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January 12, 2014 10:46 Print
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As we move away from a monocivilisational world of Westerndomination of world history to a multicivilisational world, our minds mustbegin retooling themselves. We have to develop the capability ofcarrying competing, if not contradictory, narratives and understand thatboth may be correct, even if they contradict each other. We will have tolearn to shed black and white judgements in favour of multihued,complex assessments.
A perfect example of equally correct but contradictory narratives isprovided by the case of Devyani Khobragade, an Indian consular officerarrested by US authorities on December 12. In American eyes, it is aclear, black and white case. She had signed an agreement to pay herdomestic help, Sangeeta Richard, $9.75 an hour. Instead she paid heronly $3.31 an hour. As Khobragade had violated US laws, it was bothlegal and legitimate for the US attorney, Preet Bharara, to have herarrested and charged. Reflecting mainstream American opinion, TheNew York Times editorialised that “India’s overwrought reaction to thearrest of one of its diplomats in the United States is unworthy of ademocratic government”.
This American narrative has a point. Khobragade has her rights. Sodoes Sangeeta Richard, the employee. Richard was clearly theunderdog in this exercise (even though by being employed in America,her wages increased 25fold). Indeed, the traditional American concernfor the underdog is one of the strongest aspects of American society.So is the egalitarian spirit of American society, which has gone muchfurther than any other human society in removing and eradicating alltraces of feudal culture. In my first book on America and the world(entitled Beyond the Age of Innocence), I praised the Americandoormen who would look me in the eyes and treat an ambassador likeme as an equal, and not act in a submissive manner like any Asiandoorman would.
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International lawregime lacks a levelplaying field.Khobragadeepisode shows that.
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She had signed an agreement to pay her domestic help, Sangeeta Richard, $9.75 anhour. Instead she paid her only $3.31 an hour. PTI
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Shekhar Gupta has waxed eloquent on the egalitarian virtues ofAmerican society. He noted that barely within a year of leaving office asdeputy secretary of state, Strobe Talbott had to scramble for a taxi inNew Delhi like any other commoner. More amusingly, he told the storyof a famous Indian film actress who refused to marry and settle down inAmerica because Indians in America refused to allow her to cut asupermarket queue, even after they had recognised her. The goodnews for our world is that this American egalitarian spirit is graduallyinfecting other societies, including Asian societies, and therefore makingthem less feudal.
Ironically, however, even as this American spirit of egalitarianisminfects the world, American government officials continue to insist onfeudaltype privileges while serving in other countries. It is normal forAmerican diplomats to receive diplomatic immunity. Rather abnormally,the American government expects that even its nondiplomats shouldreceive immunity. In some cases, they have literally, notmetaphorically, gotten away with murder. Raymond Davis, a CIAcontractor, was whisked away from the Pakistani judicial system aftershooting and killing two Pakistani citizens. In the ancient days, onlyfeudal lords stood above the laws of the land. Today, Americangovernment employees also enjoy feudal immunities overseas (eventhough most of them are lawabiding citizens while working overseas).
Sadly, few Americans are aware that the American governmentpractices double standards in the application of laws. It allows no foreigngovernment officials, including a powerful person like DominiqueStraussKahn, then head of the International Monetary Fund, anyimmunity from American laws. Yet it expects its government officials tobe — in theory and in practice — immune from other countries’ legalcourts. Whenever any US government official faces the threat ofprosecution in a foreign legal court, he or she is quietly whisked away,as few governments can withstand bilateral pressure from the USgovernment. Since many Americans are puzzled by the Indian outrage,they should know that Indian society was deeply shocked that a seniorIndian official was subject to a strip search. This created a deep senseof cultural outrage, similar to the outrage that Americans would feel if ablack citizen is called a “nigger” today. Any Westerner who cannotunderstand this analogy will be unable to absorb a multicivilisationalperspective.
All governments in the world are aware of this schizophrenic attitude ofthe US government (which, I must stress, reflects the views of the USCongress). On one hand, the US government is second to none indefending the rule of law at home. On the other hand, the USgovernment is second to none in defending immunity for its officialsfrom all foreign legal courts and judicial procedures.
When the International Criminal Court (ICC) Statute came into force onJuly 1, 2002, the US government undertook a massive campaign to getover a hundred foreign governments to sign what have been called“article 98 agreements” or “bilateral immunity agreements (BIAs)”.These agreements stipulate that these countries would not send UScitizens to the ICC. Similarly, the US Congress has developed a longstanding practice of extraterritorial application of its domestic laws onother countries and their citizens. But it is extremely reluctant to allowthe extraterritorial application of other countries’ laws on its ownterritory.
This schizophrenic attitude of the US government explains why virtuallyevery other government in the world was quietly cheering on the Indiangovernment as it insisted on total reciprocity in the treatment of Indianand American officials. Few governments in the world have thegeopolitical heft or the moral legitimacy to look the Americangovernment in the eye and demand such absolute reciprocity. India
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does. Hence, even India’s biggest detractor in the world, Pakistan, isquietly cheering on India. They hoped that India would finally succeed inpersuading the US government to accept a level playing field in dealingwith other countries.
