India-US Strategic News and Discussion

shiv · Post by **shiv** » 25 Jan 2014 22:13

For all the posing and pretending that it is India that is moralizing and that it is the US that is always taking a strong stance or positive action - the fact is that the US has played a moralistic role in "rescuing" three Indians from "slavery" - in a putative attempt to correct Indian society. This comes from an America that is totally hypocritical and biased in the way the less privileged and ethnic minorities are treated in the US.

It now appears to me that the Khobragade game was probably not played at the stae Dept level. As someone surmised - a bunch of self righteous (but otherwise racist) American assholes collaborated with a house slave attorney looking to be totally accepted in America to to play a game with no foresight regarding what they were going to end up with.

But I think Indians too need to wake up and see American warts just as the rest of the world is quick to list Indian warts.

shiv · Post by **shiv** » 25 Jan 2014 22:17

devesh wrote:feminizing the "other" is nothing new in all the cultures and nations that rose from the Roman roots.
USA is merely following the old way of all European imperialists.

That is exactly what the article linked by Arun Gupta says.

But "feminizing the other" is an act that comes AFTER defining feminine behaviour as something less desirable as opposed to one's own superior male behaviour. That is what is so faux about old European and modern American (at least up to 1970) attitudes towards India and towards gender issues.

A_Gupta · Post by **A_Gupta** » 25 Jan 2014 22:18

devesh wrote: just as we need to throw out the deracination of colonialism, we will also need to throw out the deracination inflicted by Gandhi.

Don't worry, India is well on its way to becoming "manly". You know, I hope, that India now consumes as much whisky as the rest of the world combined. Yes, very manly indeed. Drunken manly Indians can be good manly, non-homo-erotic, friends with drunken manly Americans, accompanied with sacred cow burgers.

devesh · Post by **devesh** » 25 Jan 2014 22:20

yes, if whiskey swilling is what you got from that, good luck and god-speed. I was speaking of Gandhi's total, unconditional rejection of militant methods against tyranny, and you decided to equate that to whisky downing drunkenness.

Yayavar · Post by **Yayavar** » 25 Jan 2014 22:23

devesh: we read that you did not want to bring Gandhi in - it maybe that your reading of Gandhi is right or off, but there is an MKG thread for that.

devesh · Post by **devesh** » 25 Jan 2014 22:24

on "emotion" and "logic":

USA male stereotypes are heavily drawn from supposed male Brit behavior.

the "stiff upper lip" is the admired, ideal beavhior of all men. cool on the exterior. not betraying his inner ideas. placidly cool. no displays of emotion. smiling with an unaffected/aloof air, but able to whip out a revolver and shoot his way out of any gunfight.

shiv · Post by **shiv** » 25 Jan 2014 22:24

A_Gupta wrote: Don't worry, India is well on its way to becoming "manly". You know, I hope, that India now consumes as much whisky as the rest of the world combined. Yes, very manly indeed. Drunken manly Indians can be good manly, non-homo-erotic, friends with drunken manly Americans, accompanied with sacred cow burgers.

I find the whole idea of national manliness and national effeminate behaviour totally absurd - and no better than Khap panchayat attitudes. In fact in India homosexual behavior is seen as being as far from manliness as possible - the Indian attitude is to reserve male sexuality for the women. A man fu**ing man! wtf? A nation that encourages that is hardly male in its attitudes. A disgusting and confused nation where a man who pees does not know exactly what he is holding in his hand.

A_Gupta · Post by **A_Gupta** » 25 Jan 2014 22:27

Among the few people left in the US who find strip searches objectionable are Socialists.
http://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2012/04/stri-a03.html

devesh · Post by **devesh** » 25 Jan 2014 22:29

shiv wrote:
A_Gupta wrote: Don't worry, India is well on its way to becoming "manly". You know, I hope, that India now consumes as much whisky as the rest of the world combined. Yes, very manly indeed. Drunken manly Indians can be good manly, non-homo-erotic, friends with drunken manly Americans, accompanied with sacred cow burgers.
I find the whole idea of national manliness and national effeminate behaviour totally absurd - and no better than Khap panchayat attitudes. In fact in India homosexual behavior is seen as being as far from manliness as possible - the Indian attitude is to reserve male sexuality for the women. A man fu**ing man! wtf? A nation that encourages that is hardly male in its attitudes. A disgusting and confused nation where a man who pees does not know exactly what he is holding in his hand.

not sure if it helps to completely gloss over real symptoms which do encourage compromise over all other "fighting" as the "ideal" attitude.

specifically, the behavior patterns enforced by a central regime which inflicts disproportionate damage on one specific group for taking up one specific kind of attitude toward being pushed around.

this does in the long run always enforce the "compromise" attitude. the "party" which has remained in power for the most part since 1947 has lionized this "compromise" behavior as "nation building", and penalized the opposite with ridicule and violence.

A_Gupta · Post by **A_Gupta** » 25 Jan 2014 22:35

shiv wrote: In fact in India homosexual behavior is seen as being as far from manliness as possible - the Indian attitude is to reserve male sexuality for the women.

