Devyani Khobragade is a poster child for everything that is wrong with India's quota based reservation system, a feudal and corrupt bureaucracy and a society that is at large still mired in a feudal outlook.
The Khobragade mess is a teachable moment for all, including the US. It is time the US took a hard look at what passes for its 'arrest procedures'. Modern imaging equipment provides enough clues without resorting to a humiliating strip search or an even more denigrating cavity search (the latter was not done to Devyani). Let alone Devyani, anybody who is found innocent later in trial, would have lived through an emotionally scarring experience. This does not behoove a great country.
Those outside the US need to learn that, for every incident they google and dredge up to show leniency by US law, there are ten more that show the impartial nature of US law. Sitting President Bill Clinton had to answer highly invasive questions regarding 'peculiarities' concerning his private parts during the Paula Jones trial. Senators, rock stars, governors, congressmen, film stars have all felt the sharp end of law in US. This is true of most Western countries. Bestselling author and MP Jeffrey Archer underwent imprisonment in UK. More often than not the common Western citizen loves to see justice being delivered to the high and mighty. Many had pointed to the incident in Kenya when a US diplomat caused a car accident killing a man and was later evacuated with no punishment. Check the comments by Americans under those articles. Almost everyone had commented that this was unfair and the man should stand trial.
US has lot of idiosyncrasies in implementing the law. US attorneys and judges have lot of latitude. There is constant discussion in US over frivolous lawsuits, extortion, harassment by overzealous prosecutors, extremely punitive punishments over trivial offenses and of course race as a factor. No country is free of any blemish. The US has its warts in the justice system. An overzealous attorney accused a group of Duke university students of having raped a black stripper. The entire case fell apart later. And, yes the same happened to the French diplomat too. All that said the US justice system, especially compared to India, delivers for most. Conservative commentator George Will wrote a blistering column on how prosecutors coerce drug offenders to plead guilty (see references). Also when a US attorney general decides to prosecute a case not even the President can stop him/her.
Lot of Indians reacted with disgust against Khobragade but demurred about the strip search. What pained me most was how many reacted indignantly with questions like "is the US holy?", "is the maid a CIA agent?" and the worst being "the maid was given lodging and food. Does she need American wages above that?"
Who is Khobragade? Daughter of an IAS officer she grew up in the lap of luxury and, as her father himself stated, never faced any discrimination on account of her being Dalit. To be blunt she only reaped the benefits of being a Dalit just like K.R.Narayanan's daughter did. India's perverted reservation system (not to be confused with the lesser oppressive American style affirmative action) considers Khobragade as eligible for education and job opportunities on account of her caste. Reports say she owns 11 properties including a flat in the scam tainted Aadarsh flats. Asked why she did not declare prior government allotted home her father indignantly replied that it was not their duty to do so.
It is disgusting to see her fellow bureaucrats rush to her defense with op-eds in Indian and international papers. One bureaucrat said that it is a fact that that all consular officials lied in their visa papers about salaries to the domestic help and he proceeded to ask with anger "by approving such visa is not the US complicit". Another diplomat wrote that now every domestic help will feel emboldened to complain to US authorities just to get a green card and pursue 'dollar dreams'. Yet another diplomat, Prabhu Dayal, who was formerly accused of ill treating his maid in the same consulate took to an oped to rehash his case and cast aspersions on the maid.
I was extremely pained to see questions asking why does a maid need $9 just because she is working in NYC since her lodging and meals were taken care of. Why does Khobragade or any Indian diplomat need US salaries? After all, they too live in the same consulate. This feigned outrage in India against the treatment meted to Devyani is nothing but the preening middle class asking "how dare a maid take one of our own to court and have her arrested". This is nothing to do with protecting India's honor. Rather it is bourgeoise India reacting with feudal impulses against a maid. There have been other instances when Indians have been arrested, sometimes wrongly too, and not a single squeak was heard from India.
Many seem to ignore that Devyani used every lever of power to crush the maid. As any middle class employer of India would do Devyani too registered a case of theft against the maid, in India, not in NYC where the purported theft took place. An Indian court gagged the maid from pursuing a legal option in US where the grievance, underpayment, was taking place. Above all, the maid's 'official passport', not Indian passport, was cancelled and a non-bailable arrest warrant issued against her. Non-bailable warrant. For what? And a case was registered against the maid's husband too? For what. I am beyond myself for any iota of sympathy for Devyani or the purported outrage to her modesty. Devyani met her match in Preet Bharara. If Bharara did not exist Devyani, in Bollywood film style, would have stamped into the ground the maid and her family. This is not empty conjecture. It is what Devyani set out to do.
A pompous Yale graduate, liberal and leftist, Suchitra Vijayan penned a column for Rediff bemoaning that Devyani's great work on behalf of the downtrodden is now tarnished. Suchitra says that Devyani, 'a doctor, Dalit and a woman in a male dominated career' will not do just 'lip service' but does 'things that are important'. Yet this Ivy League graduate could not point to a single original idea or project of Devyani beyond empty, inane, platitudes like 'paying forward' and 'creating opportunities'.
That India is ruled by the bureaucrats is evident in this mess. The bureaucracy has closed ranks and is shamelessly trying to protect one of their own. They are even brazen about the fact that they are entitled to 'domestic help' though clearly they cannot afford one in a country where most people, including citizens, do not need a 'domestic help'. The suggested remedies by all these bureaucrats include every idea under the sun except paying appropriately or better still doing away with this colonial era entitlement.
We can trust these officials to come up with ideas that adhere to the law but are void of any scruples or morals. An idea floated suggests that the Indian government, not the official, sign the contracts with the maids thereby presenting a conundrum to any overzealous US attorney over arresting a country or a nonentity like the government. India's GDP is $2 Trillion and Indians love to boast of their possible status of overtaking GDP and yet they want to pay a maid $3 per hour. Shame.
The barrage of op-eds and manufactured outrage on behalf of the perpetrator only shows that the voiceless continue to be voiceless in India. How many Indian papers and TV channels interviewed those who are being sent abroad as 'domestic help'? The foreign minister asks with barely controlled rage that the worst that Devyani can be accused of is underpaying and if so does that is it a big deal. Khurshid was not seen with so much anger when Muslims were butchered in Muzarfarpur. And yes, in some parts of the world, not paying an employee properly is considered criminal.
