Shock In India At Diplomat Strip Search
Updated: 3:50pm UK, Wednesday 18 December 2013
By Neville Lazarus, Asia Producer
Indian diplomat Devyani Khobragade's father Uttam said he and his family are devastated their hard-working girl has been publicly "handcuffed, strip searched and cavity searched".
She was arrested while dropping her daughter at school last week, for allegedly underpaying her housekeeper and committing visa fraud to get her into the US.
In India, the sort of punishment Ms Khobragade received in New York is reserved for inhuman crimes. For a middle class educated family this is surely a nightmare.
The country has been shocked and outraged over the incident.
Every Indian is hurt as a foreign service officer is well respected and has a position in society.
The family would be feted and most sought after in social circles.
The foreign service in India is reserved for the best and brightest.
To give an example the civil services examination through which Ms Khobragade would have had to qualify is one of the most difficult competitions in the country.
On average, 500,000 candidates apply for the examination for a total of about 800 positions. That means one in 500 are selected, the probability of success is less than 1%.
Cutting across party lines all political leaders in parliament have deplored the actions of the US Marshals.
One lawmaker wants the same treatment meted out to American diplomats here in India if they have violated a local law.
This will make them realise what dishonour is, he said.
The normally reticent Prime Minister called the treatment "deplorable".
His government has now shifted Ms Khobragade to the permanent mission at the UN giving her full immunity under the Vienna Convention and to bring her back to India as soon as possible.
As general elections are due in the summer next year, there is a tinge of politics.
While the present government does not want to be seen to be cowing to the US, the opposition parties blame the government for grovelling to US pressure over the years, and as a result a foreign policy that is ineffective and one sided.
But at the moment, all political parties back the measures of the Indian government.
Women in India are still victims of social, political, economical and caste prejudices.
And this is borne out with the rising number of cases of violence, sexual and otherwise, against them. In a patriarchal society women have found it very hard to break out but they are trying.
After the horrific bus gang rape case in December 2012 the mood in the nation has changed.
New laws were formulated and fast track courts are pronouncing time-bound judgements, which otherwise take decades to conclude.
India is fighting an internal battle and everyone knows it's a very long one - but there is a start.
And that's why when a well-educated, career woman is dishonoured, there is an outcry.
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