FYI, from the footnotes of the aforementioned article:

37. Charles Allen, ed., Plain Tales from the Raj (New York, 1985), 144. In 1948, the journalist John Frederick Muehl traveled in Maharashtra with a circus troupe. He noted that "the percentage of homosexuality in the troupe was enormous....Indians are generally quite tolerant of inversions, and it was not at all uncommon to see two men keeping house together and behaving quite like a married couple." John Frederick Muehl, Interview with India (New York, 1950), 168.

devesh · Post by **devesh** » 25 Jan 2014 22:50

problem with all these description by Western sources is that ultimately, there is no open study or understanding of both male and female sexuality in India by Indians for Indians.

this might sound ridiculous to the older ones among us, but we do need to understand the sexuality of our own people purely for the sake of defining our sexuality to ourselves. learn the impulses which drive various sexual behaviors and turn the viewing-scope outward to reflect the rest of the world from the whiteboard of OUR understanding. that is how all these sexual stereotypes and genederization can be overturned.

UlanBatori · Post by **UlanBatori** » 25 Jan 2014 22:59

Can some kind person pls find me the link where a Babu called the AES scam "institutionalized fraud"?

Need it... Thx

Vayutuvan · Post by **Vayutuvan** » 25 Jan 2014 23:04

devesh wrote: we will also need to throw out the deracination inflicted by Gandhi.

We should start getting more protein than Paco. Yeah, that would solve our problems. We do have an example to follow in our own hood, no? Those TFTA martial races from our north west - the "real" khans not the "Johnny" cum latelies of the US.

ramana · Post by **ramana** » 25 Jan 2014 23:10

Looks like we need to have a set of links in every Indo_US thread to set the tone just as we do for the TSP news and discussion threads.

pankajs · Post by **pankajs** » 25 Jan 2014 23:12

repost ..

http://www.dnaindia.com/india/report-am ... ns-1951989

pankajs wrote:dna ‏@dna 2m

American Embassy school under scanner for visa, tax violations http://dnai.in/c2gZ
------------------------------>>
The elite American Embassy school here is under scanner for suspected violations of tax laws and visa status of some of its staff which the Indian government views as "institutionalised fraud".

The sprawling school, located next to the US Embassy on American government-owned land, has about 1500 students on its rolls, nearly 500 of whom are from the US. The remaining students are from several other countries, including some locals.

Government sources said that they have information that several teachers of the school are working "illegally", in violation of visas granted to them. Moreover, it is in violation of tax laws.

Government views these violations seriously and is likely to initiate action in this regard, the sources said.

India, in 1973, had granted to 16 teachers of the school the "tax exempted status". However, as per information available with government, there were many more teachers who were working but not shown as such.

Meanwhile, a report in New York Times says that a handout for new teachers at the school has offered "some unusual guidance" to female teachers whose husbands will also be teaching at the school.

Instructing female spouses to list their occupation on visa applications as "housewife", the handouts state that they should not mention that they would be working. Indian officials regard this advice as illegal.

As per the news report, the handout notes that India has placed restrictions on the number of tax-free visas available to school employees. "So, if you are a teaching couple," the handout says, "we usually have the male spouse apply for the 'employment' visa and the female spouse be noted as 'housewife' on the visa application."

The report said that Paul Chmelik , the school's administrator had refused to comment on the visa issue.

The issues pertaining to the school are among those raised by the Ministry of External Affairs with the US government through a diplomatic note and figured in the discussions between US Deputy Secretary of State William J Burns and new Indian Ambassador to the US S Jaishankar in Washington two days ago.

"Deputy Secretary Burns conveyed that we take their concerns very seriously and will continue to address them via appropriate diplomatic channels," the US State Department said in a statement later.

India initiated a slew of initiatives in retaliation to the arrest and strip-search of its senior diplomat Devyani Khobragade, a 39-year-old 1999-batch IFS officer, on December 12 in New York on charges of visa fraud.

When contacted, the Spokesperson in MEA said, "we are aware of these reports (handouts). These are very serious issues and we will very carefully examine them." India has been demanding withdrawal of charges against Khobragade, who was indicted by a jury in New York hours before she left that country after getting full diplomatic immunity.

Apart from downgrading the privileges enjoyed by the US diplomats and their families, India also sought details about staff in American schools in the country for possible tax violations. It has also asked the Embassy to "discontinue" commercial activities undertaken by the American Community Support Association (ACSA) from its premises from today.

With India deciding to enforce strict reciprocity about the privileges enjoyed by American diplomats posted in the country, the government has already withdrawn extra privileges enjoyed by them such as airport passes which gave them special access at Indian airports.
I like the sound of the word "institutionalised fraud" and it seems entirely appropriate in the current context. In an environment where high sound words are flung casually this would be an appropriate retort.

pankajs · Post by **pankajs** » 25 Jan 2014 23:12

ramana wrote:Looks like we need to have a set of links in every Indo_US thread to set the tone just as we do for the TSP news and discussion threads.

I think that is a good idea.

devesh · Post by **devesh** » 25 Jan 2014 23:17

matrimc wrote:
devesh wrote: we will also need to throw out the deracination inflicted by Gandhi.
We should start getting more protein than Paco. Yeah, that would solve our problems. We do have an example to follow in our own hood, no? Those TFTA martial races from our north west - the "real" khans not the "Johnny" cum latelies of the US.

responded in OT.

Sanjay · Post by **Sanjay** » 25 Jan 2014 23:46

Shiv, you made my year with your comments on this thread (and for starting the other one) !

Indians tend to beat themselves up all the time - introspection is good, self-flagellation and loathing is not.

If you look at the Western media, you would not think there is a paved road in all of India.

