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ഇന്ത്യ തിരിച്ചടിക്കുന്നു; യു.എസ് നയതന്ത്ര പ്രതിനിധികളുടെ എയര്‍പോര്‍ട്ട് പാസ് റദ്ദാക്കി

Published on 17 December, 2013
ഇന്ത്യ തിരിച്ചടിക്കുന്നു; യു.എസ് നയതന്ത്ര പ്രതിനിധികളുടെ എയര്‍പോര്‍ട്ട് പാസ് റദ്ദാക്കി
ന്യൂഡല്‍ഹി: ഇന്ത്യന്‍ നയതന്ത്ര പ്രതിനിധിയെ യു.എസില്‍ അപമാനിച്ചതില്‍ ഇന്ത്യ നടപടി ശക്തമാക്കി. യു.എസിന്റെ ഇന്ത്യയിലെ നയതന്ത്ര പ്രതിനിധികളുടെ എയര്‍പോര്‍ട്ട് പാസ്സുകള്‍ കേന്ദ്രസര്‍ക്കാര്‍ റദ്ദാക്കി.
യു.എസ് കോണ്‍സുലേറ്റുകളിലെ ഇന്ത്യന്‍ ജീവനക്കാരുടെ ശമ്പളത്തിന്റെ വിശദാംശം വ്യക്തമാക്കണമെന്നും സര്‍ക്കാര്‍ നിര്‍ദേശിച്ചു.

അമേരിക്കന്‍ കോണ്‍ഗ്രസ് പ്രതിനിധികളുമായുള്ള കൂടിക്കാഴ്ചകള്‍ നേതാക്കള്‍ റദ്ദാക്കി. ആഭ്യന്തരമന്ത്രി സുശീല്‍കുമാര്‍ ഷിന്‍ഡേ, കോണ്‍ഗ്രസ് വൈസ് പ്രസിഡന്റ് രാഹുല്‍ ഗാന്ധി, സ്പീക്കര്‍ മീരകുമാര്‍, ഗുജറാത്ത് മുഖ്യമന്ത്രിയും ബിജെപിയുടെ പ്രധാനമന്ത്രി സ്ഥാനാര്‍ഥിയുമായ നരേന്ദ്ര മോഡി എന്നിവരാണ് യുഎസ് കോണ്‍ഗ്രസ് പ്രതിനിധികളുമായുള്ള കൂടിക്കാഴ്ച ഉപേക്ഷിച്ചത്. ഒരു മന്ത്രിയും പ്രതിനിധികളെ കാണരുതെന്ന് കേന്ദ്ര സര്‍ക്കാര്‍ നിര്‍ദ്ദേശിച്ചിട്ടുണ്ട്. അമേരിക്കന്‍ കോണ്‍ഗ്രസ് പ്രതിനിധികള്‍ക്ക് ആരും സ്വീകരണം നല്‍കേണ്‌ടെന്നും ഇവരുമായി ചര്‍ച്ച വേണ്‌ടെന്നും സര്‍ക്കാര്‍ വൃത്തങ്ങള്‍ ഉത്തരവ് നല്‍കിയിട്ടുണ്ട്.

കോണ്‍സുലേറ്റുകള്‍ക്കും എംബസി വാഹനങ്ങള്‍ക്കും രാജ്യത്തെ എല്ലാ എയര്‍പോര്‍ട്ടുകളിലും നല്‍കിയിട്ടുള്ള പാസുകള്‍ പിന്‍വലിച്ചു. ഇതോടെ ഇവിടങ്ങളില്‍ ഇവര്‍ക്ക് മുന്‍ഗണന ലഭിക്കില്ല. വാഹനങ്ങള്‍ പാര്‍ക്കിംഗ് ഫീസ് നല്‍കി വേണം ഇനി മുതല്‍ പാര്‍ക്ക് ചെയ്യാന്‍. യുഎസ് കോണ്‍സുലേറ്റുകളില്‍ നിയമിച്ചിരിക്കുന്ന ഇന്ത്യക്കാര്‍ക്ക് നല്‍കുന്ന ശമ്പളത്തിന്റെ വിശദാംശങ്ങള്‍ നല്‍കാനും സര്‍ക്കാര്‍ നിര്‍ദേശിച്ചിട്ടുണ്ട്. രാജ്യത്തെ യുഎസ് സ്കൂളില്‍ നിയമിക്കപ്പെട്ടിട്ടുള്ള ടീച്ചര്‍മാരുടെ ശമ്പളത്തിന്റെയും അവര്‍ നികുതി നല്‍കുന്നതിന്റെയും വിശദാംശങ്ങളും സര്‍ക്കാര്‍ ശേഖരിച്ചു വരികയാണ്.

