Indian diplomat arrested, handcuffed in US for visa fraud

[pmaitra]

Based in the "States", your friends can afford the luxury of ignoring the obvious & living in woolgathering of utopia. Yet to see any MMS admirer in India. He is the "Shame".

". . . woolgathering of utopia."



What does this idiom mean anyway?

 

[happy]

". . . woolgathering of utopia."



What does this idiom mean anyway?

Simply you can call it day dreaming.

For better understanding pls see : Personal Utopias and Sehnsucht: The Woolgathering Model of Yearning | Mental Sundries

 

[pmaitra]

I found this in the comments section:

High time for US Embassy's top officers to analyse how it got embroiled in such an idiotic venture that is unbecoming for any diplomatic corps anywhere in the world, considering the prominent place US diplomats holds in the comity of diplomats in New Delhi and most non-hostile world capitals. Any US mission in any capital is usually considered as a standard for others to follow. High time to pack up all those members who took part in this immature kiddy game, especially since Ms. Nncy Powell is one of the senior diplomats in States Department. USA has been extremely selective in picking ambassadors to India including world renowned Economist Prof. Galbraith, senior diplomat Chester Bowls, Senator Moynihan and so on, sometimes waiting too long until they got the best replacement. The high number of non-career diplomats especially scholars in that list shows how much importance USA accorded to the position. There is no place for grown up imbeciles in an American Embassy who waste valuable time and money in kiddy games, destroying trade relations running to billions. Also, the cause of true representational democracy throughout the world suffers when one democracy plays stupid games like this. So Ms.Ambassador should show no leniency to any subordinate who debased her important position through immature behind-the-back games. If anybody in USA was behind it, their names should also be passed on to the States Department for further action. Those who take diplomatic work as high school gimmicks shows he or she had not grown beyond that psychological level. Let us not forget, even in those days of heightened tension during the time of Indira Gandhi, US embassy held up the highest level of protocol under Moynihan. But the latest event smacks of mediocrity unbecoming of a US mission anywhere in the world. Let us not forget no other States Secretary in the history of USA other than Secretary Kerry would have been put to this level of contacting lower level officers in another country for the blunders of a few lower level his own subordinates. This event will blow off but the indiciplined and unprofessional staff will remain to create future ptoblems wherever they are posted. Such staff who do not share the highest professional ethics and values of US States Department have no place in any diplomatic service considering the very high leadership role USA plays in contemporary world. To tell you the truth, not even a third-world embassy in New Delhi has played such unbecoming games so far. Hope Ms.Ambassador will take the appropriate steps against those errant employees. Agreed work ethics have suffered a lot throughout the world with the arrival of "good-for-only-video-gamester babies" to the workplace. But the cost of their games should not run to billions of bilateral trade, which supports lots of business and industrial sectors in both countries.

Source: India's tit-for-tat forces US ambassador Nancy Powell to call off Nepal vacation? - The Times of India

 

[Waffen SS]

on blue part =i never said he is sardar ,bobby jindal is punjabi


on green part,= i dont agree with you

Bobby Jindal is completely American, and was Hindu,did Hindus claim Khalistan? Khalistan was started by Sikhs who were angry on 1984 riot and Operation Blue Star. Hindu Punjabis as I know were massacred by Khalistanis.

Bobby Jindal's parents were Doctors they left India for US, Brain drain. So banning emigration would bring an end in Brain drain and decreases Khalistani population in Canada, US and Britain.

Always Go to deep into the problems.

http://defenceforumindia.com/forum/introductions-greetings/56358-hello-introduction-kishore-2.html#post821480

I am not personal, but I think brain Drain should be stopped.

Booby Jindal and Preet Bharara are products of Brian drain.

 

[pmaitra]

Bobby Jindal's parents were Doctors they left India for US, Brain drain. So banning emigration would bring an end in Brain drain and decreases Khalistani population in Canada, US and Britain.

Does the second sentence follow from the first? I think not. That is essentially a non-sequitur.

 

[TrueSpirit1]

". . . woolgathering of utopia."



What does this idiom mean anyway?

You got the gist, right ?

your friends can afford the luxury of ignoring the obvious

It is the likes of us who have literally suffered in every sense of the term. Hopefully, 2014 turns out better.

 

[Ray]

he only difference is Bharara has extra cause to hate India, as he is Sikh.