Was in China for 5 days - north to south. Lots of great infrastructure - also lots of garbage and dirt and poor housing as well.

Nothing wrong in appreciating the good in other places and learning lessons from them. Just remember that they have warts too - different warts maybe but just as ugly.

Manny · Post by **Manny** » 25 Jan 2014 23:53

Anyone seen that fatarse cow Alicia Muller May and her facebook page (saved for etenity).. Don't I love the internet decade!

This fat cow was so upset she couldn't eat cow in India.. what a typical fatarse American cow she is eh?

http://duckduckduckdoge.tumblr.com/

https://app.box.com/s/4sh98h97flxukl2n7dit

https://app.box.com/s/e8ghs9b4kpbqicvsro4w

UlanBatori · Post by **UlanBatori** » 26 Jan 2014 00:02

Excellent read

Also, articles by this guy: deserves a medal (from us):
Yatish Yadav, Senior Officials Kept in Loop. The Sunday Standard. January 19, 2014.

Yatish Yadav, US Diplomatic Nexus Gave Wings to Khobragade Maid’s Family. Indian Express, Januay 19, 2014.

ramana · Post by **ramana** » 26 Jan 2014 03:37

UlanBatori wrote:Excellent read

In this article

Asked about the FIR delay, senior Delhi police officers said they were asked to “go slow” in the case by officials of the foreign ministry.

The ministry officials attributed the delay to “ongoing negotiations” between Devyani and Sangeeta. “The police were told to register an FIR in the case after the negotiations failed in September,” said a senior official of the foreign ministry.

As to the other two articles from Sunday Standard nothing much new is there.

If Alicia May working for the Embassy had paid for the air tickets and gave her office contact number how does that distance the Embassy from her actions? Or is its reverse spin by the paper?
But the official did not explain why the police did not arrest Philip even after the FIR was registered on October 9. A Delhi court had issued an arrest warrant against Sangeeta in November. Yet, neither the police nor other agencies kept track of her husband.

Also need to see if Wayne May in his position helped delay this FIR filing.

ramana · Post by **ramana** » 26 Jan 2014 04:13

http://ibnlive.in.com/news/bharara-give ... 158-3.html

Read Comment by Acha Desh

In their zeal to raise the minimum wage, political special interests appear to have used the State Department to conduct a high-profile antic that has now backfired very badly. In addition to damaging America’s reputation, it will also deny many poor people (relatively) lucrative employment and opportunities, for their level of education and achievement. The apparent absence of oversight and guidance at both the White House and the State Department should alarm every American and friend of America. The events unfolded so far reveal a sordid tale:

Starting in 2012, the family of an Indian chauffeur in the US Embassy in New Delhi, appears to have been incited to participate in an elaborate scam.

The wife applied as a live-in maid for the Indian Deputy Consul-General in New York, herself a mother of two small kids married to an American university professor.

The diplomat, Dr. Devyani Khobragade, is a living counter to many stereotypes. Born in a so-called “Scheduled Caste” family, she is the daughter of a man who started life as a manual laborer, and retired as one of India’s top officials in the competitive Indian Administrative Service. She may have benefited, as intended, from India’s Affirmative Action laws. After earning doctoral credentials, she sought to repay her nation, working in India’s Foreign Service, especially devoted to empowering women. Before coming to the US she was posted in Pakistan, hardly a posting for anyone who shirks tough assignments! She was a friend that the US should have treasured as an example of everything that we believe in.

From all accounts, the live-in maid was (a) trusted with all freedom of movement and association, (b) treated as a family member, (c) paid what she was promised and (d) the said payment in fact went well beyond the prescription of US laws. The kids loved her. In addition to her US pay, and her life of comfort in the diplomat’s home, she was also guaranteed an after-tax monthly saving of $573 deposited directly to her family in India.

As an American, I know of the difficulties that even middle-class families face in putting away $573 tax free each month, and I am sure you are aware of this too.

The scam was apparently orchestrated through the US Embassy in New Delhi, to raise a high-profile ruckus about “Modern Slavery of Domestic Employees”, timed to resonate with the pompous White House release of the Domestic Worker initiative.

They got the maid to violate her employment contract, leading the Indian government to alert the US that she was heading to be an illegal alien.

An Indian court ruled against the maid, and India asked the US to help find her so that she could be repatriated to India as the law required.

The State Department then appears to have got the maid to file a complaint of mistreatment, based on blatantly misread/misused readings of visa forms filed by her and her employer.

The Embassy official, chief of the Bureau of Diplomatic Security (BDS) and his wife violated their privileges in obtaining “T” (human trafficking) visas for the Indian family, and whisked them to America – in blatant violation of the due processes of Indian law.

His BDS associates in the US framed criminal charges, and got the New York Federal Marshals to conduct a completely needless, aggressive arrest of the diplomat in front of her children’s school, then proceeding to have her manacled, stripped and raped in custody before she could be bailed out – and the fact widely publicized[/b].

This case has certainly achieved one objective: it has woken up many people around the world to a very serious problem, but not that of mistreatment of domestic workers (this case is a blatant counter-example to that cause). The problem is the out-of-control misuse of official powers by this Administration.

The Indian government, after pleas to reason fell on deaf ears and inflated heads, is now proceeding to figuratively strip and expose our government’s duplicity and stupidity in no uncertain terms:

1. A Facebook search conducted by Indian or American kids then revealed the shockingly offensive racist, bigoted and gratuitous public postings by the wife and the BDS official. Instead of tossing them in Indian jail to face non-bailable criminal charges for offending religious sentiments, India quickly declared the BDS official persona non grata and allowed him to escape. A senior US Congressman has described the couple’s actions as “offensive and moronic”.

2. India requested details on how the US Embassy pays and treats Indian employees. Not surprisingly, the Embassy is foot-dragging on that.

3. We now see that the American Embassy School on the Embassy premises, has been deliberately and systematically violating both visa and tax laws for decades. Indian officials have cited this as “institutional fraud” and I cannot fault that description. The State Department’s claim that the school is not run by the Embassy is lame and further evidence of the dishonesty pervading the SD.

More is to come, I am sure.

I have read the “indictment” that the US attorney’s office in New york appears to have railroaded through a Grand Jury indictment. With all due respect, it is asinine, describing the natural role of a live-in family member as “109 hours per week of work with no overtime pay” etc. While looking after 2 school-age kids and keeping up an apartment are certainly full-time occupations, they are not slavery or abuse any more than “Alice” in the American Brady Bunch TV show who looked after six children was a slave. From the facts that I can ascertain, I assume that any reasonable US court will dismiss all charges against the Indian diplomat and perhaps condemn the authorities who falsely accused and then grossly mistreated her, even violating her person while in their custody, ignoring her clear declarations of diplomatic immunity.

This offends us all as human beings and makes me ashamed as an American that it was done in the name of my country by employees of us taxpayers.

We as citizens would appreciate your leadership in demanding accountability at the State Department and the White House. Even school teachers know better than to post racist rants on Facebook pages, on pain of getting fired instantly. Is the head of the US Bureau of Diplomatic Security so unaware of basic Internet common sense? Has he not violated his oath and endangered all our diplomats? Who hired this man? Was it the recent Presidential appointee, himself famous for having (literally) shot himself in the foot? Who employed the BDS official’s wife as an expert on international public relations, given her gross lack of sense and her homophobia? Are State Department appointments now done on nepotism or inversely related to merit?

Why is it that the Board of the American Embassy School, with two members directly appointed by the Ambassador, allowed and even ordered its employees to blatantly dodge taxes and lie on visa forms, and give false ID numbers to deposit salaries? Should these people not come under US prosecution under money-laundering laws?

All this raises the terrifying question: Who is minding the store in the State Department and the White House?

Amber G. · Post by **Amber G.** » 26 Jan 2014 05:08

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry has extended his congratulations to India on the occasion of Republic Day, in the process further signaling Washington’s intention to move forward “with our high-level dialogues and exchanges soon.”

Kerry calls for high-level dialogue with India

From the official site:

On behalf of President Obama and the people of the United States, I am delighted to send best wishes to the people of the Republic of India as you celebrate Republic Day on January 26.

Kerry on India Republic Day

Best wishes for India's Republic Day . !!

ramana · Post by **ramana** » 26 Jan 2014 05:36

These feel fake in light of what happened last month when the full force of SD was used to subvert Indian legal process and to arrest and humiliate Indian diplomat in New York.

If it came from some one other than State Department it might be considered more authentic.

ramana · Post by **ramana** » 26 Jan 2014 05:36

Ohio State Uty book link:

https://ohiostatepress.org/index.htm?/b ... empire.htm

shiv · Post by **shiv** » 26 Jan 2014 08:16

Like a semen stain after (custodial) rape, word is spreading. Click on the link to see all the cross references.
The State Department’s Role in the Arrest and Mistreatment of Dr. Devyani Khobargade, Foreign Diplomat, and The Predictable Consequences to America

Starting in 2012, the family of Mr. Richard, an Indian worker in the US Embassy in New Delhi, appears to have been enticed into a scam on the promise of US Green Cards. His wife worked as a domestic assistant to Ms. Uzra Zeya at the US Embassy in India in 2002-2007[1]. His son worked as a chauffeur[2] for the Mozambique Embassy in Delhi. The daughter-in-law, Sangeeta Richard, applied as a live-in maid for the Indian Deputy Consul-General in New York, Dr. Devyani Khobragade.

Dr. Khobragade is married to an American university professor[3], and a mother of two kids, 6 and 3 years old. She is a living counter to many stereotypes. She was born in a so-called “Scheduled Caste” (aka “Dalit”) Indian family. Her father started as a manual laborer, but earned an education and retired at the top of the Indian Administrative Service. Perhaps both father and daughter were helped by India’s Affirmative Action laws – that was certainly intended by the voters who approved those laws. She graduated as a medical doctor. She then sought to repay her nation, working in India’s Foreign Service, devoted to empowering women. Before coming to the USA she was posted in Pakistan, hardly a luxury posting! She was a friend that the US should have treasured, and an example of everything in which we Americans believe. Clearly this made her a target for some people.

From all accounts, Ms. Richard who came to America as a domestic assistant2 in November 2012, was (a) trusted with all freedom of movement and association, (b) treated as a family member, (c) paid what she was promised and (d) paid well beyond the prescription of US laws. The kids treated her with great affection and trust2. In addition to her US pay, and her life of comfort in the diplomat’s home, she was also guaranteed an after-tax monthly saving[4] of 30,000 Indian Rupees (then estimated at $573) deposited directly in India. Even in the wealthy suburbs of the 6th Congressional district, you know that many of us are not able to put away $573 a month after taxes and all expenses from a single income. Indian diplomats in the US, far from disregarding our laws, have followed them in letter and spirit trying their best to work with the State Department and local police. The hostility that elements of the Obama administration has used in targeting them, is out of all proportion to any perceived offences. It is clearly hostile propaganda, and its victims are all of us.

Most of us can agree that it is important to protect the civil rights of domestic workers. The law is clear on that too, and conscientious, thoughtful law enforcement should be supported and applauded. Cynically misusing law enforcement powers and access to public media on this pretext, and bringing our nation into disrepute, is quite a different thing.

A careful reading of the timeline and facts leaves little doubt that this was orchestrated from the start as a propaganda ploy, with no regard for the human costs. The high-profile ruckus was timed to resonate with the recent White House release of the Federal Strategic Action Plan[5] on Services for Victims of Human Trafficking. This appears to be pandering to the worst xenophobic and racist sentiments that politicians and their appointees solicit without any signs of introspection or parental guidance.

In March 2013 Uzra Zeya was appointed[6], acting Assistant Secretary, Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor, after serving as Executive Secretary to the State Department’s Accountability Review Board[7] probing the September 2012 Benghazi terrorist attack. In March/April 2013 Ms. Richard demanded to be allowed to work outside the Consulate on her “off days”, which is illegal for her visa status[8]. This should be compared to her later claim[9] that she had no “off-days” and was exhausted from over-work on her “on-days”. On June 21, 2013, the diplomat left her two kids in Ms. Richard’s care while she went on a 2-day trip. Ms. Richard chose this time to desert the kids and disappeared with money given for groceries and the diplomat’s cellphone. The disappearance was not discovered until the diplomat returned1 on June 23; a missing person complaint was eventually accepted by NYC police on June 25. An investigative report in the UK Daily Mail[10] details the clear, deliberate complicity of the State Department in ensuring that all efforts of the Indian diplomats to follow the law and cooperate with US authorities were ignored.

In mid-July extortionary demands were made, leading India to cancel Ms. Richard’s official passport and demand her return. In mid-September, responding to the State Department, the Indians pointed out that Ms. Richard was seeking to subvert both Indian and American laws. In mid November, an Indian court issued an arrest warrant[11] for Ms. Richard. On December 10, the US BDS officials in Delhi violated Indian laws by acquiring tax-free diplomatic tickets[12], and American law by issuing “trafficking” visas apparently ordered (illegally?) by Secretary Zeya’s office[13], to Ms. Richard’s husband and children, and brought them to America to add to our numbers of illegal aliens. Compare this to the months that the US Embassy takes to issue visas to professionals to attend conferences in the USA!

Two days later, the diplomat was arrested in a publicity stunt that would put the Keystone Kops to shame, as she dropped off her kids at school[14], based on charges filed by an agent of the BDS[15]. They then proceeding to have her manacled, stripped and “cavity-searched”– Orwellian-speak for custodial rape – and the fact publicized[16]. I ask the same question that outraged villagers asked in the 1970s movie “Ryan’s Daughter” set in 1940s Ireland[17]: “Whose idea was the stripping up?” This was much worse here, in 2013 America!

I have read the “indictment” that the US attorney’s office in New York appears to have railroaded through a Grand Jury[18]. With all due respect, it is asinine, describing the natural role of a live-in family member as “109 hours per week of work with no overtime pay” etc. Any school-teacher, policeman and I am sure lawmaker, works even longer hours than that, because we care about those entrusted to us, and think about it all the time! While looking after 2 school-age kids and keeping up an apartment are certainly full-time jobs, they are not slavery or abuse any more than “Alice” in the American Brady Bunch[19] TV show who looked after six children was a slave.

From the facts that I can ascertain[20], I assume that any reasonable US court will dismiss all charges against the Indian diplomat. The brutality inflicted on her offends us all as human beings and makes me ashamed as an American that it was done in the name of my country by employees paid with our taxes.

After pleas to reason fell on deaf ears and inflated heads, the Indian government, responding to widespread outrage, is now proceeding to figuratively strip and expose our government’s duplicity and stupidity in no uncertain terms:

They expelled the BDS official[21]. A Facebook search conducted by Indian kids revealed the shockingly offensive racist, bigoted and gratuitous public postings by the BDS official and his wife[22]. Note that India could easily have tossed them in jail to face non-bailable criminal charges for ticket and visa fraud, and offending religious sentiments. A senior US Congressman has aptly described[23] the couple’s actions as “offensive and moronic”, and pointed to the damage done to all the professionals in our Foreign Service.
India requested details on how the US Embassy pays and treats Indian employees. Not surprisingly, our Embassy is foot-dragging on that[24], but the prognosis is bleak as Indian employees and ex-employees come forward with the truth. We wait to hear of the salary and working hours of the elder Mr. Richard.
We now see that the American Embassy School, located on property provided to the US Embassy, has been deliberately[25] and systematically violating both visa[26] and tax laws for decades. Indian officials have cited this as “institutional fraud”[27] and I cannot fault that description. The State Department’s lame claim[28],[29] that the school is not run by the Embassy (with 2 Board members appointed by the Ambassador and many employees giving the tax ID of Embassy employees to deposit their pay) is further evidence of the lack of leadership.