I've been asked if my interest and anger on this issue is because it gives me yet another chance to scold India. Absolutely no. When I first heard the news I ignored it as yet another Indian trying to act Indian in USA. But then it erupted like Vesuvius. Many, many times I've seen indigent Indian employees in restaurants shyly say "sir please give the tips as cash. If you put it on card it does not come to us". Indians are loathe to tip after eating for $100 so I've seen waiters ask "sir please don't forget a tip". At some places waiters cheerlessly say "we don't get any part of the tip". I've been through the H1B grinding mill. I know personally how Indian employers cheat. Paying an employee on time, paying fairly, treating an employee with respect etc are completely alien to most, not all, Indians.
One day a plumber came to my home to do some repair work. He walked around the home, sat comfortably on the sofa, complimented my daughter and talked to me as an equal human being. I thought would an Indian plumber do the same in India? In India it is common for a small child to call an aged domestic help disrespectfully by name and in singular. Children are employed to babysit children.
Many Indians hated the movie Slumdog Millionaire. Time magazine elicited a response from a middle class car driving girl and a rickshaw driver. The girl was irritated about the movie saying "this is what I see everyday should I see it in the theater too". The rickshaw man said "at last a movie that speaks of people like us". Indians were less livid about the fact that children are maimed and forced into beggary than about a cinematic exaggeration of a child jumping into a pit of excreta.
It is the middle class that is fueling the rise of Narendra Modi. Everyone breathlessly speaks of how factories are opened in Gujarat, how roads are laid pronto, how permits can be got easily but I've not heard a single Modi supporter speak of why Gujarat's primary education lags or why no big universities or research centers or primary health centers or state of the art hospitals were opened. Those do not matter to the middle class who have convents and nursing homes to go to.
Supporters of reservation system would have been livid at my calling Devyani as poster child for everything thats wrong with the system. Consider this. The maid's child and Devyani's child are entitled to the same quota. Guess who has a higher chances of enjoying the fruits of the quota? Convent education, US school going Devyani child or a maid's child? Reservation system undoubtedly helped a few generations but it has become a behemoth today that is hogged by the aptly labeled 'creamy layer'. Today's Hindu carries an article about how schools meant for Adi-Dravida children are dilapidated, to put it mildly, lack teachers, lack classrooms and function in something that resembles a building where even dogs would think twice before resting on a hot day. Politicians use reservation system as a soft option to lure vote banks while ignoring the more vital concrete steps.
There are many lessons to be learnt for all. India and Indians need the most learning to do. I hope they spare a moment to learn.
References:
1. Suchitra Vijayan's column in Rediff http://www.rediff.com/news/report/in-a-world-where-women-only-pay-lip-service-to-womens-rights-devyani-is-an-exception/20131223.htm
2. Non-bailable warrant against the maid Sangeeta Richard http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2013-12-18/india/45336280_1_maid-delhi-court-issues-delhi-hc
3. Entreprenur's 'Letter to an Indian nanny in New York' http://www.indianexpress.com/news/letter-to-an-indian-nanny-in-new-york/1210913/0?SocialMedia
4. Former diplomat Prabhu Dayal's oped http://www.dailymail.co.uk/indiahome/indianews/article-2528046/Fear-loathing-New-York-Former-diplomat-Prabhu-Dayal-reveals-Indian-envoys-US-fall-victim-maids-pursuing-American-dreams.html
5. Prabhu Dayal case reported in CBS http://newyork.cbslocal.com/2011/06/21/housekeeper-sues-indian-diplomat-prabhu-dayal-in-nyc-over-wages/
6. Over 50% of Adi-Dravida schools lack basic facilities - The Hindu http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/tamil-nadu/over-50-of-adi-dravidar-schools-lack-basic-facilities/article5500422.ece?homepage=true
The Khobragade mess is a teachable moment for all, including the US. It is time the US took a hard look at what passes for its 'arrest procedures'. Modern imaging equipment provides enough clues without resorting to a humiliating strip search or an even more denigrating cavity search (the latter was not done to Devyani). Let alone Devyani, anybody who is found innocent later in trial, would have lived through an emotionally scarring experience. This does not behoove a great country.
Those outside the US need to learn that, for every incident they google and dredge up to show leniency by US law, there are ten more that show the impartial nature of US law. Sitting President Bill Clinton had to answer highly invasive questions regarding 'peculiarities' concerning his private parts during the Paula Jones trial. Senators, rock stars, governors, congressmen, film stars have all felt the sharp end of law in US. This is true of most Western countries. Bestselling author and MP Jeffrey Archer underwent imprisonment in UK. More often than not the common Western citizen loves to see justice being delivered to the high and mighty. Many had pointed to the incident in Kenya when a US diplomat caused a car accident killing a man and was later evacuated with no punishment. Check the comments by Americans under those articles. Almost everyone had commented that this was unfair and the man should stand trial.
US has lot of idiosyncrasies in implementing the law. US attorneys and judges have lot of latitude. There is constant discussion in US over frivolous lawsuits, extortion, harassment by overzealous prosecutors, extremely punitive punishments over trivial offenses and of course race as a factor. No country is free of any blemish. The US has its warts in the justice system. An overzealous attorney accused a group of Duke university students of having raped a black stripper. The entire case fell apart later. And, yes the same happened to the French diplomat too. All that said the US justice system, especially compared to India, delivers for most. Conservative commentator George Will wrote a blistering column on how prosecutors coerce drug offenders to plead guilty (see references). Also when a US attorney general decides to prosecute a case not even the President can stop him/her.
Lot of Indians reacted with disgust against Khobragade but demurred about the strip search. What pained me most was how many reacted indignantly with questions like "is the US holy?", "is the maid a CIA agent?" and the worst being "the maid was given lodging and food. Does she need American wages above that?"
Who is Khobragade? Daughter of an IAS officer she grew up in the lap of luxury and, as her father himself stated, never faced any discrimination on account of her being Dalit. To be blunt she only reaped the benefits of being a Dalit just like K.R.Narayanan's daughter did. India's perverted reservation system (not to be confused with the lesser oppressive American style affirmative action) considers Khobragade as eligible for education and job opportunities on account of her caste. Reports say she owns 11 properties including a flat in the scam tainted Aadarsh flats. Asked why she did not declare prior government allotted home her father indignantly replied that it was not their duty to do so.