So emigration of Sikhs should be banned from Punjab

How is being a Sikh causes one to have 'extra cause' to 'hate India'?

It is a trusim that the Bluestar and the Delhi massacre of Sikhs have Sikhs upset,. However, it would be incorrect to say the Sikhs 'hate India'. To be frank, this statement of yours is being economical with the truth and reality and quite unnecessarily provocative.

Why should emigration be banned for the Sikhs?

I am sure you will agree that India is still a free country.

One more correction to one of your statements in a post - You may like to note that the Khalistanis not only killed Hindus, but also Sikhs.

 

[Waffen SS]

How is being a Sikh causes one to have 'extra cause' to 'hate India'?

It is a trusim that the Bluestar and the Delhi massacre of Sikhs have Sikhs upset,. However, it would be incorrect to say the Sikhs 'hate India'. To be frank, this statement of yours is being economical with the truth and reality and quite unnecessarily provocative.

Why should emigration be banned for the Sikhs?

I am sure you will agree that India is still a free country.

One more correction to one of your statements in a post - You may like to note that the Khalistanis not only killed Hindus, but also Sikhs.

Sir, then why Sikhs in Canada and Britain and US hate India and shout for Khalistan atleast I see in internet?

Why Sikh diaspora is more radical than Indian Sikhs?

Emigration banning not only from Punjab from entire India should be banned specially of educated people to stop Brain Drain, plus to stop loss of Human capital. More people in US more US is powerful.

Would US be powerful with out German-Americans and Italian-Americans? If European countries banned migration to America continent than US would not be powerful. So US now rules Europe.

I dont like when I see a Sarderji serving any other country other than India.

So to stop Brain drain, stop Khalistani supporter abroad plus to minimize US and other's strength migration should be banned.

If india did that then Preet Bharara would be Indian, and I doubt this case would happen if Bharara was Indians, plus you know how many doctors left India? They would still work here then.

I still cant understand a Sikh leaves India as a patriotic and how his children became anti-India Khalistani? Why Websites ran by Sikh diaspora are so much anti-India?

Yes, I agree India is still a free country.

One more correction to one of your statements in a post - You may like to note that the Khalistanis not only killed Hindus, but also Sikhs.

Sikhs in Canada and Britain ignores it. They say those Sikhs killed by Khalistanis were traitors as they supported Indian Government.

Very few people know reality that Khalistanis raped women, killed children but they are portrayed as freedom fighters not terrorists , so their this total false accusation against India, makes India to look bad also.

 

[Ray]

Insurgency and support to insurgency is Big Business and only a small core group is ideologically committed.

Khalistanis are no exception.

Any diaspora requires a 'reason' to keep the 'flock' together.

And religion is the best 'candle to the moth' to attract the diaspora. Any imagined or real injustice to the religion is the ideal vehicle to ensure the flock's togetherness.

And this togetherness allows the leader to have power and finances.

 

[sayareakd]

with the fact that she had full dip immunity , being a UN advisor ,
i would expect the usa to pay damages , drop charges
and this whole thing could be over before too long,

but anyone agrees with me that
the damage has already been done

and this is gonna be a permanent stain on uncle sam ?
might take at least 20 years to get rid of this memory .

meanwhile we can add that we want to know
what disciplinary action will be taken
against Bararra, and the US Marshall police officers
for making an incorrect arrest -
~( as is being done in the case of incorrect arrest of swiss diplomat )
beside the damages DK can claim

Worse part is that Indian nationals, despite court order where secretly removed from India...........

 

[happy]

Diplomat arrest row: Parking versus barriers, high-security lows

India had first considered removing barriers from outside the US embassy in Delhi earlier this year in retaliation for a security risk created for its embassy in Washington DC.

It didn't go through with it then but did not hesitate a few months later when diplomat Devyani Khobragade was arrested and strip-searched in New York on December 12.

New Delhi hit back with a bunch of retaliatory measures of which the barriers appear to have hit the US most, raising for them the prospect of a repeat of Benghazi.

But India's security concerns are no less, having suffered deadly attacks on its embassy in Kabul, Afghanistan twice, losing a top diplomat and an army officer in one of them.

Indian diplomats driving in to work at the DC embassy - 2107 Massachusetts Ave NW, Washington - one May morning noted with alarm a crucial road signage was missing.

