Devyani Khobragade: US is selectively applying its labour laws

The arrest and detention of the Indian diplomat, Devyani Khobragade, has drawn flak from various quarters in India. Khobragade was arrested over charges of visa fraud, making fraudulent statements and paying a salary to her domestic help that was below the minimum wage. The procedures followed in her arrest were humiliating and due protocol apparently was flouted. In a tit for tat gesture, India has asked all US diplomats in the country to return their ID cards and airport passes. The Khobragade case raises a whole host of issues and questions. It is not only about the law and the procedures followed but also of morality , culture and custom. Khobragade may or may not have broken the law but the question is why was she singled out for such treatment? The United States is full of illegal, quasi legal and legal immigrants who cannot, for an n number of reasons, find jobs. [caption id=“attachment_1294375” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Devyani Khobragade: Image from Facebook[/caption] The only recourse for these immigrants is to either work for wages that are way below the minimum wage or enter a life of crime- either the petty variety or as part of various gangs. Usually, it is members of the same ethnic group that the immigrant belongs to who exploit the weak or non existent financial and economic status of the victim. Pakistanis, Bangladeshis or even Indians in Jackson Heights, New York, regularly misuse and exploit their own vulnerable ethnic kinsfolk. The same holds true for Mexicans, Italians or other ethnic groups or at times even the white Anglo-Saxons. Where , the question is, is the law then? Why was Khobragade harassed and humiliated, and made an example of, if this practice is rather common in the United States? Are there double standards at work here? Now having a domestic help is a common and accepted practice amongst the Indian middle classes. This is not slavery or servitude as some in the West deem it to be. India is a developing country and there is a vast agricultural labour surplus which cannot be absorbed into productive employment by the state. These people are usually unskilled and the only way for a somewhat decent employment for them is to work as domestic help. This is standard practice and both parties benefit. Of course, there are and have been circumstances when domestic help has been abused and harassed, but these are the exceptions; not the rule. The United State’s action against Khobragade is then rather inexplicable. Now the question is of the broader relations between the United States and India. This relationship has taken a new direction and thrust in a very different and altered context. It has, over time, matured even though some kind of a drift and fatigue is also discernible. While India has taken steps and tit for tat action against US diplomats in India, the whole saga should stop here. India has made its point and after due restoration of Khobaragade’s status or an apology from the United States, the matter should not be stretched further. Indo-US relations are of significant import and both countries need each other in the context of the emerging world order. The relationship should not and must not suffer because of this case. In the meantime, the United States, must either take a serious and vigorous view of the exploitation of labour and some immigrants in the country and not selective and conveniently apply its domestic and labour laws. This would amount to doing a great service to the immigrant underclass who come to the US only to find themselves abused and exploited. It is then that morality and law would be aligned and the US would be true its ideals and foundational laws. The Khobragade case , in this sense, should be the bellwether case that offers not only a reprieve to the exploited underclass in the US but also a case which makes US laws more stringent.