repeated handcuffing, stripping, cavity searches, swabbing...

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FULL text: Indian diplomat Devyani Khobragade's letter to her colleagues

 My dear colleagues - senior and junior, 

I am so grateful for all the outpouring of unequivocal support and backing that has been available to me from the fraternity. I take comfort in the confidence that this invaluable support will also be translated into strong and swift action, to ensure the safety of me and my children, as also to preserve the dignity of our service which is unquestionably under siege.
While I was going through it, although 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, I 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.
I feel I can continue to do so thanks to this strong and prolific support. I cannot say more now but will later, I did feel the deep need to thank you all so much.


Devyani Khobragade.

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know what  cavity search   is  ?

Visual body cavity search involves checking of body cavities like nostrils, ears, mouth, penis, vagina and rectum with the help of a flashlight. The person undergoing this search needs to regulate the body parts for a proper examination.

 then there is the  more barbaric manual cavity search . to know more

 http://www.dnaindia.com/india/report-what-is-a-full-body-cavity-search-1937269

will the lokpal bill end corruption ?

will it end corruption ?
no. it will have the same fate as of other bills.
it will remain in the statute book and will never be used.
except to beat an enemy.

yes . corruption will see a decline . in spite of the bill.
due to the awareness created in the run up to the bill.
in fact t is not the bill but the feeling behind it which
really transforms a society. and it will happen in india too.

will it come down to such a level that we will lose the
rank among most corrupt countries ?

unfortunately no. becoz corruption is the other side of
development. it has to be a delicate balance. we can
push for zero corruption but it will invariably kill the
initiative to take risk which is the most important
ingredient for development.
take for example the coal scam . or the 2g case. there was no perfect
way of doing it at that time. it was a choice which involved risk.
and if the one who is taking that risk has to spend the rest of
his life behind bars why should he take a decision at all ?
he can earn his salary and perks with out taking decisions.

it is not enough if one is  clean but he should be seen as clean,
say , ten years from now. some one can allege that the action which
he took ten years back or fifteen years back lead to loss to the govt.
based on calculations using the latest technology and current political
morality. it is not easy to defend an action taken in the  past .
neither is it fashionable.

ultimately is it that corruption will never end ?
unfortunately yes. the musical chair will continue. the chairs will
remain the same. action , corruption, punishment , action. what
one should ensure is that the music does not stop for long. the
running should continue . who gets which chair in the short
interval is not important. it is the game which we call governance
(alias development ) that is important.

nothing can be done ?
no harm in dreaming. have a re look at corruption. ultimately
it is accumulation of wealth . forget about where it came from since
disproportionate exploitation of resources is the only source from
which wealth can accumulate which is what we call corruption.
just see if one has it. distribute the wealth. the whole of it.
by normal means if available.  if  not forget about the means
as well.

the easiest way to fight corruption is to make accumulation of
wealth unprofitable. by any means.

can you believe it ?

Dr. Khobragade, 39, an Indian Foreign Service officer
of the 1999 batch, was on her way to drop her children
 to school when she was stopped by the police and
handcuffed in full public view. 

Deputy Consul General Devyani Khobragade was
strip-searched in custody and made to stand with
common criminals, drug addicts and sex workers
 by the New York Police.

The US did this to a woman diplomat, a mother of two


 The New York Police, sources say, were "following orders"
 that came from "higher-ups".

want more ?  read 

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/indiahome/indianews/article-2524824/India-outraged-sources-reveal-countrys-US-diplomat-strip-searched.html

tejpal , ganguly et al

the latest is on ganguly. he used his position and power to
subjugate young girls working under him. ditto with tejpal.

the message they sent out is clear. reject  my invitation and risk
your job.  follow me to my bed room and sleep well thereafter.

despicable. no doubt.  they should be stopped . and punished.

but should they be hanged ? imprisoned for not less than 15 years
or denied bail ? i have my doubts. it was after all an
invitation. not abduction. it was encroachment. not occupation.
it was an  ugly threat  but not open violence.

we should have a system of grading  sexual crimes. similar
to what we have in other crimes. we do not see a slap as an attempt
to murder. we differentiate between an altercation and a planned
attack. and the punishments are graded too.

we should have a similar system for sex crimes too.  attempt
to molest a girl and retreat when she protested is different
from abduction and rape. is different from physical assualt to
the point of death and murder.

not that they should be ignored. they should also be punished.
but on a proper scale. we should have that sense of proportion.
given the fact that the area bounded by consent, dissent, rebuke
and fight back is ill defined at many points in  matters sex.
consent is many times dissent held back for external reasons.
dissent could be a taunt in the game of sex. yesterday's consent
could be interpreted as dissent tomorrow. ....

the lurking danger is that power and position are used to subdue
and abuse  subordinates , sexually and otherwise.  the biggest
challenge is how to put an end to it. the easiest way probably is to
do what sweta menon did in kerala. she went public , named the
persons and gave a graphic account in the media. yet stopped short
of filing a criminal complaint. she never withdrew the allegations
either.  enough probably for these oldies who have family and  social
status to keep.

 tejpal and ganguly also fit the bill. what has already been said
and done should be punishment enough for these men who
slipped and fell into such a deep hole. let us not forget all the
good things they stood for, just on this folly . let us  not obliterate
the many  wars they fought against injustice and won for the good
of the society in their earlier incarnation. that is, before the fall.

to publish a comment in the hindu

if you want to know the rules for  commenting  on an article
published in the hindu , here they are verbatim 

       Please write complete sentences. Do not type comments in
       all capital letters,  or in all lower case letters, or using
       abbreviated text.   (example: u cannot substitute for you,
       d is not 'the', n is not 'and').

luckily the hindu doesnt explicitly say that u shd be in proper
dress , stand up when u finish reading or that it should be read
out loud with clear phonetics. may be they are all implied.

good work as far as raising  the english reading and writing
standards is conerned. but did someone say  sometime
somewhere that self righteousness  should stop short of
annoying others ?

i want to conclude this post with the words
     better late than never 
but i am under no illusion that any reader of the hindu will take
it seriously. becoz it is probably not a complete sentence.

arushi again

tehelka is at it again. they repeat that the
talwars are innocent in the arushi murder case.

they point out inconsistencies in the prosecution
case. no doubt there are many. had the court
accepted the closure report filed earlier by  cbi 
and acquitted the talwars on the ground that the
evidence is not conclusive, it could well have
served the purpose of justice. the possible flaw
in such a judgement could have been that the talwars
who might have been the killers go scotfree. given
the fact they  lost their only child , for
whatever reasons, this acquittal could have been
considered a divine relief or a small human error.
either way indian judiciary would not have lost
anything substantial.

but it didnt happen that way. on court's insistence
cbi had to go ahead with the investigation. they had
tried in the normal way  and failed. it is quite
natural that they went to abnormal extent in this second
attempt. the inconsistencies in the prosecution case
are probably on account of this extra pressure to come
up with a solution. in this context it is also natural
that the court chose to ignore these inconsistencies.

it is true that the prosecution failed to explain many
things. but it is more pertinent that the alternate story
put forth by the talwars has much bigger holes.holes so big
that any story will easily fall thru. it is definitely not
possible to punish anyone based on this alternate story.

on balance it is probably the talwars who did it. but
in the freak chance that they didnt, the punishment that
they are given will get branded as the unkindest ever
mscarriage of justice. and the stain will remain for
a very long time to come.

the courts may still have a humanitarian way out. set free the
talwars on the grounds of inconclusive evidence,for records,
and for the real reason, to avoid a possible error
of judgment which could lead to inhuman  suffering.