It had said "Diplomatic cars only", and had reserved a small stretch of parking on an inner lane running right past the embassy entrance for vehicles belonging to the mission.

But more than the convenience of reserved parking, much cherished by diplomats working there, the strip secured the front of the embassy from a Times Square kind of bombing attempt.

A vehicle packed with explosives was found parked at Times Square in New York in 2010 just before it could explode killing hundreds in one of the city's top tourist destinations.

The Indian embassy lodged a protest with the state department the same day pointing out the security risk, among other issues. It was told to get in touch with the DC government instead.

As advised, the embassy wrote to the DC government, without any success. And the Ministry of External Affairs took it up with the US embassy in Delhi, also without any result.

That was the first time Indian considered retaliating by removing the barriers - traffic barriers, not security barriers, a source insisted - outside the US embassy.

The barriers - concrete structures that prevent close access to the embassy - were installed at the request of the Americans in the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks.

It was tough to turn them down then. And the barriers stayed there ever since, to continuing discomfort of other embassies on that road - the French and Swedish.

But it's hard to feel any sympathy for the US this time around, a source said, after the way Khobragade was arrested and treated in custody of the US Marshals.

It was time the US understood security concerns of other countries. That patch outside the DC embassy is just as important as the barriers in Delhi, another source added.

Diplomat arrest row: Parking versus barriers, high-security lows - Hindustan Times

 

[happy]

Questions hang over India-US spat over Devyani Khobragade row

As diplomats try to work out a way to resolve the India-US diplomatic row triggered by the arrest and strip search of an Indian diplomat, several questions hang over the unsavoury episode.

Who in the State Department signed off on the arrest of Khobragade, India's deputy consul general in New York, on charges of visa fraud and underpaying her nanny, unmindful of the consequences?

Would housekeeper Sangeeta Richard's allegations against her employer have gained so much traction without her family's contacts with the US embassy, with her father-in-law reported to be working for a US diplomat in Delhi?

Did New York's Indian-American prosecutor Preet Bharara really goof up in mistaking Khobragade's own salary of $4,500 mentioned in the visa application with the one she contracted to pay to Richard as alleged by the Indian diplomat's lawyer?

Was the US side not aware that Khobragade, who has since been transferred to India's permanent mission to the UN, was entitled to full diplomatic immunity even at the time of her Dec 12 arrest, thanks to her concurrent accreditation to the UN since Aug 26?

And why did take New Delhi so long to discover that Khobragade may have had diplomatic immunity all along and bring it to the attention of the State Department, which has now promised to examine the claim?

Few answers were forthcoming as India's new ambassador S Jaishankar plunged into the task of resolving the crisis with meetings Thursday with Under Secretary for Political Affairs Wendy Sherman and Under Secretary for Management Patrick F Kennedy.

But officials refuted State Department's contention that it had warned the Indian embassy as early as Sep 4 about the allegations against Khobragade and it should have seen the action coming against the Indian diplomat.

The boot was, in fact, on the other foot as the US side chose not to respond to a series of communications both to the State Department and the US embassy in New Delhi starting with a report about Richard's disappearance in June.

It had also responded "fairly muscularly" Oct 8 to the State Department's Sep 4 missive pointing out that an arrest warrant issued by a Delhi court was pending against Richard.

It had also sought US help in tracing and repatriating Richard back to India so that so that due process of law may be prosecuted in India.

Officials also suggest that far from being a case of "human trafficking" that the US side has made it out to be, it was more likely a clever immigration con — with the nanny being the only gainer.

With the US throwing the letter of the law, that too in its extreme, it should not be surprised at the retaliatory measures taken by India, which officials insist are in strict reciprocity to what Indian diplomats get in the US.

Jaishankar would appear to have a two week window to persuade the US side to drop the charges against Khobragade before her Jan 13 scheduled appearance before a Manhattan court so that the growing rift between the two "strategic partners" could be contained.

Meanwhile, Prabhu Dayal, India's former consul general in New York, who made an undisclosed settlement with his former housekeeper, Santosh Bhardwaj, over alleged mistreatment, has suggested a drastic solution to prevent recurrence of such episodes.

An atmosphere of fear rules at the Indian Consulate in New York because of the lack of full diplomatic immunity and the potential for lawsuits from domestic help, he told News India Times, an ethnic newspaper published from New York.