യുഎസ് എംബസിക്കു പുറത്തു സ്ഥാപിച്ചിരിക്കുന്ന ബാരിക്കേഡുകള്‍ നീക്കാന്‍ ഡല്‍ഹി പോലീസിന് സര്‍ക്കാര്‍ നിര്‍ദേശം നല്‍കി. എംബസിയിലേക്കുള്ള മദ്യവും ഭക്ഷണവും ഇറക്കുമതി ചെയ്യാനുള്ള അനുമതിയും റദ്ദാക്കി.

അമേരിക്കയുമായുണ്‌ടെന്നു അവകാശപ്പെടുന്ന സൗഹൃദം ഇത്തരത്തിലുളളതാണൊയെന്നും ബിജെപി നേതാവ് രവി ശങ്കര്‍ പ്രസാദ് ചോദിച്ചു.
ദേവയാനിയെ പൊതുനിരത്തില്‍വച്ച് വിലങ്ങുവച്ച് അറസ്റ്റു ചെയ്തതും തുടര്‍ന്ന് നഗ്‌നയാക്കി പരിശോധിച്ച ശേഷം മയക്കുമരുന്ന് കേസുകളിലെ പ്രതികളുടെ ഒപ്പം ജയിലിലടയ്ക്കുകയും ചെയ്ത നടപടി തികച്ചും അപലപനീയമാണെന്നും രവി ശങ്കര്‍ പ്രസാദ് പറഞ്ഞു. അമേരിക്കയുടെ ഇന്ത്യയോടുളള സമീപനത്തിന് മാറ്റമൊന്നും വന്നിട്ടില്ലെന്ന് തെളയിക്കുന്നതിനാണ് നിലവിലെ നടപടി. നേരത്തെ ഇന്ത്യന്‍ പ്രസിഡന്റിനോട് അപമര്യാദയായി പെരുമാറിയ ചരിത്രവും അമേരിക്കയ്ക്കുണ്‌ടെന്നും അദ്ദേഹം പറഞ്ഞു.
ഇത് രണ്ടു വ്യക്തികള്‍ തമ്മിലുള്ള കേസാണെന്നും രാജ്യങ്ങള്‍ തമ്മിലുള്ള ബന്ധത്തെ ഇത് ബാധിക്കരുതെന്നുമാണ് അമേരിക്കയുടെ നിലപാട്.

India talks tough, seeks unconditional apology from US (lead)

 (17:56)  New Delhi, Dec 17 (IANS) India Tuesday sought "unconditional apology" from the US over the arrest and the purported strip search of its ranking diplomat Devyani Khobragade in New York and also took a slew of steps to pare down the privileges of American diplomats in an apparent retaliatory measure.

Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kamal Nath said the US should tender "unconditional apology" to India over the public humiliation of its diplomat, and that "more steps need to be taken to awaken the US that it's a changed world."

The union minister's tough message came after India asked US diplomats in consulates across the country to surrender their Diplomatic Identity Cards issued to them and their families by the Indian government.

India has also withdrawn all airport passes for consulates and import clearances for the embassy. This helped them to import liquor without paying airport fees.

Knowledgeable sources said Delhi Police have also been asked to remove security barricades outside the US embassy. The barricades for years restricted public movement around the embassy and normal vehicular traffic was particularly barred from the slip road in front of the embassy and the visa office at the back of the chancery.

India is also seeking details like salaries paid to Indian staff employed in the US consulates, including those working as domestic helps with the families of American officials because there is suspicion that Indian staff at the US embassy were discriminated against.

Khobragade was charged last week with visa fraud and making false statements.

She was accused by Manhattan's Indian American US Attorney Preet Bharara of visa fraud and exploiting her babysitter and housekeeper. She was handcuffed in public by law enforcement authorities in New York Thursday while she was dropping her daughter at school.

Khobragade was strip searched, confined to a cell with drug addicts and also subjected to DNA swabbing, sources confirmed to IANS


Turn in your IDs, India tells US diplomats as row escalates
New Delhi, Dec 17:
Angry over the "despicable" and "barbaric" treatment meted out to its diplomat, India Tuesday asked US diplomats to turn in their IDs even as Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi and union Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde declined to meet a visiting US Congressional delegation.

Rahul Gandhi and Shinde Tuesday refused to meet the US Congressional delegation, comprising Republican and Democrat members, to highlight India's strong disapproval of the arrest, handcuffing and strip search of diplomat Devyani Khobragade in New York last week.

US diplomats in consulates have been asked to surrender their IDs, a source told IANS.

On Monday, Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar and National Security Advisor Shivshankar Menon cancelled their meetings separately with the visiting US delegation.

The NSA is known to have described the treatment meted out to Khobragade, India's deputy consul general in New York, as "barbaric" and "despicable", a source told IANS.

