Why blame the US for the Bhardwaj-Dayal fight?

It is good that Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao is reviewing the policy of providing domestic help to its diplomats abroad. But the lady doth protest too much, me thinks. [caption id=“attachment_30276” align=“alignleft” width=“380” caption=“Prabhu Dayal’s maid has accused him of mistreatment. AP”]  [/caption] Santosh Bhardwaj may or may not be justified in her allegations against Consul General Prabhu Dayal that he treated her like a “slave.” Dayal has every right to defend his reputation as strongly as he can. And the Indian government obviously has to stand by its consul general. But why the anguish and hand-wringing about how India is “disappointed and deeply concerned that Indian diplomats and their family members should be targeted in such a manner in a friendly country like the US?” Where did the US come into this? I thought this was between Prabhu Dayal and Santosh Bhardwaj. Or is this another case of blame Amreeka? Santosh Bhardwaj would never have thought this up if she’d been back in India. She’d know her place there. It’s America’s liberal ways that must have put these lawsuit ideas in her head. Sounds familiar? Blame America for everything that goes wrong. It makes our daughters promiscuous, our sons gay and now our help uppity. But External Affairs ministry spokesman Vishnu Prakash let slip the real reason this is rankling. “The treatment being meted out to Indian diplomats or their family members has resulted in negative public perceptions in India with attendant implications,” he said. It’s less about Prabhu Dayal or Santosh Bhardwaj as it is about “negative public perceptions.” These “negative” perceptions are not just about India’s diplomats. This is an issue the larger community has to struggle with. More than one wealthy Indian American has already been tripped up on similar charges. In those cases it was “reality” not just “perceptions.” That does not make Prabhu Dayal any more likely to be guilty. But Mr. Prakash, this is not the same as our sari-clad Ambassador Meera Shankar being patted down by airport security in Mississippi. It’s not the same as the 18-year old daughter of the vice consul being arrested wrongfully because her school thought she was sending threatening emails to her teacher. This is an Indian maid suing her Indian boss. That’s what makes it so tricky. If Santosh Bhardwaj had been working for an American family and come to the Indian Consul General’s office with the same complaints what would they have done? Meanwhile, Prakash said the allegations were baseless. “We are disappointed and surprised at the allegations against Dayal, by his former employee, which appear to be motivated and baseless.” “Such actions impede the ability of the individuals in question to discharge their official responsibilities and cause untold mental harassment and anguish and they cannot be dismissed lightly,” Prakash said. With inputs from PTI