More is to come, I am sure, and will not be pretty. We as citizens would appreciate your leadership in demanding common decency and accountability at the State Department and the White House. Even school teachers know better than to post racist rants on Facebook pages. Is the US Bureau of Diplomatic Security headed by someone who is unaware of basic Internet common sense? Has he not endangered all our diplomats? Who hired this man? Was it the recent Presidential appointee famous for having (literally) shot himself in the foot? Who employed the BDS official’s wife as an expert on international community relations, given her gross lack of sense? Are State Department appointments now done on nepotism? How did the Board of the American Embassy School, with two members directly appointed by the Ambassador, allow and even order its employees to blatantly dodge taxes and lie on visa forms, and give false ID numbers to deposit salaries? Should these people not be prosecuted under US racketeering and money-laundering laws?

It is clear from the above that the purported basis for the prosecution of the Indian diplomat, is a grotesque and malicious distortion of the law set out to protect domestic workers from exploitation and virtual slavery. The law is well-intentioned and commendable, but in the hands of the cynical, the arrogant and the zealously thoughtless, as only government can be, it is been turned into a disaster for domestic workers and the United States alike. New York set a minimum wage of $9.73, applicable alike to American fast-food workers who must pay to live 2 hours away and commute to Manhattan, and for live-in nannies who are treated like family members in a luxury household in downtown with all her living expenses paid. The State Department decided arbitrarily that no in-kind payments could be subtracted from the $9.75, which may be admirable to prevent extreme cases where all of a worker’s salary may be deducted, but which was certainly not the case here. The prosecutor here has pursued a completely senseless interpretation of that law, taking cynical advantage of a situation where a woman diplomat with a clear record of taking active interest in the plight of women workers, went out of her way to treat her own domestic assistant as a family member in every way. The Indian diplomat was targeted because this was a case of a woman living in a home with a woman boss and two small daughters: the nanny was clearly a member of the family with the full run of the household, and as such was naturally “on call” as much as a family member would be. By no fair standard was this person a victim of mistreatment or exploitation, it was the other way around.

Is the New York Federal Prosecutor too competence-challenged to see this, or did he deliberately ignore the obvious, in pursuing his bungling? Why did he ignore the fact that there were complaints on both sides, the one against the maid for dishonesty preceding the retaliatory complaint by the maid and her gang of coaches? In any event, we are left with a mess that makes the United States of America, far from being a protector of the weak, as a bunch of sadistic bullies run by cynically hate-filled entities, intent on destroying alliances between free democracies. This calls for an in-depth Congressional investigation and accounting.

A few long-term consequences may be predicted:

1. Yes, foreign diplomats will be “sensitized” to the need to follow the letter of American state law in employing domestic assistants, whether imported or local. This outcome could have been achieved through far less sensational or clumsy means.

2. Most diplomats will decide not to hire anyone of the sort. Their children will either stay back, or they will get grandparents to accompany them. The net loss is to the American tax base, and probably to the quality of upbringing that these children will experience, a loss blamed on America, creating resentment against America.

3. Many foreign missions will simply choose to replace the domestic assistant headcount with other designations covered by full diplomatic immunity. The population of undeclared and declared foreign secret agents, media experts and trade coordinators in America may thus be expected to rise, and with it, foreign influence.

4. The arrangement to deposit part of the US-earned wages directly to savings in the home country, will be abandoned, and the assistants left to fend for themselves in saving for their families.

5. Families all over the USA will recoil from the reports of this incident, and from any plans to hire domestic help if they can in any way avoid it. News reports already cite the extreme difficulty that many Americans have in finding enough hours at the wages that they can command, to make ends meet. This will be aggravated. Childcare quality will also suffer.

6. Any prospects of “live-in” domestic workers will be greatly reduced, since those benefits are not counted in hourly wages. Workers will be forced to commute long hours, and pay for their own quality of life. Childcare quality will suffer.

7. Governments all over the world will re-examine the operations of the US Embassy and Consulates in their countries, for tax evasion, visa fraud, giving out trafficking visas illegally, and various other nefarious activities. The credibility of the United States has been crippled by the revelations from the American Embassy School.

In 2011, American farmworkers, grocery store cashiers, park attendants etc earned around $1600 per month per the , averaging around $9.3 per hour, from which they had to pay all expenses and taxes. What I do not see is the prospect of childcare/ domestic worker monthly income rising above that earned by these workers. Perhaps the market for childcare/cooking robots will rise rapidly, if those robots can be imported from China.

vic · Post by **vic** » 26 Jan 2014 08:41

Re Ramana

Delhi Police seems to be lying, through the reporter to save it's Musharaff. By sequence of events, they seem to have been told to go slow by US Embassy. DK father in interview said that he repeatedly called up Senior IPS officers asking them to act.

further, what is Munna waiting for? In acting against AES? Americans raped our diplomat knowing full well Munna will support them.

ramana · Post by **ramana** » 26 Jan 2014 09:06

shiv, Also Ms Richard absconded when Ms Khobragade was on travel and most likely abandoned the two children she was entrusted to take care of by her employer. This is willful neglect of minor children.

UlanBatori · Post by **UlanBatori** » 26 Jan 2014 09:28

Thinking about the Bharara indictment, and the response of DK's lawyer:

1. The govt has imposed a minimum wage. It also classifies domestic helpers as HOURLY employees, which means they are hired and paid by the hour. I don't think there is any law that says an hourly paid employee MUST be paid for 40 hours every week. In my experience, hourly employees in the US work strictly on "as needed" basis each week. This is not India, specifically not Kerala.

