Make this your homepage
Column
Home > Column
NANNYGATE REVIVES HOSTILE MEMORIES
SUBIR BHAUMIK, Former BBC Correspondent
 NANNYGATE REVIVES HOSTILE MEMORIES
PHOTO : Protest against treatment of Indian Diplomat Devyani Khobragade by USA authorities in Mumbai. TIWN File Photo

(Sangeeta Richard’s ‘evacuation’ smacks off an intelligence operation, argues Subir Bhaumik)

        Those in the Indian media who have gone after US attorney Preet Bharara for the humiliation and arrest of diplomat Devyani Khobragade are missing the key point in the whole episode. The arrest follows, not precedes , the issue of special T series visas to controversial maid Sangeeta Richard and her entire family by the US embassy , so that they could be taken beyond the range of Indian law . Without getting into the Khobragade-Richard back-and-forth allegations of maltreatment-visa fraud and extortion-blackmail, one can safely conclude that the US authorities , specially the State Department ( under which the US embassy functions) , had come to the conclusion that the Richards had to be supported because they were victims and the Indian diplomat was the villian. The issue of the visas without letting the Indians know was a State Department decision – as was the decision to clear the arrest of Devyani Khobragade.

It is expected of enthusiastic US NGOs to take such positions, though many of them also work for US intelligence across the world in rather sordid ways. But for the State Department to initiate a rather well-planned “evacuation” of an immigration-seeking maid family and then approving the arrest of Devyani Khobragade without any hint to the Indian embassy or the visiting foreign secretary Sujatha Singh raises serious concerns. To say the least, it smacks of a well-coordinated intelligence operation because the entire Richard family was pulled out of India to both play up the exploitation-trafficking charges and keep them beyond the range of Indian law. Obama may publicly applaud India’s legal system as one of the bedrock of the world’s most vibrant and populous democracy , but his officials clearly feel that the Richards would have only faced ‘retaliation’ in Indian courts. Though the issuing of new passports to the Richard family clearly disproves any ‘retaliation’ that the US feels India would have planned against them.

When Americans play the strong moral cop, they usually do it with a purpose. And rarely do something like this if they apprehend huge retaliation. Would they nab a Russian diplomat, one of the many accused of the massive insurance fraud ? Will they dare arrest a Chinese diplomat for ill treating a maid !  Someone said if US is your friend, you don’t need an enemy, while another said US respects a tough enemy rather than a good friend.

As strategic partners, Indian and US officials share twenty different platforms and if they are friends, issues such as this are to be shared. But does the US treat India as a strategic partner anymore ! It did treat Saudi Arabia as one , so one of its top diplomats got unscathed with retroactive immunity that Devyani will not enjoy in all likelihood even after she is given accreditation at the United Nations. Edward Snowden’s revelations about India figuring right the top of the US snooping program should have dispelled the notion long ago that the US reposes faith in India as a strategic partner. Serious India-US differences on Bangladesh,Pakistan and Afghanistan have surely upset Washington rather than reassured it. India’s signing the agreement with China to reduce border tensions at a time when Washington expects Delhi to lead-role an Asian NATO would also not please Washington. Reduced tensions with China denies the US chance to tap into , what former State Department official William Avery describes, as a “$120 billion ordnance market” in India .

For Washington, one can’t be a strategic ally unless one plays by the strategic goal set by the US – in this case, containment of China. India’s vision of balancing in Asia is markedly at variance with the US. At the heart of it is deep engagement with China as well as all her Asian neighbours, Japan and Vietnam included. India is also opposed to US bases in her neighborhood , specially in the Arabian Sea and the Bay of Bengal – unlike Australia which has already provided a base for the US Marines in Darwin. William Avery’s book “ China’s Nightmare, America’s Dream: India the next Super Power ” has laid down the rules of the US-driven special club that India needs to agree to follow for inclusion. But India is clearly playing by its own rules  – and for very good reasons.  The US feels India is encouraging Hamid Karzai to stay away from the Bilateral Security Pact or helping Sheikh Hasina stay in power through a less than acceptable election in Bangladesh, all for her own interests that does not match that of the US. But how can friendly engagement with China and strategic partnership with the US go together ! The US has no patience for India’s non-alignmnent that is now emerging as alignment with all . So was ‘Operation Richard’ initiated to send India a strong message ! Fall in line or else !  Something worth figuring out.

In some ways, “Operation Richard” bears striking resemblance with “Operation Ravinder”. For those who care to remember, in 2004, the CIA station chief in the US Delhi embassy pulled off a coup by ‘evacuating’ their top asset in RAW.  Its Joint Secretary Ravinder Singh was under surveillance for spying for the US , but the CIA managed to pull Singh out of India and resettle him with family in US on new identities.  Former RAW official Amar Bhusan’s fiction ‘Escape to Nowehere’details the operation in all its details , though the names have been changed to fictionalise. Singh was not the first RAW official to run away to the US. Sikander Lal Malik , once personal assistant to RAW founder and super-spy R.N Kao,  vanished while on a posting to US in the 1970s. Until now, atleast nine RAW operatives have vanished while on postings to Europe and North America. This is not to include those who were caught working for the CIA while serving – Unnikrishna, Dasgupta , scores of others. In the days of the Indo-Soviet cooperation, the RAW did closely work with the KGB. But the Soviet agency, which was as ruthless as the CIA , cannot be blamed for engineering a Ravinder Singh type defection . They did maintain close connection with a host of Indian politicians to maintain Soviet influence, as the Mitrokhin Archives would indicate, but the KGB cannot be blamed for a single defection.

 It is not unlikely that the CIA moles in RAW or those working for their European allies defected after they  were discovered betraying India.  Delhi’s failure to push hard on these cases , specially after the post-nuclear accord bonhomie and its recent tendency to differ strongly with Washington on sensitive issues specially in the neighborhood, may explain Washington’s decision to send a tough message like the clearance to arrest and humiliate Devyani to the extent of strip-searching and cavity-searching her . US officials have been saying this is standard operating procedures for their Marshals – strip search anyone arrested even for visa fraud and even if the person is a woman diplomat of a foreign – and a ‘friendly’ - country. Sounds like hounds will bite anyway if let loose ! And what about charges of human trafficking ! Devyani may be accused of under-payment or maltreatment of a maid who seems determined to stay and work in the US  but how can she be blamed for human trafficking after she formally reported to New York police when Sangeeta Richard went missing  and moved relevant authorities to get her passport revoked. Maybe lesser mortals in countries like India don’t ever understand the American Rule of Law !

 

 (Mr. Subir Bhaumik is a veteran journalist and author of ‘Insurgent Crossfire’ and ‘Troubled Periphery’) 

To send your appreciation and comments pl. send email to editor@tripurainfoway.com or tripurainfoway@gmail.com  

This article also published in Facebook www.facebook.com/tripurainfoway simultaneously

 

Add your Comment
comments powered by Disqus
Comments (0)

Special Articles

Sanjay Majumder Sanjay Majumder
Anirban Mitra Anirban Mitra