Khobragade was strip searched, confined to a cell with drug addicts and also subjected to DNA swabbing, sources confirmed to IANS

Speaker Meira Kumar, herself a former Indian career diplomat, declined to meet the US delegation "as a sign of displeasure" over the treatment meted out Khobragade.

BJP's prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi too declined to meet the US team. He tweeted: "Refused to meet the visiting USA delegation in solidarity with our nation, protesting ill-treatment meted to our lady diplomat in USA."

Khobragade, one of India's senior diplomats in New York, was charged last week with visa fraud and making false statements.

She was accused by Manhattan's Indian American US Attorney Preet Bharara of visa fraud and exploiting her babysitter and housekeeper. She was handcuffed in public by law enforcement authorities in New York Thursday while she was dropping her daughter at school.

India has termed the treatment meted out to the envoy as "absolutely unacceptable". US Ambassador Nancy Powell was summoned to South Block by Foreign Secretary Sujatha Singh on Dec 13 and a strong protest was lodged over the treatment.

The US delegation is led by Congressmen George Holding (Republican-North Carolina), and comprises Pete Olson (Republican-Texas), David Schweikert (Republican-Arizona), Robert Woodall (Republican-Arizona) and Madeleine Bordallo (Democrat-Guam).

Strip Searched?
Washington, Dec 17 : As media reports that Indian diplomat Devyani Khobragade was "strip-searched" after her arrest in New York threatened to escalate a diplomatic row between the two countries, the US suggested it had merely followed "standard procedures."

While "no comment" was forthcoming from the Indian side about these reports, attributed to unnamed sources about Khobragade, India's deputy consul general in New York, the US State Department sought to pass the buck to the justice department and the local police.

"The State Department's Diplomatic Security followed standard procedures during the arrest," spokesperson Marie Harf told reporters Monday when asked why the US was not respecting basic courtesies to a diplomat as it expected others to respect its own diplomats.

"After her arrest, she was passed on to the US marshals for intake and processing. So for any additional questions on her treatment, obviously, this would be the US Marshals and not us. I would refer you there," she said.

According to media reports, Khobragade, who was arrested in New York last week over alleged visa fraud and exploiting her housekeeper and babysitter, was not only handcuffed, but was later strip-searched in custody and made to stand with common criminals, drug addicts and sex workers by the New York Police.

Khobragade, who was arrested on the street while she was dropping her daughter to school was later released on a $250,000 bail. She is due back in court in January.

On the question of Indian Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar and National Security Advisor Shivshankar Menon canceling their meetings with a visiting congressional delegation to show India's displeasure, the State Department spokesperson again sought to pass the buck.

"I think I'd probably point you to the congressional delegation to comment on that. I'm happy to look into what happened exactly further. I just don't know the details," she said.

Harf also made a distinction between "diplomatic immunity" and "consular immunity."

"Under the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations, the Indian deputy consul general enjoys immunity from the jurisdiction of US courts only with respect to acts performed in the exercise of consular functions," she said.

"This isn't just in the US; it's all around the world. So in this case, she fell under that specific kind of immunity, and would be liable to arrest pending trial pursuant a felony arrest warrant," Harf said.

Asked about the US reaction to its Ambassador in New Delhi, Nancy Powell being summoned by the Indian Foreign Secretary Sujatha Singh to protest about the treatment meted out to Khobragade, the spokesperson had no
update.

Harf said that after the arrest the US assistant secretary had discussed the matter with the Ministry of External Affairs and the Indian Embassy, while "Powell has had discussions on the ground. I just don't have an update."
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thomas 2013-12-17 06:25:22
I'm amazed that no one seems to be giving a thought to the nanny (also an Indian) here... To give people some perspective, I'm an Indian living in the US, and I pay the babysitter $13-15 per hour. That is standard in most big cities. This lady was paying the poor nanny $3 per hour! And also made her lie on visa applications to cover it up! Why are people so bothered that the rich well-connected Indian was caught (justly too) and no one cares about the poor Indian nanny who was being exploited abroad? What is wrong with our mentalities?
Pat 2013-12-17 06:28:04

ഇന്ത്യൻ അധികാരികൾ നയതന്ത്ര കാരിയ ഉദ്യോഗസ്ത്  ചെയ്ത കുറ്റം ഗൌരമായീ എടുത്തില്ല !ഇവരെ നേരത്തേ തന്നേയ് ഇന്ത്യയിലേക്ക്തിരിച്ചു വിളിക്കാമായിരുന്നു .ഇങ്ങനെ ഒരു പ്രതിസന്ധി മുന്കൂട്ടി കാണാൻ ഇവിടുത്തെ നയതന്ത്ര പ്രതി നിധികൾക്കു സാധിക്കാത് പോയീ .ഇവിടെയും സര്കാര് കാരിയം മുറപോലെ ആയീ, കയിൽ നിന്നും വിട്ടു പോയീ .എന്തായാല് ഒരേ  കുറ്റം തുടെര്ച്ചയായീ വീണ്ടും ചെയ്യുന്നത് അഭികാമ്യമല്ല .