This may be one of the issues at the root of this: SR discovered that she would get paid over the minimum wage for the hours when she was asked to work, but these hours might or might not add up to 40 per week. The nature of a senior consular executive's life is such that some weeks may have a few hectic days, but other days may be completely slack. Even the childcare demand may have decreased after the first few months. Think about it: the one who is 3 yrs old now, was between 1 to 2 yrs old when SR was hired (i can see that with a 1-year old, DK had a tough problem and needed help). Once beyond 2, the little one may have been sent to daycare/school. Once they were put in daycare, DK's expense skyrocketed, so she could not be paying both that AND paying SR to sit around all day doing not much of anything. How many hours does it take to finish the housework?
The kids and DK may also have been on travel (Daddy may have taken kids some days) for several days.
So SR was getting the hourly wage, but many weeks, she was asked to work LESS THAN 40 HOURS /WEEK. This comes out from an initial statement by the lawyer, and the later statement skirts but hints at this issue.

Hence the demand to be "allowed to work outside on off days". IOW, she was getting a fair wage, but it wasn't the extortionary AITUC/DYFI type scam where the Unions demand that they get paid for doing nothing. This strengthens the view that SR was from Malloostan.

where else in the Duniya do hourly workers expect to be paid for doing nothing at all?

2. The issue about overtime is plain nonsense. Sure, a LIVE-IN person would be "on call" 24 hrs per day, just as a family member would be. Esp. with kids around. But is this the same as a neurosurgeon or fighter pilot or firefighter being "on call"? Does one have to be wearing a pressure suit or asbestos hood and be sitting waiting to leap into action at a second's notice, or simply relaxing in front of the TV or asleep? So that's where the "109 hours per week" comes from.

The extortion demand was to pay her for 19 hours/day every day, with all hours above 8 being on overtime. IOW, her wage would be $9.73*(8+1.5*(19-8)) = 9.73*(24.5), or over THREE TIMES the monthly wage at the standard 8hrs/day. Sweet Deal! You can see where the wage would be over $4500 per month at that rate.

3. The "no off time except to go to church on Sundays", I translate as: she went to church, came back, and lolled in front of the TV, and maybe the kids talked and played with her since she had nothing else to do.

All this adds up to sheer idiocy and malice by the prosecutor's office and the Access Immigration and Safe Horizons extortion scammers. The only solution is NEVER to hire a "Live in". This is where DK and the EyeEffEss were a bit naive, but I think naive is a far cry from being criminal. They were clearly the victims of extortion and sheer bad faith. I see why the case in India is strong.

Now that the "trafficking" charge is disposed, why is India not demanding extradition of the illegally "evacuated" Richard and his wife?
Also, I note that SR's hubby was "unemployed" - hence the request BY SR to have the INR 30000 /mo deposited in India. I am not sure "unemployed" correlates to "DUI" but it may.

References for all these, except the DUI which I only saw some mention on this thread, are under that kuffar article that shiv posted.

shiv · Post by **shiv** » 26 Jan 2014 09:29

When left leaners point out that modern societies are by the elite, for the elite, this is what they mean. I cross post a comment from the USBositive thread that made me think of this connection

Singha wrote:I guess the script writers of movies like dark knight get their ideas from such places...NJ has plenty of rough towns like newark, rahway, .... police in such places equip and operate on the lines of military units.

A law abiding educated Indian who makes it in the US will never wilfuly visit, recommend visits or live in some of the places that Singha mentions. These blots on the landscape are tucked away into the subconscious while the good things are readily recalled. This is similar to Naipaul's accusation that Indians in India will point out the new bridges and buildings but ignore the "twists, butts and squirts of excrement" on the pavement.

But the similarity ends there. Western media will explore India freely (they are allowed to explore) and will report mainly the twists, butts and squirts of excrement, ignoring anything else. Indians on the other hand will only report Washington Memorial, Disneyland, Las Vegas and Sea world and will bypass the places Singha mentions.

On the flip side, i suspect that those places are unsafe and Darkha Butt will get shot or raped if she does a report there and people will sneer and say that she should not have gone there in the first place. But we need to see those reports. There is a prominent bias both in the western media and a vast mass of Munna like west-admiring Indians who take umbrage at negative reporting of the US (or the west, or even Islamabad for that matter) and have hitherto been quick to remind everyone of the existence of masses of underfed raping vegetarian poor in India.

I was fascinated to note that an attempt to change this cliched status quo and turn it around attracted concern as something that would do harm to India US relations. In other words no degree of negative reporting of India harms Indo-US relations. It is negative reporting of the US that causes problems. Now who colonized whom and until when?

ramana · Post by **ramana** » 26 Jan 2014 09:37

UB, Many saal pehle I had suggested that forum members should learn to write well referenced articles so they are publication worthy. I note the kufar who wrote that blog has heeded that old advice very well. If you run into him(toba, toba) give him my kudos.

shiv · Post by **shiv** » 26 Jan 2014 09:42

UlanBatori wrote: If the employee is to work more than 40 hrs per week, the govt. stipulates overtime.

I checked this. The US stipulates a MAXIMUM number of hours per week but no minimum. As long as you have a government stipulated ( dollars per hour you need not even employ someone for more than 2 hours a week. However you cannot make someone work for more than 44 (later 42) hours per week without paying 1.5 times basic as overtime. And the absolute maximum hours allowed is 55 hours per week IIRC

If you only get work for 3 hours a day 5 days a week - then you are more screwed, minimum wage or no minimum wage.