Dayal's solution, according to the Times, would be to close down the New York consulate and shifting its duties to the Indian embassy in Washington DC and to India's Permanent Mission at the UN.

Questions hang over India-US spat over Devyani Khobragade row - India - DNA

 

[happy]

U.S. consular officials and their families have been asked to surrender identity cards that gave them a degree of immunity. Under a new regime, consular officials - but not their families - will be given identity cards with fewer privileges.

"Spouses and children have no more immunity. So if there is a parking offence or ... something else happening in Bangalore etcetera, they would be held liable," the Indian official said.

India seeks possible US tax violations as stand hardens in row | Reuters

 

[Ray]

Now the US will realise the actual meaning of the idiom - He who wears the shoe knows best where it pinches!

 

[happy]

US diplomats who got away with abuse
Ex-US Foreign Service Employee Blogs Cases
TIMES NEWS NETWORK

US double standards in diplomacy are common enough and familiar to foreign office officials of countries which host embassies and consulates of the US. But what might not be so well-known are the specific cases of US diplomats not only underpaying their domestic helps but also physically abusing them, and how they got away lightly in most such cases.

In 2011, an Ethiopian national, Jane Doe (pseudonym), filed a case against American state department employee Linda Howard accusing her of forced labour, involuntary servitude and human trafficking. Doe said that Linda hired her during her assignment in the US embassy in Yemen. In late 2008, when Howard was reassigned to Japan, Doe agreed to move with her and continue as her housekeeper. Her contract promised $300 a month, time off each week, health insurance and a safe place to live and work at.

However, in Japan, Doe was forced to work more than 80 hours a week for less than a dollar an hour. The minimum hourly wage at the time of her employment was $6.55. Doe was even raped and forced to engage in sexual acts with Linda Howards's husband, Russell Howard, who threatened to deport her. When she finally escaped and complained, Linda Howard was removed from her post in the US embassy in Tokyo but returned to the US and continued to work for the state department.

By the time the Virginia court found the Howards guilty and awarded Doe over $3 million in damages in November last year, the couple had fled the country. No effort seems to have been made by the US to track down the Howards who committed felony on federal property.

In a similar case, in July 2006, Harold Countryman, a former state department agent, and his wife, Kimberly Countryman, a realtor in northern Virginia, were found guilty of abetting visa fraud, forced labour and underpaying a Cambodian woman they had hired during their posting in South Korea and brought to the US.

Kimberly Countryman admitted that she withheld a portion of the woman's pay, took possession of her passport and assaulted her. Though they had to pay the woman $50,000 in restitution, Harold Countryman only received probation. Visa fraud carries a statutory maximum penalty of 10 years' imprisonment and a maximum fine of $250,000. The maximum sentence for involuntary servitude is 40 years.

In 1993, a US diplomat Thurmond Borden and his Filipino wife hired a domestic help from Manila offering to pay her $300 to work for them in Japan. To comply with Japanese immigration regulations, they made a contract stating that they would pay her $1,500 to work six days a week for eight hours a day with overtime pay of 125%.

These and many other cases have been put together on a blog, The Dissenter, by Peter Van Buren. Van Buren is a former US foreign service employee who turned whistleblower with his book criticizing American reconstruction efforts in Iraq.

Article Window

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Has anybody seen this ?? It shows the double standards adopted by US even with regards to their own maids.

 

[Deccani]

India, US ink $1billion deal for six Super Hercules aircraft - The Times of India

VCCR will be implemented in all the US provinces.

 

[kseeker]

Devyani case: India hardens stand, seeks 'US tax violations' - The Times of India

NEW DELHI: India has sought details about staff in American schools in the country for possible tax violations and revoked ID cards of US consular officials and their families, retaliatory steps for the arrest of its diplomat in New York.

The measures suggest that the two countries are no closer to a resolution of a diplomatic dispute over the treatment of deputy consul general Devyani Khobragade this month on charges of visa fraud and underpayment of her housekeeper.

Khobragade, who has denied the charges, was handcuffed and strip-searched while in custody, sparking outrage in the country.

A government official said on Friday that New Delhi had asked the US embassy to provide details about people working in American schools and other US government facilities to determine if they had permission to do so and if they were paying taxes that are mandatory under Indian law.

Diplomats' spouses who take up work in schools or other embassy facilities are supposed to inform the host country.

