Devyani Khobragade: US was wrong, but India is being immature

Editor’s note: This comment was made by a reader, Bob Loblaw on the article, “ Devyani Khobragade case: Why we must humiliate the Americans published earlier today. In his comment, Loblaw says that while the US treatment of Khobragade case was unwarranted, the Indian reaction is immature and potentially dangerous. It is Firstpost policy to edit for grammar and spelling, but this comment has been left as is.  by Bob Loblaw The whole thing is ridiculous. Devyani Khobragade treated her houseworker as a wage slave and expected to get away with it. That is ridiculous, as is her lawyer’s excuse that she can’t afford to pay the minimum wage ($1600/month). if you can’t pay for the child, don’t have one. [caption id=“attachment_1294183” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Image from Facebook[/caption] The US treatment of her is ridiculous as well. She is a diplomat and deserves a few extra perks, being detained diplomatically and not having strip searches for a crime that wouldn’t require it. If she were caught smuggling something, a cavity search would be warranted, but this was different. The Indian reaction, screaming Tit for Tat, an Eye for an Eye, will leave everyone blind. It’s immature and ridiculous, and forcibly removing the security barriers at the embassy is dangerous, especially in a country that has had dozens of bombings in the past two decades. Does India forget the support that the US offers it, the welcoming of its citizens as residents and immigrants (who send home billions of dollars a year in remittances) and everything else that comes with a diplomatic relationship? No, obviously not, the Indian government and people would rather take out their frustrations on the US because it’s an easy target. It’s easier for India’s politicians to gain some short term street credibility with their constituents by screaming loudly and spreading hate than it is to focus on their own very real problems.