UlanBatori · Post by **UlanBatori** » 26 Jan 2014 09:47

ramana: Kuffar keeps sending me stuff by email. Will convey, thx.

shiv: And yes, that is where the SDRE EyeEffEss carb-eating cow-worshippers "satisfied the letter of the law" 400%.

Can't blame them - they would have preferred to pay a decent monthly salary, and they did more than that. INR 30,000 per month, guaranteed after taxes and all expense, which is more than twice the total salary and benefits that a starting trade school graduate makes in Malloostan.

As such, I don't think Bharara has any case. Now they're down to the 109 hours, which is utter nonsense. See the Alice argument used by the kuffar.

But that is not going to get the AES off the hook, is it?

ramana · Post by **ramana** » 26 Jan 2014 09:51

Another thing based on the youtube video posted earlier.

Massa minions are deathly afraid of the idea of Kali.
Wonder if the know about Durga!

Weired how the innermost fears are brought forth.

member_28380 · Post by **member_28380** » 26 Jan 2014 10:17

Thanks for the post. Fantastic write up!

LINK

This should be published in mainstream media. Even Google search engines are tweaked to provide only SD propaganda material to show up.

He needs to elaborate on one very very important fact in his write up. The maid had health insurance coverage ( A HUGE EXPENSE IN THE US) at par with the Diplomat as required by law! 40 million Americans do not have health insurance. Where is the cost of this? And how many Americans who are paid >9 $per hour but are not provided health insurance. Moral posturing and fanaticism at its worst.

sunilUpa · Post by **sunilUpa** » 26 Jan 2014 10:24

shiv wrote:
UlanBatori wrote: If the employee is to work more than 40 hrs per week, the govt. stipulates overtime.
I checked this. The US stipulates a MAXIMUM number of hours per week but no minimum. As long as you have a government stipulated ( dollars per hour you need not even employ someone for more than 2 hours a week. However you cannot make someone work for more than 44 (later 42) hours per week without paying 1.5 times basic as overtime. And the absolute maximum hours allowed is 55 hours per week IIRC

If you only get work for 3 hours a day 5 days a week - then you are more screwed, minimum wage or no minimum wage.

Overtime applies only to non-exempt employees. Majority of educated employees don't belong to this category. There is no maximum hours limit per se.

member_28380 · Post by **member_28380** » 26 Jan 2014 10:26

shiv wrote:
UlanBatori wrote: If the employee is to work more than 40 hrs per week, the govt. stipulates overtime.
I checked this. The US stipulates a MAXIMUM number of hours per week but no minimum. As long as you have a government stipulated ( dollars per hour you need not even employ someone for more than 2 hours a week. However you cannot make someone work for more than 44 (later 42) hours per week without paying 1.5 times basic as overtime. And the absolute maximum hours allowed is 55 hours per week IIRC

If you only get work for 3 hours a day 5 days a week - then you are more screwed, minimum wage or no minimum wage.

There are other grey areas as well in the "Fair Labor Standards Act"

Exclusive! 'What did you achieve by making an example out of Devyani?'

http://www.rediff.com/news/column/exclu ... 140113.htm

sunilUpa · Post by **sunilUpa** » 26 Jan 2014 10:30

VijayKM wrote:
shiv wrote: I checked this. The US stipulates a MAXIMUM number of hours per week but no minimum. As long as you have a government stipulated ( dollars per hour you need not even employ someone for more than 2 hours a week. However you cannot make someone work for more than 44 (later 42) hours per week without paying 1.5 times basic as overtime. And the absolute maximum hours allowed is 55 hours per week IIRC

If you only get work for 3 hours a day 5 days a week - then you are more screwed, minimum wage or no minimum wage.

There are other grey areas as well in the "Fair Labor Standards Act"

Exclusive! 'What did you achieve by making an example out of Devyani?'

http://www.rediff.com/news/column/exclusive-what-did-you-achieve-by-making-an-example-out-of-devyani/20140113.htm

As i said before, if the person is executive, administrative function or management, and they earn $455 a week, they don't get overtimes (sales and certain computer related jobs don't belong to this category. These are not senior level jobs either. Lowest level scientist or administrattor don't get OT.

chetak · Post by **chetak** » 26 Jan 2014 11:31

Inside track

Coomi Kapoor
Jan 26th

Reluctant exit

DEVYANI Khobragade may be celebrated by some as a heroine in India, but the Ministry of External Affairs is reportedly unhappy with the diplomat for her obstreperous behaviour just before leaving the US. As soon as Khobragade got the G-1 visa, she was asked to fly out of New York, but she was most reluctant to do so. To the surprise of MEA officials, she did not want to take her daughters aged seven and four too with her. Although Khobragde was driven to the airport, she refused to board the flight. The Air-India flight to India was consequently delayed. Khobragade returned home from the airport hoping that her lawyer would be able to get her a temporary reprieve to stay on with her family. It was only after she was told sternly that she had no option but to leave America and that national interest outweighed her personal wishes that she finally left by a United Airways flight.

pankajs · Post by **pankajs** » 26 Jan 2014 12:00

While the part about her daughters may be true there was a conflicting report on how her lawyer advised her not to board the plane till he had given her an OK. The idea was that the court should OK the SD notice and not consider her departure as flight. The lawyer seemed to suggest that he had gone to the extent of having posted guards on her to keep her from boarding the plane using force if necessary.