It is disgusting to see her fellow bureaucrats rush to her defense with op-eds in Indian and international papers. One bureaucrat said that it is a fact that that all consular officials lied in their visa papers about salaries to the domestic help and he proceeded to ask with anger "by approving such visa is not the US complicit". Another diplomat wrote that now every domestic help will feel emboldened to complain to US authorities just to get a green card and pursue 'dollar dreams'. Yet another diplomat, Prabhu Dayal, who was formerly accused of ill treating his maid in the same consulate took to an oped to rehash his case and cast aspersions on the maid.
I was extremely pained to see questions asking why does a maid need $9 just because she is working in NYC since her lodging and meals were taken care of. Why does Khobragade or any Indian diplomat need US salaries? After all, they too live in the same consulate. This feigned outrage in India against the treatment meted to Devyani is nothing but the preening middle class asking "how dare a maid take one of our own to court and have her arrested". This is nothing to do with protecting India's honor. Rather it is bourgeoise India reacting with feudal impulses against a maid. There have been other instances when Indians have been arrested, sometimes wrongly too, and not a single squeak was heard from India.
Many seem to ignore that Devyani used every lever of power to crush the maid. As any middle class employer of India would do Devyani too registered a case of theft against the maid, in India, not in NYC where the purported theft took place. An Indian court gagged the maid from pursuing a legal option in US where the grievance, underpayment, was taking place. Above all, the maid's 'official passport', not Indian passport, was cancelled and a non-bailable arrest warrant issued against her. Non-bailable warrant. For what? And a case was registered against the maid's husband too? For what. I am beyond myself for any iota of sympathy for Devyani or the purported outrage to her modesty. Devyani met her match in Preet Bharara. If Bharara did not exist Devyani, in Bollywood film style, would have stamped into the ground the maid and her family. This is not empty conjecture. It is what Devyani set out to do.
A pompous Yale graduate, liberal and leftist, Suchitra Vijayan penned a column for Rediff bemoaning that Devyani's great work on behalf of the downtrodden is now tarnished. Suchitra says that Devyani, 'a doctor, Dalit and a woman in a male dominated career' will not do just 'lip service' but does 'things that are important'. Yet this Ivy League graduate could not point to a single original idea or project of Devyani beyond empty, inane, platitudes like 'paying forward' and 'creating opportunities'.
That India is ruled by the bureaucrats is evident in this mess. The bureaucracy has closed ranks and is shamelessly trying to protect one of their own. They are even brazen about the fact that they are entitled to 'domestic help' though clearly they cannot afford one in a country where most people, including citizens, do not need a 'domestic help'. The suggested remedies by all these bureaucrats include every idea under the sun except paying appropriately or better still doing away with this colonial era entitlement.
We can trust these officials to come up with ideas that adhere to the law but are void of any scruples or morals. An idea floated suggests that the Indian government, not the official, sign the contracts with the maids thereby presenting a conundrum to any overzealous US attorney over arresting a country or a nonentity like the government. India's GDP is $2 Trillion and Indians love to boast of their possible status of overtaking GDP and yet they want to pay a maid $3 per hour. Shame.
The barrage of op-eds and manufactured outrage on behalf of the perpetrator only shows that the voiceless continue to be voiceless in India. How many Indian papers and TV channels interviewed those who are being sent abroad as 'domestic help'? The foreign minister asks with barely controlled rage that the worst that Devyani can be accused of is underpaying and if so does that is it a big deal. Khurshid was not seen with so much anger when Muslims were butchered in Muzarfarpur. And yes, in some parts of the world, not paying an employee properly is considered criminal.
I've been asked if my interest and anger on this issue is because it gives me yet another chance to scold India. Absolutely no. When I first heard the news I ignored it as yet another Indian trying to act Indian in USA. But then it erupted like Vesuvius. Many, many times I've seen indigent Indian employees in restaurants shyly say "sir please give the tips as cash. If you put it on card it does not come to us". Indians are loathe to tip after eating for $100 so I've seen waiters ask "sir please don't forget a tip". At some places waiters cheerlessly say "we don't get any part of the tip". I've been through the H1B grinding mill. I know personally how Indian employers cheat. Paying an employee on time, paying fairly, treating an employee with respect etc are completely alien to most, not all, Indians.
One day a plumber came to my home to do some repair work. He walked around the home, sat comfortably on the sofa, complimented my daughter and talked to me as an equal human being. I thought would an Indian plumber do the same in India? In India it is common for a small child to call an aged domestic help disrespectfully by name and in singular. Children are employed to babysit children.
Many Indians hated the movie Slumdog Millionaire. Time magazine elicited a response from a middle class car driving girl and a rickshaw driver. The girl was irritated about the movie saying "this is what I see everyday should I see it in the theater too". The rickshaw man said "at last a movie that speaks of people like us". Indians were less livid about the fact that children are maimed and forced into beggary than about a cinematic exaggeration of a child jumping into a pit of excreta.
It is the middle class that is fueling the rise of Narendra Modi. Everyone breathlessly speaks of how factories are opened in Gujarat, how roads are laid pronto, how permits can be got easily but I've not heard a single Modi supporter speak of why Gujarat's primary education lags or why no big universities or research centers or primary health centers or state of the art hospitals were opened. Those do not matter to the middle class who have convents and nursing homes to go to.
Supporters of reservation system would have been livid at my calling Devyani as poster child for everything thats wrong with the system. Consider this. The maid's child and Devyani's child are entitled to the same quota. Guess who has a higher chances of enjoying the fruits of the quota? Convent education, US school going Devyani child or a maid's child? Reservation system undoubtedly helped a few generations but it has become a behemoth today that is hogged by the aptly labeled 'creamy layer'. Today's Hindu carries an article about how schools meant for Adi-Dravida children are dilapidated, to put it mildly, lack teachers, lack classrooms and function in something that resembles a building where even dogs would think twice before resting on a hot day. Politicians use reservation system as a soft option to lure vote banks while ignoring the more vital concrete steps.
There are many lessons to be learnt for all. India and Indians need the most learning to do. I hope they spare a moment to learn.
