India-US diplomat row escalates

[Mr. Bigglesworth]

"The diplomat, Devyani Khobragade, was handcuffed upon arrest last week and strip-searched, Indian reports say.

She denies visa fraud and making false statements over allegations that she underpaid her Indian maid."

Strip search a female diplomat for underpaying a maid? Are you kidding? What did they expect to find, a roll of dollar bills?

[bayonetbrant]

and if so, where, exactly?

[MIGMaster]

Yeah - they should show women respect - like Indian men do.

[LongBlade]

I'm on my phone right now otherwise I'd post a link to India's response.

Things ain't to smooth.

[Steelgrave]

Wonder what happened to the little thing called "diplomatic immunity"?

[em2nought]

I don't understand why we haven't gone out of our way to be friends with India?  They seem like the most civilized choice for a friend that we're likely to find.  Maybe they just tell us to @#$% off which I could understand, don't want moored up to a sinking ship.

[Staggerwing]

True, India would be a natural counterweight to China. The Indians might be less than enthusiastic for the US's decades of military support of Pakistan and may need a bit of upfront goodwill before they will even think about trusting us as far as they could throw us.

[endfire79]

I think consular officers do not necessarily have absolute immunity as diplomatic officers apparently do. 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Consular_immunity#Consular_and_Diplomatic_immunity_in_the_US

[LongBlade]

I think consular officers do not necessarily have absolute immunity as diplomatic officers apparently do. 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Consular_immunity#Consular_and_Diplomatic_immunity_in_the_US

I think that's the heart of the issue. An article I read indicated the Indian diplomat had consular immunity, which made her(?) immune to minor stuff but subject to prosecution for felony related charges.

What I'm not clear about is what she did that merited the strip search, but the story I read had the police stating clearly that proper procedures were followed.

There is something of a greater context going on here that I paid little attention to. If I have my story straight, the new PM of India may have mishandled some unrest in a province he was governor of. As a result he's a persona non grata in the US. So what might have been a minor diplomatic fluff over the misdeed of a minor Indian diplomat has been escalated by India into a major issue - perhaps because the new PM has a chip on his shoulder.

Ah, found an article.

The trouble with Modi dates back to 2002. Shortly after he was appointed chief minister of the state of Gujarat, a group of Muslims attacked a train carrying Hindus, setting it on fire and killing dozens of people. What resulted were some of the deadliest ethnic riots in India's history. Hindu mobs attacked Muslims throughout the state, and by most estimates more than 1,000 people were killed.

In a controversy that has trailed his political career, Modi was accused by human rights groups of doing little to quell the violence. When he sought to travel to the United States in 2005, a bipartisan group of U.S. lawmakers penned a resolution condemning him for "condoning or inciting bigotry."

Shortly afterward, the State Department denied him a visa, on the grounds of a section of U.S. law barring any foreign official deemed responsible for "severe violations of religious freedom."

source: http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2013/12/16/man-poised-to-lead-india-barred-from-entering-us/

[Mr. Bigglesworth]

That's smaller than a small Timmy's coffee. You don't strip search a diplomat for underpay or what somebody else did in retaliation to an attack.

[Mr. Bigglesworth]

Its all bs. My bet is they were looking for a wire. Maybe they offered her the chance to spy on India. Wouldn't want that recorded.

[eyebiter]

.

[LongBlade]

Its all bs. My bet is they were looking for a wire. Maybe they offered her the chance to spy on India. Wouldn't want that recorded.

I don't think it's that complicated.

The charges aren't in dispute: she committed some kind of fraud in getting her maid immigration papers.

Apparently when booking a felony suspect it's routine to strip search them in the US.

However, in India it's very unusual to strip search a female suspect. Hence the outrage.

Might not be helped by the poor standing of their PM in the US, as I noted above.

[Mr. Bigglesworth]

Its all bs. My bet is they were looking for a wire. Maybe they offered her the chance to spy on India. Wouldn't want that recorded.

I don't think it's that complicated.

The charges aren't in dispute: she committed some kind of fraud in getting her maid immigration papers.

Apparently when booking a felony suspect it's routine to strip search them in the US.

However, in India it's very unusual to strip search a female suspect. Hence the outrage.

Might not be helped by the poor standing of their PM in the US, as I noted above.

Implausible. Not enough conspiracy. Not enough aliens. Not enough bacon.

[Mr. Bigglesworth]

Actually the last one you could use to amend your constitution. "We hold these truths to be self-evident ... not enough bacon."