Devyani effect: Delhi targets US Embassy,removes barricades and recalls ID cards

India,sources said,was outraged and decided to take the drastic steps after New Delhi learnt details of the alleged “indignities” its diplomat Devyani Khobragade underwent after she was arrested last week for alleged visa fraud involving a maid she had taken from India.

They said India had strongly conveyed to the US that the manner of Khobragade’s arrest was unacceptable.

The surprise measures also seemed to have a political undercurrent as they came months before the Lok Sabha elections,indicating that the UPA government,which has been accused by the BJP of being soft on provocations from foreign powers,was under pressure to act tough.

The Indian backlash drew a quick response from the State Department late on Tuesday,with Washington promising that it was examining the allegations.

“The United States and India enjoy a broad and deep friendship,and this isolated episode is not indicative of the close and mutually respectful ties we share,” State Department deputy spokesperson Marie Harf said.

“We understand that this is a sensitive issue for many in India. Accordingly,we are looking into the intake procedures surrounding this arrest to ensure that all appropriate procedures were followed and every opportunity for courtesy was extended.

“While this is a law enforcement issue and will need to be worked through standard procedures and official law enforcement channels,we will continue to work this issue with India in the spirit of partnership and cooperation that marks our broad bilateral relationship,” she said.

Besides being handcuffed in public,Khobragade,39,was also allegedly strip-searched and forced to undergo repeated body cavity searches before she was freed on a $250,000 bail bond.

Subsequently,Khobragade narrated her experience in an email to her colleagues.

“I must admit that I broke down many times as the indignities of repeated handcuffing,stripping and cavity searches,swabbing,hold up with common criminals and drug addicts were all being imposed upon me despite my incessant assertions of immunity,” the 1999-batch IFS officer wrote.

She thanked her colleagues for their support and said that during her confinement,she “got the strength to regain composure and remain dignified thinking that I must represent all of my colleagues and my country with confidence and pride”.

Reached for comment earlier by PTI in Washington on the alleged treatment meted out to Khobragade,deputy spokesperson Harf had said the diplomat was made to go through the searches but maintained “standard procedures” were followed during her arrest.

Asked whether Khobragade was strip-searched and confined with drug addicts after her detention,Harf said: “Diplomatic Security,which is under the State Department purview,followed standard procedures during her arrest.”

She referred allegations that Khobragade was treated harshly to the US Marshals Service,saying the diplomat was handed over to them by Diplomatic Security.

“Our Diplomatic Security folks followed our standard procedures,which I’m assuming are standard for diplomats because that’s who our Diplomatic Security deals with,” she told PTI.

While New Delhi is learnt to be particularly upset that Khobragade was allegedly forced to undergo a cavity search,sources said that a body cavity search in the US includes a visual or manual search of cavities such as nostrils,ears,mouth,navel,penis or vagina,and rectum.

Disturbed by Khobragade’s claims about how she was treated in custody,New Delhi upped the ante and stripped US diplomats and their families in India of several privileges.

Taking the position that American staff at consulates will be treated at par with how Indian diplomats are treated in consulates in the US,all personnel posted in US consulates in India and their families were asked to immediately turn in their diplomatic ID cards.

The government also got the Delhi Police to remove the special barricading outside the US Embassy in New Delhi that had closed a part of Nyaya Marg to the public. However,a police picket was left there for security purposes.

Making a distinction between consulate and embassy staff – the US has four consulates in Mumbai,Kolkata,Chennai and Hyderabad – instructions have been sent seeking details of all Indians employed at the consulates.

Besides,US staff at the consulates have been asked to provide details of the employment of their spouses or dependants along with tax details,bank account numbers and salary details.

In related moves,political leaders,ministers and Indian government officials cancelled their meetings with a visiting US Congressional delegation. Those who called off meetings with the delegation included Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi,the BJP’s prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi and Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde.

Describing the incident as “unacceptable”,External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid said that a process has been “put in motion” to deal with the issue effectively.

“We have put in motion what we believe would be an effective way of addressing the issue…we have expressed our deep distress and sense of disquiet,that has been very very strongly felt,in the strongest words possible,” he said.

BJP leader Ravishankar Prasad condemned the incident and said that the treatment of the diplomat “does not accord to the level of friendship that the Indian government claims to have with the US”.

“The way she was arrested after being handcuffed,kept with drug addicts and strip-searched in the police station,that is condemnable,reprehensible and regrettable and in clear violation of conventions,” he said.

National Security Adviser Shivshankar Menon,who also called off his meeting with the Congressional delegation,termed the treatment meted out to the diplomat as “despicable” and “barbaric”.