References:
1. Suchitra Vijayan's column in Rediff http://www.rediff.com/news/report/in-a-world-where-women-only-pay-lip-service-to-womens-rights-devyani-is-an-exception/20131223.htm
2. Non-bailable warrant against the maid Sangeeta Richard http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2013-12-18/india/45336280_1_maid-delhi-court-issues-delhi-hc
3. Entreprenur's 'Letter to an Indian nanny in New York' http://www.indianexpress.com/news/letter-to-an-indian-nanny-in-new-york/1210913/0?SocialMedia
4. Former diplomat Prabhu Dayal's oped http://www.dailymail.co.uk/indiahome/indianews/article-2528046/Fear-loathing-New-York-Former-diplomat-Prabhu-Dayal-reveals-Indian-envoys-US-fall-victim-maids-pursuing-American-dreams.html
5. Prabhu Dayal case reported in CBS http://newyork.cbslocal.com/2011/06/21/housekeeper-sues-indian-diplomat-prabhu-dayal-in-nyc-over-wages/
6. Over 50% of Adi-Dravida schools lack basic facilities - The Hindu http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/tamil-nadu/over-50-of-adi-dravidar-schools-lack-basic-facilities/article5500422.ece?homepage=true
excellent article. should actually create anguish and concern in sensitive minds. regarding reforming reservation system, i, as a supporter of the existing reservation system, have been advocating the easiest and most rational method to reove the creamy layer from repaing the benfits all the time. We need to introduce prirority eleigibility within the reservation for first generation leaerners of every community entitled to reservation. second generation and third generationlearners will get the opportunity only after the quota is filled with first generation learners and if some places still remain vacant.
ReplyDeletegnani
gnanisankaran@gmail.com
Primary education is like a festival fervor and very dangerous. We always ask the child whether it likes corporal punishment and Governments allow it to call 911 if someone is beating the child up. Why don't we ask the kids whether they want to go to school? Forcing them to go school is no better than forcing them to go church, mosque or temple(sic) ( the fanaticism implied in the ordering). Just find out if a child wants to go to school or wants to call 911 instead !!
ReplyDeleteThe comments on pitfalls of reservation policy is too harsh as there exists unfilled vacant seats and seats or carry forward for decades due to lack of suitable candidates from reserved communities.
ReplyDeleteMore than 90% seats in jobs are blue collared jobs of technitians,kalasis,constables,teachers,clerks etc and no creamy layer opt for this job
The creamy layer takes a small percentage of the jobs in the officer category and there still exists a large number of unfilled seats in the officer category and to deny even the few who fill those seats is unfair.Certain states like TN innovative methods of additional marks if parents are nongraduates and schooling in rural govt schools but the courts struck it down.Introduction of the above mentioned methods will give the servants daughter added advantage over the daughter of IFS
well said
ReplyDeleteThe US legal system like every other legal system in the world punishes small crimes and ignores the largest crimes, which are usually endorsed by society. So Clinton gets probed for sexual abuse but not starving Iraqis by policy. Modi gets called "merchant of death" but not Rajiv Gandhi, Obama, Putin, the Khalifah of Ottoman Empire, Mao or Stalin or Castro - all guilty of far greater crimes. The world ranted against Bush for his crimes but not Obama for persisting with the same policies. Something deeper than Devyani is going on here, like in the Delhi rape case, which is not showing up in mainstream media.
ReplyDeleteLet us not mix up things here. Makes no sense to find justification for wrongful acts of US Govt by bringing in Reservation system. Devyani is not the only one benefiting from it. And she did not violate the laws by benefiting from them. Moreover, now it is becoming apparent that the maid did get minimum wages. On the other hand we have millions of minimum wage workers in US working at Macdonalds and Walmarts who end up living on Govt - food stamps, Medicaid..... The maid never needed that - because she was much more than minimum wages in terms of boarding, housing etc. We Indians seem to be finding some fault with ourselves and would accept all guilt. Have some pride damn it!
ReplyDeleteThe fact is she lied. She may or may not pay the maid. The point is if you have rule you follow it since you are in that country. Don't lie to by pass rules . then don't take the maid at the first place. Also reservation is a very good topic brought up here!! Truly shows what such leeches who feed on the system so easily by virtue of caste and think that they can take the law easily. Unfortunately not in the USA ... Good . the fact she had to flee only seals the deal. Thieves they are!
DeleteLots of incorrect facts.
ReplyDeleteFirst. Reservation system and your gripes with it are irrelevant to the case at hand.
Second, while she didn't undergo what they call cavity SEARCH (probing of cavities), she did indeed undergo the normal strip search which involved VISUAL INSPECTION of the cavities. For that spreading of the labia is required. That is what she - understandably - called cavity search, although technically it is not.
The US propaganda machine is using that technicality to pretend there was NO cavity search.
Next point. The maid looks well fed and clothed and was housed, given insurance and many other perks, besides salary. Her passport and documents were not confiscated. There was no abuse.
And Ms, DK is the one who made the complaint of absconding and extortion.
She correctly made it in the Indian court because the maid was an Indian gvt employee and her visa technically ended the moment she stopped working for DK
There is a more democratic attitude to workers in the US only at one level. In actual fact, at higher levels, the US has a very strong caste system.
Finally, Indian social problems are India's internal concern. US has enough of its own. If it cared about poor people, it would allow poor people to immigrate here on their own but it doesn't. It's investor visa requires a million dollars.
There have been a dozen case of US diplomats committing rape and murder and being shielded by immunity, so the arguments pro US are all hog-wash.
I think the incident was a deliberate provocation to break off ties, while looking like the injured party.
US is now moving onto the next stage of its foreign policy, which is to bring Jihadis to Kashmir, get the Kjriwal trojan horse to back secession and set each country at the other's neck.
Finally, I see some facts after going through a highly opinionated fact-lacking article by another one of our proud Indian-bashing 'Indians'. The author very conveniently skipped over the facts that put to light the US' true shameful acts. Very inconsiderate and irresponsible of the author.
DeleteHi Good Post....arrived at this page by accident and ended up staying for an hour..good to know there are other like minded Indian immigrants around...btw I'm in D.C.
ReplyDeletegreat article. I am indian living in delhi and could not agree with you more. I am appalled by the reaction of everyone here in India. Interestingly, no one even wanted to know the maid's side of the story. To most people who read english newspapers, she is just a 'thing'. Non existing.
ReplyDeleteI am just back from my first trip to the West ( Germany) and the only reason I could see for India's mess is its hierarchy based society. If we do not respect the individuality, we would not be able to solve our problems.
Congratulations on your thoughts.
