Arrest same sex companions of US diplomats: BJP's Yashwant Sinha

Following the diplomatic row after Indian diplomat Devyani Khobragade was publicly arrested in New York, senior BJP leader Yashwant Sinha on Tuesday said that India  should retaliate in kind and made the audacious suggestion that India could arrest US diplomats who have same sex partners. [caption id=“attachment_1291737” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Senior BJP leader Yashwant Sinha.[/caption] Speaking to reporters outside Parliament, Sinha said that after the arrest and alleged mistreatment of diplomat Devyani Khobragade in the US, India should reciprocate by arresting same sex companions of American diplomats using a Supreme Court verdict that restored a ban on gay sex last week. “My suggestion to the Government of India is, the media has reported that we have issued visas to a number of US diplomats’ companions. ‘Companions’ means that they are of the same sex. Now, after the Supreme Court ruling, it is completely illegal in our country, just as paying less wages was illegal in the US. So, why doesn’t the government of India go ahead and arrest all of them? Put them behind bars, prosecute them in this country and punish them,” Sinha said. “We should stop treating visitors of US as viceroys, don’t extend any favour to them which they don’t do to us.” Meanwhile, the father of Devyani Khobragade has said the government will do all it can to ensure that charges levelled against her are dropped. “The Indian government has assured me full support,” the Indian diplomat’s father Uttam Khobragade told reporters after meeting Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde.