they are more than welcome to. The true hypocrisy shows when they do. India is one of the greatest violators or human rights in the world. It's positively sickening that you would even make such claims. But I guess someone needs to defend slavery, abject poverty, abuse against it's ow citizens, corruption and greed.

[cosmicone]

24. Thank you for the Pakistani talking points n/t

[closeupready]

33. +1 on all points. I've learned to dismiss the one to whom

you are replying. I guess I know from experience who's here in good faith and who's here in bad faith.

[marble falls]

9. What's short sighted is letting slavers walk anywhere in the interest India's self interests. I'm...

much more concerned with India's treatment of women (the slave in the story is a woman, too). Why doesn't that affect India's standing in the SE Asia? In that India is a 'non-aligned' country this flap will have very little to do with American influence. Like the Viet Nam War and Afghan war wouldn't continue to color our influence a lot more than delivering justice to a well connected scofflaw.

[cosmicone]

11. India treats women just well

The laws have been changed to make sure police and prosecutors take rape seriously and with much stiffer penalties all the way up to the death penalty. Already, awareness training about rape and education of school age children is everywhere. This purposeful awareness campaign is what is making every rape case given maximum publicity by the Indian media.

Before you throw out clichés like "India's treatment of women", let me remind you that women have had voting rights from the very first day in India, a far greater proportion of India's parliament is women as compared to the US House or Senate, India had women governors before the US did and India has already had a woman PM. The current leader of the ruling party is a woman and several al leaders women politicians are always in contention to occupy top portfolios in the cabinet. Several leaders of opposition parties are also women.

Throwing out clichés and stereotypes doesn't make DU more respectable.

[marble falls]

12. I think you are overly optimistic.....

And I believe my opinion is at least well informed.


http://www.npr.org/2013/01/24/170135512/report-blasts-indias-treatment-of-women

A panel reviewing sexual offenses in India has submitted its report to the government almost a month after the rape and murder of a female student in New Delhi. The report says India systemically discriminates against women, and does little to respond to violence against them.


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Women_in_India

The status of women in India has been subject to many great changes over the past few millennia.[4][5] From equal status with men in ancient times[6] through the low points of the medieval period,[7] to the promotion of equal rights by many reformers, the history of women in India has been eventful. In modern India, women have held high offices in India including that of the President, Prime Minister, Speaker of the Lok Sabha and Leader of the Opposition. As of 2011, the Speaker of the Lok Sabha and the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha (Lower House of the parliament) were women. However, women in India continue to face atrocities such as rape, acid throwing, dowry killings, forced prostitution of young girls.[8][9][10] According to a global poll conducted by Thomson Reuters, India is the "fourth most dangerous country" in the world for women,[11][12] and the worst country for women among the G20 countries.[13]


http://treatment-of-women.inindia.tel/

inindia.tel » treatment-of-women
Womens rights in India are trailing behind where they should be in a developed economy. Yes, there are women in power, but most Indian women are powerless. Some female, and male atitudes, need updating...


http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-20863860

TrustLaw, a news service run by Thomson Reuters, has ranked India as the worst G20 country in which to be a woman. This in the country where the leader of the ruling party, the speaker of the lower house of parliament, at least three chief ministers, and a number of sports and business icons are women. It is also a country where a generation of newly empowered young women are going out to work in larger numbers than ever before.

But crimes against women are rising too.

With more than 24,000 reported cases in 2011, rape registered a 9.2% rise over the previous year. More than half (54.7%) of the victims were aged between 18 and 30. Most disturbingly, according to police records, the offenders were known to their victims in more than 94% of the cases. Neighbours accounted for a third of the offenders, while parents and other relatives were also involved. Delhi accounted for over 17% of the total number of rape cases in the country.

And it is not rape alone. Police records from 2011 show kidnappings and abductions of women were up 19.4%, women being killed in disputes over dowry payments by 2.7%, torture by 5.4%, molestation by 5.8% and trafficking by an alarming 122% over the previous year.


http://thediplomat.com/2013/01/indias-women-problems-its-not-just-about-rape/

Sexual violence is pervasive in India. According to National Crime Records Bureau statistics, 24,206 rapes were recorded in 2011, equivalent to one rape every 28 minutes.

These figures barely scratch the surface of the problem, however, given that most cases of sexual violence go unreported because victims choose to remain silent for a host of different reasons, including the social stigma attached to rape victims. Questions are often raised about the character of the victim, such as why she was out late at night or what she wore or did to provoke the assault. Even in the case of Nirbhaya, controversial “spiritual” guru Asaram Bapu made headlines when he blamed her for the rape because she failed to call her assailants “brother” while they raped her.

"She should have taken God's name and held their hands and feet… then the misconduct wouldn't have happened," Bapu told an audience of supporters. "Mistake is never from one side alone."

Many times the assailant is a relative or close acquaintance of the victim and rape survivors are often pressured to just “shut up and forget about it,” a Bangalore-based rape survivor told The Diplomat. In her case, it had been an uncle who had raped her for years.

Rape victims are also deterred from reporting the crime because Indian policemen are notoriously awful at handling cases of sexual assault. It is not uncommon for police officers to flatly refuse to file a victim’s complaint, especially if the person(s) accused are of a dominant caste or have political connections. Besides, many women do not feel safe going to an all-male police station.

[cosmicone]

14. Bravo!

You're adroit in cherry-picking articles that present your skewed view. Have you ever talked to women who live in India?

I'd agree with you that there is discrimination in lower ranks of the workforce and in deep rural areas where progress has not yet made inroads.

However, in major and medium cities women enjoy more power and clout than similarly placed American women in American cities.

[marble falls]

15. As you have only a singuluar opinion with no fact, not even bothering to go through my "adroitness"

to cherry pick your own. We'll agree to disagree.

[JI7]

16. i have family from india and even my male relatives don't trust how things are there

when it comes to safety of women. these are people who were raised in india.

[cosmicone]

17. You're too americanized

There are hundreds of millions of women who live in India without fear or discrimination.

You should talk to them before spewing on American message boards !!!!

[JI7]

18. i do talk to them , and as i said these are relatives who live in india

[cosmicone]

19. Like I said

you're too americanized sista ... you hear what you want to hear.

[JI7]

20. coming from someone who thinks the maid is a CIA agent

"you hear what you want to hear" is funny.

i know you don't like to acknowledge the horrible treatment of women in india the same way racists in the US don't like the acknowledge racism and other problems we have in the US.

[cosmicone]

21. I live in India for several months each year

and have subsidiaries of my US companies there.

I know the reality on the street far more than you do!

[JI7]

22. and i have relatives who live there

so there is no reason i should believe someone who thinks that maid is a CIA agent over them.

[cosmicone]

26. Your relatives tell you what you want to hear

I have personal, objective experience.

Be cool, sistah

[JI7]

28. someone who claims the maid is a CIA Agent is as objective of those who claim Obama was born in

Kenya .

[cosmicone]

29. Do you know for sure the maid

is NOT a CIA agent? Do you? Do you?

[JI7]

30. you are repeating pakistani talking points "those polio medical workers are CIA Agents"

[cosmicone]

31. No, I am not

I asked a simple question ...


Do you know for sure the maid was not a CIA agent? YES or NO ??

[closeupready]

34. "Subsidiaries"??? Don't you mean, plantations?

[cosmicone]

36. Plantations, subsidiaries ..whatever is better than

terrorist training camps like in Pakistan.

[okaawhatever]

25. What a joke. Really, do you actually believe this tripe you're pushing? nt

[cosmicone]

27. Thank you for reiterating Pakistani talking points

I know the ground reality.

[leftynyc]

40. While everyone here knows you're under

the impression that only you know what's going on, that only you know what's best - the rest of us are quite able of making up our own minds. Your ego has become laughably and pathetically predictable.

[cosmicone]

41. Aha ... attack to put someone on the defensive

without hard data.

I note your ad hominum attack as a sign of cognitive bankruptcy.

[leftynyc]

42. Of course you do

Your colossal ego is very amusing.

[cosmicone]

43. The "ego" attack usually emanates from

an insecure person with uncontrollable anger at difference of opinion.

[leftynyc]

44. Wow - a shrink also

Is there anything you can't do?

[cosmicone]

45. I cannot make ad hominem attacks

just because someone disagrees with me.

[leftynyc]

46. Suuuuuure you don't

I see self awareness is NOT part of your repertoire. More amusement.

[cosmicone]

47. You insist on having the last word don't you? n/t

This is a test ....

[leftynyc]

48. Ooooh - juvenile emoticons

That really helps your case. Is there some deep psychological reason you can't seem to ignore somebody who has nothing but contempt for you?

[Renew Deal]

2. Bring her back and let a jury decide

[DRoseDARs]

4. Dear India: stfu. You shouldn't've sent a slaver in the first place.

The gall of the Indian government crying over this woman...

[cosmicone]

13. It is not about this woman

It is about respect for another sovereign country of over a billion people.

The normal procedure is to declare her persona non grata and have her leave the country. Show me an example where the last time an embassy of consular official of any country was criminally convicted in the US and handed out a punishment.

Embassy and consular officials are simply expelled but never charged -- or charged and quickly expelled.

I don't care much about this one person but the deviant diplomatic protocol.

[closeupready]

35. Meanwhile, about human slavery, you say nothing.

Remarkable.

[cosmicone]

37. Please cry a river ... n/t

[geek tragedy]

7. Surprised India had time to remove its lips from Putin's ass long enough to speak nt

[JI7]

8. some think people should have a right to abuse hired help

[Paulie]

10. Kicked this thread in GD from yesterday. Apparently she is now in trouble for kids dual citizenship

Which is against Indian law for diplomats.

Then there is her apartment which is meant to be rented to war widows....

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10024671446

[Ash_F]

32. I am pleased to see this new direction against wage thieves by the White House

I look forward to finally seeing indictments on the many outstanding wage claims at the Department of Labor against perps with American citizenship.