This is a good and thoughtful article. However, we do need to compartmentalize issues.
ReplyDelete1) Devayani an her family's incredible corruption and collection of illegal wealth appears quite clear from their assets, but this part is not relevant to the case.
2) The issue of discrimination and dalit in India is finally clarified somewhat but is also irrelevant.
3) Why does the USA even provide visas to domestic workers when so many can be locally engaged?
4) If the statement regarding Kashmiri Jihadis has any merit at all, it will be a Frankenstein that will hurt America like the Taliban. I hope we are not that short sighted.
5) I would like to see Preet Bharara successfully prosecute some local high profile criminals for a change. He is going after people who are not part of the US affluenza even if they are influential. Look at how leniently a terrible rape and near murder case was handled here "http://www.foxnews.com/us/2014/01/10/case-mo-man-accused-rape-ends-with-child-endangerment-conviction-after-lack/" with the mother fired and the family hounded out of their region.
Regarding Preet Bharara, he has investigated some high-profile criminals:
Delete- On January 7, 2014; Bharara announced that his office and JPMorgan had reached a deferred prosecution agreement that called for JPMorgan to forfeit $1.7 billion--the largest forfeiture ever demanded from a bank in American history--to settle charges that it and its predecessors violated the Bank Secrecy Act by failing to alert authorities about Madoff's actions.
- During his tenure, Bharara has charged several current and former elected officials in public corruption cases, including Senator Vincent Leibell, Senator Hiram Monserrate, NYC Councilman Larry Seabrook, and Yonkers City Councilwoman Sandy Annabi. Bharara’s office uncovered an alleged corruption ring involving New York State Senator Carl Kruger. In April 2012, Kruger was sentenced to seven years in prison. In February 2011, Bharara announced the indictment of five consultants working on New York City’s electronic payroll and timekeeping project, CityTime, for misappropriating more than $80 million from the project.
What had reservation system to do with this case at hand. What facts do you have that all benefits are enjoyed by creamy layer ?
ReplyDeleteI couldn't agree more. Just as the case broke and most of us in the US were condemning it, shockingly my Indian counterparts (I have been a journalist in India) on a Facebook thread were talking of conspiracy theories, dreaming of retaliatory measures and worst, offering that disgusting classist argument that food and rent free living in Manhattan is the best a "maid" can have. One prominent TV news anchor actually did the math to show her take home savings in INR. Not surprisingly he is the son of a former diplomat who had held the same counselor position in New York City and most likely enjoyed a cut-rate nanny himself. So when you read op-eds written by IFS officers, you need to understand they are jumping to Khobragade's defense because they are all guilty of the same act. Reporters and news editors too don't reveal their political affiliations and biases. Many a times media professionals end up acting as mere mouthpieces for their "highly placed" sources.
ReplyDeleteAlso, when Western media reports say the people of India are angry, it isn't quite true. The man on the street isn't angry, rather relieved that the US did not succumb to pressure and drop criminal charges against the errant foreign service officer. See comments under news articles to gauge the sentiment of masses.
I have lived, studied and worked in both India and the US to come to the painful realization that most Indians do not believe and cannot comprehend the fundamental equality of all human beings. Anand Giridhardas had nailed it in his book, India Calling as he noted that Indians like to suck up to those they believe are above them and screw those below.
The problem with the "indian system" is the Indian. It works on patronage and rank. You have to bow down before people who are more powerful than you. Look at the politicians bow down before Soniag, Mayavati, Jayalitha etc. The same guys like the common man to fall at their feet.
ReplyDeleteIn case of DK her main claim to glory is that she is a SC with a powerful EX IAS oficer who has links with all the top cong politicians of Maharashrta.
Why is your expose silent on the father of DKs children. He is a true blue american. I hope they are living together as a family.
regards
My blood boils at the audacity of these corrupt bureaucrats and their ilk. The corrupt shameless diplomat has twisted even IFS rules to get privilege and deprive a deserving candidate. She also has a flat in Adarsh Society illegally. And her father the corrupt Uttam Kobragade has the audacity to call media biased for raising the Adarsh society issue.
ReplyDeleteThis crooked father daughter duo should have been put in jail long ago. Instead the spoiled brat Devyani gets a posh posting as consular general. There she lies and does Visa fraud and the Gov. has to react crazy to save her skin, just because daddy khobragade is influential.
Who the f**k you think you are - Mr corrupt Khobragade and Miss Scam tainted Khobragade? Is India your private property and its citizens your private slaves you bloody shameless duo?
Really nice article. Quite an unbiased view into the whole situation that has been twisted in so many ways by media. I was trying to see the name of the author of this blog post. Can someone tell me who wrote this?
ReplyDeleteAn extremely well written post. Congratulations. Devyani appears to be a habitual liar. She lied on the Adarsh affidavit and she lied on the US visa application. If, as she claims is not guilty of any crimes in the US, why did she need to cloak of diplomatic immunity? By US law, the Govt has the onus of proving guilt; not vice versa. Middle class Indians in India and the US treat menial labor like dirt. That is a fact. In response to a previous comment that questioned the facts of the blog, it should be noted that the only cavity examined was her mouth. Devyani is now despairing about how she is going to live without her kids. What did she do when she was posted in Pakistan? What did she plan on doing once her tenure in NYC ended? Her self-serving email to her colleagues is a joke; it referred to the fear she felt for her own security and the "siege" the IFS fund itself in. If the IFS was under "siege" in the US, why didn't every career IFS officer pack up and leave? I am sure several of them are quivering in their shoes since this isn't the only case of a domestic worked being underpaid. I have sponsored over 10 H1 visas over the years for people from India, the UK and Canada and the one thing you do not do is fuck with the US Govt. You walk in to any Indian jewelry store on Devon Avenue in Chicago and the first thing they tell you is if you pay cash, you won't be charged sales tax, which in the City of Chicago is 9.25%; pretty significant when it comes to a jewelry purchase. Absolutely shameless. It isn't uncommon to see the parents of Indian store owners waking in to the store with bags filled with pirated Bollywood movies that they just got done duplicating at home. Even senior Indian citizens need something to do in the US. Mt father spent 27 honest years in the IAS and resigned from the service when he couldn't handle the corruption anymore. For those of you that have criticized the author of this blog here's 2 suggestions: (a) If you live in the US pack your shit and go back to wherever you came from, and (b) if you live in India don't think about migrating to the US, because you don't know shit about life in this country.