അറസ്റ്റ് ചെയ്ത രീതി ഒഴിവാക്കാം ആയിരുന്നു .

 

Mr. Kerala 2013-12-17 08:51:04
Why Devyani Khobragade did this (false declaration)? If keeping a maid was not within her reach, she should not have done that. This episode proves, maximum Indians are corrupt by birth. Now, she has to face the music as per US laws, as the crime has been done on the soil of USA. There is an adage : When in Rome, do as the Romans do. So, Devyani should have followed the US laws diligently. False declarations and violating contractual terms goes against VISA norms. So far there has not been a denial of the charges. USA judiciary is independent of Government and may act tough. Same time the law allows there for a lesser punishment if pleading guilty. This case will go on record books on jurisprudence
Jack Daniel 2013-12-17 10:03:40
Devayaani Knew what she was doing and the maid under the advice of her attorney took advantage of it. This is going to be resolved soon and probably we will never come to know about it. Let us all take the back seat and enjoy the drama while some of our Malayaali stupid leaders comment and make effort to save Devayaani. Have a Jack Daniel and relax
Tom abraham 2013-12-17 11:46:18
Govt of India should not retaliate by not protecting the US embassies. Remember, many of are planning a visit to India.
This should not affect the seasonal traffic, tourism, and all for a dishonest IFS. Shame, shame.
George 2013-12-17 11:50:39
Why everyone is rushing to support a CONSULAR OFFICER who is guilty in the first place??.She need to be treated as in a usual arrest, hand cuffed and put behind bars , for violating the US laws and exploiting her maid.There is no diplomatc immunity in personal cases by consular officials. I am an Indian origin US citizen residing here for the last 15 years and fully support the actions of US Govt in this investigation. Govt of India's issue of arrest warrant against the complaint & her family is the better example of harrasment by the powerfull IAS lobby in Delhi.Why should the maid's husband and child taken into custody? is this not a violation of human rights? is this action meant to silence the maid on the other side and compel her to withdraw the complaint. This is typical of Indian politicians and govt. servants , police officials to silence the less fortunate.
Ajith 2013-12-17 12:49:56
Do you the Governor of Illionois was arrested for corruption and hand cuffed and he is NOT AN INDIAN. Is it a sin to arrest someone who did visa fraud even though he may be a diplomat ? Aren't the diplomats follow the norm? Lets not use race as an excuse to do fraud.
saji koshy 2013-12-18 07:37:19
Indian government already said that if she convicted take action according to the Vienna convention agreement to arrest a government diplomat.I don't understand why my friends show more loyalty than a king to his kingdom.Don't forget what had happened to the Hon'ble former Indian President Abdul J kalam sir while he was visiting US
Anthappan 2013-12-18 10:02:35
Quoted from Cnn "The arrest and detention of an Indian consular official in New York on visa fraud charges has created a diplomatic uproar, with punitive steps taken against State Department officials in New Delhi. Devyani Khobragade, India's deputy consul general, was arrested on December 12 after she dropped her daughter off at school. She was not handcuffed until she arrived at the courthouse, a law enforcement source familiar with the case told CNN, calling that "a courtesy not afforded to most people," including alleged white-collar criminals. Court papers allege that Khobragade had submitted false documents to obtain a work visa for her female housekeeper, paying her less than the amount stated. Khobragade, 39, was held in a cell with other females and strip-searched in New York following her arrest, the U.S. Marshals Service said, noting such treatment was standard procedure in her case and that no policies were violated. She eventually posted bond and was released. She has been moved to India's Permanent Mission to the United Nations, an Indian external affairs ministry official said. The case has set off outrage in India about Khobragade's treatment by U.S. law enforcement officials. But it has also drawn concern from human rights advocates about her allegedly underpaying her housekeeper. U.S. strip searches Indian diplomat India and U.S. feud over diplomat's arrest The Indian government has described the diplomat's treatment by the U.S. justice system as barbaric. "We are shocked and appalled at the manner in which she has been humiliated by the U.S. authorities," Indian external affairs spokesman Syed Akbaruddin said last week. He called the treatment of Khobragade "absolutely unacceptable." New York police were not involved. The U.S. Marshals Service handled her detention."
മലയാളത്തില്‍ ടൈപ്പ് ചെയ്യാന്‍ ഇവിടെ ക്ലിക്ക് ചെയ്യുക