Violations of this kind had often been ignored, but now India would not turn a blind eye, the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

The US embassy declined to comment on the latest steps.

India had also withdrawn some privileges US diplomats and their families enjoy and would treat them as Indian officials are treated in the United States, the Indian official said.

US ambassador Nancy Powell has been refused special privileges at New Delhi airport.

"We have said all access is on a reciprocal basis," the government official said. "She is not going to get the benefits that the Indian ambassador in the US doesn't get."

US consular officials and their families have been asked to surrender identity cards that gave them a degree of immunity. Under a new regime, consular officials — but not their families — will be given identity cards with fewer privileges.

"Spouses and children have no more immunity. So if there is a parking offence or ... something else happening in Bangalore etcetera, they would be held liable," the Indian official said.

Khobragade was released in New York on $250,000 bail after giving up her passport and pleading not guilty to visa fraud and making false statements about how much she paid her housekeeper. She faces a maximum of 15 years in prison if convicted on both counts.

US secretary of state John Kerry expressed regret over the case in a phone call to India's national security adviser last week, but India is still demanding that the charges be dropped and that the United States apologizes. US prosecutors have defended the investigation against Khobragade and her treatment. Before this diplomatic blowup, US-Indian relations were seen as cordial and improving.

UN accreditation

In a new twist, India now argues that Khobragade was accredited to the United Nations at the time of her detention, giving her immunity from arrest.

She was temporarily moved to India's UN mission in August to help with the workload ahead of the UN general assembly session and a visit by the prime minister. A copy of her accreditation, made available to Reuters, lists her as an adviser for a period from August 26 until December 31.

"At no stage we were told by the US side what was going on. We were kept in the dark. A lot of these things could have come out had we been informed then," the official said, explaining that India had not been warned she might be arrested.

According to the UN manual of protocol website, UN accreditation alone does not appear to grant diplomatic immunity, it simply gives Khobragade access to UN headquarters in New York.

The manual says a country's UN ambassador must write to the UN secretary general to request privileges and immunities for individual diplomats. The United Nations then submits this to the US mission to the United Nations for approval.

Separately, India did ask the United Nations earlier this month for Khobragade to be officially registered as a member of the country's UN mission in the hope she would be granted more sweeping immunity than she was entitled to as India's deputy consul general in New York.

That request has been approved by the United Nations, a UN source said on Monday. A state department official confirmed that the United States had received paperwork from the United Nations and was reviewing the application.

 

[sayareakd]

Documents show Devyani Khobragade 'overpaid' her maid Sangeeta Richard : North, News - India Today

 

[thethinker]

Some diplomats are less equal: Devyani case shows US hypocrisy - The Economic Times

From that article :

Matching the Bush practice of kidnapping people from anywhere in the world and renditioning them for torture in secret locations, Preet Bharara proclaimed an extra-territorial right to evacuate Indian citizens from Indian territory, bypassing the Indian government.

CIA agents convicted in absentia for kidnapping by Italian courts will not be sent there for imprisonment. Requests are routinely rebuffed for US soldiers accused of rape and other heinous crimes against Japanese citizens to be tried in Japanese courts.Strict adherence to the rule of law for everyone is a bedrock American value - yeah, right.

 

[happy]

A motorola tablet, Shehnaz Hussein cosmetics, expensive perfume, her own TV set: apart from a salary of $1400, those were some of the luxuries that Sangeeta Richard, domestic help of India's deputy consul general in New York Devyani Khobragade got from her employer. Documents available with Mail Today show that Richards was getting more than the US-stipulated $1374.75 she was to be paid. India wants to use this information to back its demand that the US to drop the legal case against the Indian diplomat.

Interestingly the amount of $ 1000 which has been mentioned as the lodging charges is not included in her employment cost of $ 1402 besides the gifts she received. If all of it is added up, it amounts to $2400 which will be more than the amount a secretary to the Government of India earns at home.

The document also underscores the yet-unanswered questions: why did US agencies pick on Khobragade and why was Richard's family 'evacuated' from India by the US embassy, even as India was demanding that the missing domestic help be tracked.

Read more at: Documents show Devyani Khobragade 'overpaid' her maid Sangeeta Richard : North, News - India Today

Courtesy @sayareakd

---------------

WOW !!! No wonder, maids are high risk candidates. This whole case completely smacks of espionage and american hooliganism.