ReplyDeleteWhy so proud of Indian-bashing? Have you ever interacted with Americans or any other nationalities to proudly blame only the Indians? Selling houses and cars in black, big money laundering and under-the-table transactions by the bigshots in the US is as common over here. And mind you, the most popular torrenting and free (pirated) video/music download sites are not Indian, but FYI operated from the US and other western nations. Your mindset is set to spot the penny-stealing and miss out on the big bill thefts.
DeleteVery nice and to the point post. Whatever happened may have been unfortunate and wrong at many levels... and the reactions were at best childish... She has brought a bad name for India!!
ReplyDeleteReally !? You mean the creamy layer does not have to go through insults of being a lower caste, what about the higher brahmin caste class mate asking me "How come you are white and beautiful, because of I have people of lower caste are dark and ugly ? " You live in an alternate world wherein caste system does not apply to the high paid and creamy layer. How many lower caste people do you see holding positions of MD's or VC's or CEO's in private sector ? Can you name 1 or 2 ? I think not. You can deny as much as you want about caste system, reservations only helps the creamy layer, it still hasnt penetrated so much of the private sector that it just shows how misinformed and moronic you are think that it does not matter any more. And for god sakes, how does she being dalit affect this case, next one might say shahrukh khan is an attention seeker, because he is muslim ! It is hideous and outright stupid to think it matters that she is dalit.
ReplyDeletegood article, and it make us think before judging this incident ...but it is Muzaffar Nagar not muzaffarpur where Muslims were butchered. which is mentioned in your article
ReplyDeleteI don't know who so ever is the Author of this article he or she has conveniently tried to mix 2 different cases just to prove that Uncle Sam is always right. Well first of all let me clarify that Devyavi may be the most corrupt and a clear beneficiary of India's rotten reservation system but while in US she was representing more than a billion Indians. Her corruption is India's internal matter and we don't need US jurisdiction over that. Fact of the matter is that this was a deep rooted conspiracy of US to protect may be one of its CIA spy that suneeta Richards or else why even her family was down to US by US embassy despite an absconding trial going on in Indian court. The law abiding nature of US is world known as they are hypocrites who just have double standards . You can find 100 cases on net where US did not arrest even a single Russian or Chinese diplomat fearing the reciprocating reaction . See this link for example http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2013-12-05/news/sns-rt-us-usa-russia-healthfraud-20131205_1_u-s-state-department-healthcare-fraud-diplomats
ReplyDeleteSame Mr Bharara has requested Russian govt for waiver of diplomatic immunity of even families before arrest while he did not think even once when He arrested Indian Diplomat . Devyani may be most corrupt but that's India's internal matter not Bharara's. Infact In response to a U.S. law enacted in December 2012 that bars Russians seen as human rights abusers from entering the United States, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed off that same month on a similar law barring some Americans, including some U.S. Justice Department officials, from Russia. Bharara is among those banned from Russia. Thats why US doesnt dare to touch them . Secondly he flew family of the maid to US. If he is so concerned about human rights violation in India and so keen of providing asylum to poor Indians , I can send him a list of lakhs of Indians he can also call them to US. The problem with Indians living in US is that instead of their motherland they prefer showing loyalty to Uncle Sam.
Exactly! The author is one of those wannabes. I lived mostly outside India, but I try to put jerks like these right where I can.
DeleteVery bad and misguiding attempt at making the US look better in the entire mess. The singular point that needs to be of relevance in the case is that the Indian diplomat has immunity hence no arrest, no strip search period. The outrage among Indian public was not because the diplomat was from a certain background it was because the diplomat was a lady and she was strip searched,.imagine the scandal it would have caused if a US diplomat was strip searched. The author is very mischievous is bringing caste and reservation system into the discussion, clearly that isn't the point reason for the current mess or for the public outrage.
ReplyDeleteIn India a service charge of 10% is included, so tip should not be paid ... why should cusotmers pay double
ReplyDeleteand why is tip necessary, because US does it
Exactly.. someone tell the author that the US is probably the only country where I see tips being asked for like beggars (on TOP of the service charge!!), and never have I once experienced an Indian waiter/waitress or taxi driver or any Indian here behave like that.
Deleteall of those who r happy with what this idiot( To be blunt ) has posted think while u read his article.
ReplyDeleteeven a person out of his/her mind can tell that he has nothing to do with the maid sangeeta.
1. corruption is not related to being upper caste or dalit, why involve caste?
2. ask this partially mad person that didn't he/she ever lied to reaped benefits for himself?.
3. what happened there is nothin to do with her father, why involve him?
4. who r u sitting somewhere and talkin about india?
5. reservation??? those who talk abt reservation search on internet tat why it was given and evn search for atrocities goin on them here.
i m not speakin for devyani here. i m here to tell tat the writer of this article is talkin arbitrarily.
so ppl likin his article plz think
reservation and devayani case are entirely different things.The problem occurs when person's character is bad. The author of this article may be an unreserved category person.
ReplyDeleteA very poorly written and structured article.The author of the article fails to make any connection between reservation and caste system. The author brings out unrelated points about devyani. Many facts are incorrect and most importantly the author lacks a national outlook.
ReplyDeleteSo do most of the people who concur with the article.
Whoa, I don't know where this author is coming from and where s/he is going. This entire verbal diarrhea serves no sense and the gallimaufry of opinions is largely bound to create confusion by unnecessarily including too many layers to the case. When I read about this case, the only thing that struck me was how the cops (law and order system) could incarcerate anyone and begin strip/cavity search and other humiliating procedures even before any verdict has been reached by the jury during the trial. Devyani committed a crime and it would have been proved in court. We can sit here and pour our thoughts in a blog and other bullcrap social networking sites; however, quite a few of us would be aware of the intricacies of judicial system that exist in each nation. Let the trial begin, let she be given the right to plea for bail, and if her bail plea is rejected, let her be imprisoned and let her go through all the procedures of usual incarceration that every offender has to go through. Jumping the gun especially for this offense (which is yet to be proved in court) wasn't expected and necessary in a rational highly-advanced society as the US.
ReplyDelete-NS
I am glad that I chanced upon the article. Devyani issue has certainly affected a majority of Indians, more so, about the righteousness of the case and how are we placed vis-à-vis the issues involved. The author has impartially handled the incident and helped to position our stand. However, being away from India, the author might have missed out on some of the ground realities. The middle-class or for that matter, to cite the reference of Modi supporters by the author, it can be safely said the people are still mired in either meeting their needs or, if the needs have been met, in safeguarding the extant status from the volatilities of the social uncertainties and insecurities.
ReplyDeleteHowever, coming back to the core issue, I’m intrigued by comments on the mixing of issues. Shouldn’t we look into the causes that led to the imbroglio? The following questions keep knocking my mind:
• Why at all the government should encourage the enslaving process through the provision of visa for the servant and the related allowances?
• What makes the upwardly mobile Indians to view domestic chores with disdain and eschew those as befitting for a poorly paid maid only?
• In a country like US, where dignity of labour is treated with high regard, why can’t Indian officials adopt the practices of the new country and treat the servant, if at all necessary, as an equal and help project a good image of India?
• If native officials, with similar or more responsibilities, don’t require servants and take pride in doing personal work, shouldn’t Indian government select and groom progressive-minded Indian officials, who are free of feudal and bourgeois mindset?
Further, the case was like washing one’s dirty linen in public. As more and more people joined the bandwagon to defend the nation’s prestige against so-called US high-handedness, the more skeleton started tumbling out of the closet, the dis-proportionate and controversial assets and the creamy layer and the benefits of reservation to a limited few, being the case in point.
Resorting to quid-pro-quo measures of expelling a few US Consulate official or removing the security barriers around consulate, might end-up as short-term and inadequate measures and at best, massage our hurt-ego. The need of the hour is to revamp the entire bureaucratic setup and develop a culture of service. Obviously, that is a long-drawn process and can happen with an attitudinal change, a tough task, given the cultural history of the country.
There is no denying the fact that the Indian practice of drawing menial support from maids indeed generates employment for a sizeable number. However, before the blitzkrieg of ever-evolving murkier and shadowy incidents beamed by the visual media overtake the memory of the Devyani case, shouldn’t we introspect ourselves for a while to think what prevents us from bestowing love and care to these serving hands with gratitude and dignity?
Excellent article!
ReplyDeleteplease change Muzaffarpur to Muzaffarnagar.
Corruption is not limited to any particular caste. The fact that DK violated US laws is the issue here. She got the right treatment she deserves. Adios DK.
ReplyDeleteLiked the article. Completely sensible !!!
ReplyDeleteWhile I do agree that the wages may be lesser than US standards she was being paid 30,000 a month in India that was given directly to her family which they have agreed.That is probably three times the salary given to an Indian servant. There also is the aspect of salaries given to Indian workers in the US embassy ( which is technically US ground)where US workers are given minimum wages where a driver work 72 hour weeks and are paid 18000. Maybe this is just a case of another Indian wanting to emigrate to the US and uses this chance. Her family was "evacuated" from India two days before Devyani was arrested.
ReplyDeleteThere are several layers to this and one needs to take all of them into account as they cant be peeled and dissected separately. The uneven privileges given to US diplomats in India as compared to that given to Indian diplomats in the US. The salary is an aspect and touches a sensitive chord among the Indian diaspora in the US...as this disparity in salaries is the very reason that they have shifted to the golden west.
Too much has been squeezed into a single piece so may end up confusing the issue.It is undeniable that most rich & powerful Indians ferry abroad domestic maids/nurses from India to avoid hiring help at US rates.It is equally true that many such helps learn about higher wages over there and try to immigrate legally or otherwise. Devyani resorted to same practice & GOI colluded by agreeing to sign a contract, which had no validity in US. GOI also preferred to do everything to get Devyani back safely ignoring the interests of the maid. It is equally tru that India's reservation system, originally meant only for a decade, has assumed the characteristics of a serious discrimination in reverse & benefiting the likes of Devyani. However, the conduct of Preet Bharera, and India-born Sikh & US State Department also smacked of extra zealousness in 'evacuating' the maid's family from India by issuing them travel papers & even buying tickets exempted from tax for them before arresting Devyani. The net result is that US efforts to check visa fraud by Devyani were thwarted as not just the maid but also her family immigrated to US legally!
ReplyDeleteBrilliant...Loved to see the very fact that there is someone who has guts to speak out his mind open when the whole country is flooding with emotions imposed by politicians and Bureaucrats :)
ReplyDeleteIt was really a nice article and I always felt the same way when I read the news for the first time. As the news narrates the same story so differently that one gets biased on his opinion. We should also think of the other side of the coin.
Thank u so much.
Excellent article and well written thoughts. I am really feeling angry about Devyani and her actions. After all a law is law and i believe no one should be spared out of it.
ReplyDeleteWe Indians have a habit of not treating our own people with respect. Hats off to Sangeeta Richards for showing DK as the hypocrite that she is. Shame on our bureaucrats for the blind support yo DK
ReplyDeleteThis incident shows the USA attitude towards India or any other developing nation. By arresting DK, they showed that maid is more important than consulate. Write should also take reference about the incident when semi immune USA official arrested by Pakistan and the action USA took to get its staff free who was charged for murder. Whatever false DK did, Indian govt should do something about that ...and not USA.
ReplyDeleteIf you are Indian, am severely displeased with the way you have turned out to be. Glad that you stayed back and not come to india. you take so much pride in deriding everything Indian. Tell me something, given all your lofty ideals, have you educated one child besides your own, may be helped old ppl other than your own, constructed a hospital, may be for the downtrodden not in India but in your country? Have you visited Gujarat to make bad comments about the place? I do not support Devyani, i hate what she stands for, the reservation system. I dislike several things about India, but so is the case with all countries.Do not lose your roots. if you want the plumber to sit on your sofa, help yourself. but that's not what india is not about and other countries are about. People like you are shining examples of how what the britishers started out to do, break pride in indians and make them hate themselves, has been uber-successful. I sympathize with you.
ReplyDeleteseems more like rant against reservations and jealous cry against a successful dalit ... poorly structured article in any case
ReplyDeleteAgreeing to everything in the article, on the contrary, why isn't the cost of food and lodging given to the maid being considered while calculating the total wage. I am sure it will amount to much higher than the minimum wage, and technically there shouldn't be any law violation and hence there shouldn't be any case against Devyani on those grounds...
