The “don’t-kill-the-messenger” principle, factored into Vienna Convention on Consular Relations, dates back to the time of the ancient Greeks when a messenger from an enemy camp bringing bad or unwelcome tidings to the other side would almost always be killed. Consider this line from “Antigone” by Sophocles: “No one loves the messenger who brings bad news.”
But, thankfully, we do not kill any messengers these days. Indeed, foreign messengers, appearing in the modern incarnation of diplomats, are protected in their host country by the two Vienna Conventions on Diplomatic and Consular Relations.
The VCCR, intended to give foreign consular officials protection and other benefits to enable them to carry out their duties unimpeded in a foreign country, has come under sharp scholarly scrutiny in recent days to determine its applicability in the ongoing diplomatic row over the arrest and humiliating treatment, including handcuffing, a strip search and cavity check, of the former Indian deputy consul general in New York, Devyani Khobragade. She has, meanwhile, been transferred for a posting at India’s permanent mission to the United Nations in New York, obviously, to obtain the diplomatic immunity shield against any possible conviction and incarceration in a US prison.
Khobragade was officially charged with committing visa fraud and violating US labour laws by paying wages to her Indian domestic help Sangeeta Richard that were substantially below the wages declared on the maid’s US visa application. The US authorities arrested Khobragade as she was dropping her daughter at school. Preet Bharara, the US Attorney, who is himself of Indian origin, is overseeing the Khobragade case.
The ensuing heated rhetoric and the tit-for-tat reactions from Indian politicians are not surprising because many of those venting out their anger, particularly from the ruling Congress Party which suffered humiliating defeats in recent state elections, are suspected of doing so to score points ahead of the 2014 general elections. Not to be outdone by the Congress Party, the opposition Bhartiya Janata Party, has also taken up the cudgels to defend “an Indian woman’s honour”.
Ironically, Indian politicians, besides paying lip service, seldom actively espouse the cause of ill-treated women in their own country; however, a high-profiled case such as the humiliating treatment of an Indian diplomat, accompanied by international media glare, becomes an effective vehicle to impress the Indian voting public ahead of the 2014 general elections. Indeed, standing up to the world’s superpower further enhances their profile amongst Indian voters who are incensed by the treatment meted to an Indian woman.
While the outrage felt amongst the Indian public over the humiliating treatment of Khobragade is genuine – her detention with common criminals, including drug traffickers, prostitutes and other shady elements has further inflamed passions in India – the US follows what it calls “standard procedure” which to many in India and, indeed, other parts of the world, may appear as utterly unacceptable.
A simpler way would have been for the US to order her deportation, after declaring her a persona non grata under Article 23 of the VCCR. The diplomatic row could have thus been quietly resolved.
The recent spat between Germany and the US provides lessons on how to resolve differences amongst friends. An enraged German nation condemned the surveillance practices of the US national security agency which had listened to private conversations of Germans, including Chancellor Angela Merkel’s personal calls. Through intense back-channel talks, German diplomats conveyed their outrage to the US making sure that the row did not escalate any further. There were no childish tit-for-tat games, no absurd demands and no public displays of emotionally-charged chest beating as is happening in India.
India and the US need to cool down and return to the ground realities. Both countries are important for each other and face serious global challenges: China’s growing aggressiveness, rise of extremism, Afghanistan, etc. Indian politicians, who are presently baying for blood, should not allow the otherwise friendly Indo-US ties to suffer because of the wrongful actions of overzealous New York police officials. Indian nurses world-power ambitions and is lobbying for support in US political circles for a permanent seat in the United Nations Security Council.
Secretary of State John Kerry’s call to India’s national security advisor Shiv Shankar Menon, expressing regret over Khobragade’s treatment, had a certain calming effect, but the Indian side should now reciprocate by working out a way from the cul-de-sac. Khobragade, who has been transferred to the Indian permanent mission in New York, will need diplomatic immunity which, again, will require the Department of State’s approval.
Both sides can ill afford to continue with the current deadlock which is a dissipation of energies and an unnecessary distraction from the serious business of grappling with urgent bilateral and global issues of crucial importance to both countries.
The impasse on Khobragade’s status, if not quickly resolved, could easily escalate into a full-blown crisis. It won’t be business as usual thereafter.
Manik Mehta is a commentator on Asian affairs.