The Indian government’s success in persuading the Americangovernment to allow Khobragade to return home and not face chargesin an American court will therefore be cheered all around the world.Most countries realise that they would not have had the weight to shiftthe US government. India is one of the few who could do so. And indoing so, India has also enhanced the rights and standing of otherforeign diplomats on American territory.
Finally, and perhaps most importantly, India may have actually doneAmerica a favour. Why? The former American president, Bill Clinton,has wisely counselled his fellow citizens to prepare for a world “that wewould like to live in when we’re no longer the military political economicsuperpower in the world”. His wise advice indicates how the twocontradicting narratives can come together: Americans should workhard to create binding international law regimes that would apply equallyto American and nonAmerican officials and citizens. In the finalanalysis, a level playing field in this area would demonstrate that theAmerican egalitarian spirit is influencing international law too.
Kishore Mahbubani
The writer is dean and professor in the practice of public policy of theLee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy at the National University [email protected]
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HocusPocus • 18 hours agoJust one error above Devyani Khabragade never signed an agreement to pay herdomestic help, Sangeeta Richard, $9.75 an hour this charge is entirely a construct of U.S.Attorney Preet Bharara's office, created in concert with Sangeeta Richard's lawyers.
ramsri • 19 hours agoGood article but it was weak when citing the Raymond Davis in Pakistan example. USrelations with Pakistan is a very complicated one. The author could not think of anotherexample, I assume. No other country will know how, why and by whom that incident
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happened. Probably many in the US government circles outside of the CIA might have noexplanation for this as well. Ms.Khobragade's incident also explained to the world India'sdouble standards in treating its own citizens. One was defended by a demand from the USgovernment for an apology and the other was taken to court in Delhi to shut up and returnhome! This incident went out of control.
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jacob • a day agoin india legal rights only applied for rich folks.influential and rich people gets all kind ofimmunity.india doesn't fight with usa when their authorities tapped indian's telephone or insnowden issue. whey they touched one of india's rich folk india awaked and started to fight.what kind of strange democracy runs here?
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Mat Sharma • 2 days agothis is BS. India wanted an apology and the case withdrawn. We got nothing. The statedepartment made a deal with our foreign department. They approved her G1 visa thusproviding her full diplomatic immunity(which they don't do normally when the person isindited in a crime like this). This opened the door for her way back home without beingpresent at the judge. We got at least this much because US saw us a cry baby trying toprotect an official who broke law. This only made look India look worse.
If India is strong and powerful, please take care of millions of Indians live like slaves with noright or dignity whatsoever, in the Arab countries. There are thousands of Indians in thosejails(hells) who are unjustly thrown there and tortured on a daily basis. Please help them ifthe government can. They are Indian citizens in the thousands and millions. I know nothingis going to happen because India can only flex muscle at civilized countries who listens tocry babies..
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Imli • a day ago Mat SharmaYou are wasting your breath. Most Indians are much too busy 'celebrating'Devyani's homecoming and the 'victory' of Indian government.
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B John Kunthara • 2 days agoIndia must do a soul search in regard to how the diplomat Devyani Kholbragade's issueswith the US Justice system and the State Department were handled. As an Indian born UScitizen, I think India showed arrogance and miss judgment in this matter. There was anopportunity to diffuse this issue at the beginning stages
The issue was between two Indian citizens one with a powerful position, other one anordinary domestic servant. According to the US State Department, there is a chronologythat led to the arrest of Mrs. Khobragade. This domestic servant of this diplomat,Sangeetha Richard filed complaint with several authorities with mistreatment and wagesissues some time in June 2013. Since the case was against a diplomat, the NY lawenforcement agencies transferred the matter to the US attorney general in Manhattan NY.AG's office informed the State Department and the US Immigration authority, on opening acase. After examining the visa issuing documents for Ms. Richard, Immigration authorityfound visa fraud and making false statements by Mrs. Kholbragade and that will become acriminal offence under the US Immigration laws.
When case got to this stage some time in August 2013, the US State department informedthe Indian Diplomatic channels in the US about this issue. Subsequently, the foreignMinistry of India was also notified about this case. Not only that, some time in June 2013,
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Ashish • 2 days agoI wonder how the Americans would have reacted if the accused lady diplomat :*was American
*was arrested from her children's school where she had been dropping hem*was handcuffed, strip & cavity searched.*was later thrown in a Delhi cell along with drug peddlers & sex workers
Devyani must face the law & so does Richards. Being Indian citizens, that essentially hasto be in India. By avoiding the Indian legal system, the so called victim & her host countryare not only disrespecting the Indian process, but the hasty "evacuation" of the so called
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are not only disrespecting the Indian process, but the hasty "evacuation" of the so calledvictims family suggests a cloakanddagger game going wrong.
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Sunil Badurkar • 2 days agoIn the Devayani case Indian Government had taken a proper follow up. Indian peopleshould aware of International Politics
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AHM Kamal • 2 days agoWe hope indian Govt will maintain this absolute reciprocity in future.
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Suraj • 2 days agoImpressive Analysis!
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