ReplyDeleteDude.....are you against reservation system or against bureacrats or against indian culture or narendra modi or india as a whole......Its seem that you are a frustated little weasel who hates his mediocre underachiever life and is jealous of everybody who are doing good for themselves. If you are genuinely concerned about issues then stop crying like a little girl on this silly little blog which hardly anybody knows exist and do something concrete....Loser...
ReplyDeleteAthenauem, a very well-crafted article indeed. My lawyer mother treats maids awfully. She is a retired civil service officer. Mother Teresa is her icon. Twice in the past when I had reported to the police, they dismissed my claims and branded me a son with lunatic tendencies. My mother is a very powerful woman and a ‘psychedelic’ orator. Our sense of national dignity is hit not when someone represents the country the wrong way but when this 'Indian psychology of my mother' is threatened. What we lack in India is the basic respect to someone from the lower socio-economic class. In the NYC incident, two women, both citizens of India, one privileged & the other underprivileged, one highly educated & the other less educated, one surrounded by top bureaucrats & the other by low income members, one with full support of her country's government & the other without any support are in the centre of bilateral relations of the two largest democracies. The Indian Constitution promises equality to both while the US system recognizes both as two equal members of the human race. Only the angry Indians are undermining what had happened with Sangeeta Richards. This irony exposes a serious hollowness of thought & absence of rationality. The sense of hierarchy comes from the religion. The psychology of suppression (of facts) and oppression (of the vulnerable) also come from the religion. Not endeavoring to scratch beneath the surface? Well, from religion again, must be from idolatry.
ReplyDeleteThis is a very good (and different) view of the situation. We would like to (re) publish this in the blogs section of our Magazine PrabashiPost.com, with your permission. Kindly let us know through the contact page. thanks & rgds.
ReplyDeleteShe may be one of many corrupt bureaucrats but that's the different aspect of the story. The fact that the maid's family members were evacuated from India just two days before Devyani was arrested smells fishy. I wish she had taken steps in advance and did not concede the things to deteriorate to this extent. I read somewhere that her arrest and the goofups created by Indian government will have far reaching impact on Indo-US relations.
ReplyDeleteThat was an exceedingly well written article and a good counter view of the state of affairs. The part that I felt did not have anything to do with the issue is that she is a Dalit. Despite having reservation, she might have put in equal amount of hard work as any other aspirant for her civil services. Yes she did reap the benefits of reservation, but that is not the cause of the corruption she was part of. There are a number of bureaucrats from the general category who own disproportionate assets. Please do not classify corruption based on caste. If you say she was a corrupt bureaucrat, she is one. Don't label her as a corrupt Dalit bureaucrat. Like in the upper castes there are quiet a few honest bureaucrats among the lower castes. Do not taint the image of any caste, we are already divided. Yes the reservations haven't been reaching the right people but this not the subject of discussion. It is our inability accept certain harsh realities.
ReplyDeleteJai Hind
Well written article..
ReplyDeleteA great article. I have lived in different parts of India and am currently in the UK. I cannot agree more with your views expressed in this article.
ReplyDeleteInteresting comments on what I thought was a well written yet slightly lop sided article. Devyani most certainly has a lot of discredits to her (may she and the likes of her get what they deserve), but using the DK case to draw an Indians Vs US comparison is really unfair. People from across the globe employ maids wherever they can afford them (with exceptions where some people who can afford them choose on principle not to do so). Why paint most Indians to be like the Khobragades and point out that Anericans are very different - the wars on terror, the Union Carbide - Bhopal gas tragedy compensation, the insensitivity of Americans & US systems to their own citizens with lesser means (lack of public transportation, inaccessible healthcare to the poor, high % of poverty for the world's richest nation etc - see Mike Moore's documentaries)....
ReplyDeleteMany of the comments on the reservation system are valid. Everyone agrees that the creamy layer should not continue to get benefits.
Also comments about the attitude of a large number of Indians towards their maids (underpaying them, denying them respect & dignity) unfortunately are true.
Crap article!!! you have mixed all your topics and incorrect facts in totality.......you are right in a few points under each topic and sumarise all of the fact to take the general direction you have pushed the conversation....pathetic.....scatter brain .. Khorbade - Reservation System - Modi and the biggest of all I am guessing you are in line for a green card and are supporting the america propaganda .... dare an america diplomat be called to the police station let alone get arrested....the foreign minister will be stripped and flogged in public in india
ReplyDeleteYou seem to be an agent for the US govt. or trying to get there the way sangeeta richards did. Do not try to justify what US did in the name of mixing issues & challenges in India. The fact remains that the USA is alienating itself from the whole world and will be left alone justifying its presence in the times to come. No doubt it is one of the most hated countries in the world and will continue to remain so if it doesn't change and stop playing its dirty tricks of treating the whole world with contempt. Snowden showed some aspects of it recently and many more will come out. US should focus more on its own internal issues of economy & sorting out its gun culture, porn culture, environmental degradation etc. rather than trying to divert the attention of the world by doing such stupid acts.
ReplyDeletewhy is this looser relating the topic with dalit.....dalit never complaints on there situations instead works very hard and earn there leaving ...infact dalits are happy that someone from there caste is representing orelse those positions remains vacant saying no one is qualified for the post..stop complaining start working.
ReplyDelete"Yet another Indian trying to act Indian in USA."
ReplyDeleteWe are happy to get rid of DK.
Never come again to our land-US.
"Beaurocracy Class" in India is apart from "Political Dynasty" and "Dynasties of Cinema".
India and US also have to learn many lessons from this.
Why did the American ambassador fly out the maid's family before the American attack on Ms. Khobragade? The ambassador and his spouse a pair of Texass have been very sick about India on social media, there are two issues, one is Khobragade's antecedents and the other is US aggression, don't mix them. Glad India gave them a bloody nose, and ought of keep doing so.
ReplyDeleteSuch a well written article.....
ReplyDeleteHHa haa haaa....what a sad article. It is strange that true achievers - INDIAN or AMERICAN or from MARS never write such outrageous emotional negative stuff. weird ! it is only insignificant mediocre intellectuals who upload videos and write this kinda stuff....hahahha it is truly funny ! My sympathies with you mate ;-) you display sign of high sub-conscious frustration...
ReplyDeleteThank God we saved our face at the world by accepting the big brothers's request to call her back, I sincerely doubt Indian Govt why we have not spoken to the victim who is also an Indian before stand behind Devayani
ReplyDelete