#devyani khobragade

गणतंत्र दिन की विज्ञापन से धर्मनिरपेक्षता और समाजवाद ये शब्दो को हटाने की वजह इस पर जनता की प्रतिक्रियाओं का जायजा लेना है.

अभी विदेश मंत्री सुषमा स्वराज को अंधेरे में रखकर विदेश सचिव पद से अकस्मात जो दलित व महिला विदेश सचिव सुजाता सिंह को अपमानजनक तरीके से बर्खास्त किया गया है, देवयानी खोबरागड़े उसकी पहली कड़ी है।

सुनील खोबरागड़े मराठी दैनिक महानायक के संपादक हैं तो रिपब्लिकन पार्टी के एक बड़े धड़े के नेता भी हैं। वे देवयानी खोबरागड़े के भाई भी हैं।

सुनीलजी मराठी में ही लिखते हैं और उन्होंने यह टिप्पणी हिंदी में की…

New Post has been published on http://www.everyupdates.org/india/news-india/obama-india-issues-like-lgbt-rights-forced-labour-went-unheard/

Obama in India: Issues like LGBT rights, forced labour that went unheard

Obama in India Issues like LGBT rights, forced labour that went unheard

Barack Obama’s visit to India has been all about big issues such as nuclear deal, clean energy and climate, counter-terrorism and economic efforts between the two nations etc. If the entire media attention has been on the developments in these areas in the last couple of days, it is obvious why.

However, away from the glare of cameras and flashing bulbs there are issues which are calling out to be heard by the most powerful persons in both countries. Here are a few such campaigns that no one noticed.

Homosexual rights

A petition has been started by the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) community on Change.org pleading the American President to support them and ask the Indian government to decriminalize gay sex and read down section 377 of the Indian Penal Code. The campaign ObamaforQueerIndia is highly visible both Twitter and Facebook. “We, the millions of LGBTQIA citizens of India call upon you to voice our concerns to our government that has turned a deaf ear to our grievances,” the petition reads.

In 2012, Obama had said that he supported gay marriages. This has encouraged the LGBT community in India to seek for his support. “He is the most powerful man in the world and he supports gay marriages, hence his word or advise to Modi and the Indian government will definitely hold value,” Rajan Shekhar, a member of the community, said.

Forced labour and trafficking of domestic help

Humanrightsfirst.org has also urged the US President to raise the issue of modern day slavery – the practice of having domestic helps – and the trafficking done by Indian diplomats. Human rights advocates suspect that despite the Devyani Khobragade episode which witnessed visa fraud and exploitation of her domestic help, Indian diplomats have continued that practice in the US.

In addition to that, the advocates also voiced their concern over forced labour and human trafficking inside India. “More people are enslaved in India than in any other country in the world… India’s primary trafficking problem is the forced labour of an estimated 20 to 65 million citizens: men, women, and children held in debt bondage-sometimes inherited from previous generations-who are forced to work in brick kilns, rice mills, agriculture, embroidery factories, and other industries” wrote Human Rights First President and CEO Elisa Massimino. “The challenge is to change this calculus-to increase the risk of prosecution and decrease the profits for exploiters. The Indian government needs to strengthen anti-trafficking laws and promote consistent enforcement at all government levels.”

However, this topic has the least possibility of coming up during the bilateral talks due to the Khobragade incident in December 2013, which severely damaged the Indo-US relations and Obama presence in Delhi is to essentially mend it.

Another petition on intellectual property rights, especially getting patents for new medicine, has been doing rounds on social media. However, this petition does not ask for Obama’s support, rather it pleads the Indian government to stand strong against the US, which has been trying to convince the Indian government to follow the US policy when it comes to medicine patent criteria.

The US, which has a liberal patent criteria, enables pharmaceutical companies to make minor changes to the composition of a drug and get a patent for 20 years, hence no other company can manufacture the same drug for that period of time. This enables pharmaceutical companies to create monopolies and make their drug extremely expensive and keeps it out of reach for the poor.

In India, however, such monopolies don’t exist as smaller pharmaceutical companies come out with cheaper substitutes of an expensive drug which is affordable for the poor, which India has in abundance. Oxfamindia.org has started a campaign called “Save our medicine, save lives“ which is inviting people to join and stand strong with the Indian Government against US bullying and protect access to life-saving medicines for millions across the world.

New Post has been published on http://www.everyupdates.org/world/news-world/u-s-judge-dismisses-lawsuit-pm-modi-2002-riots/

U.S. judge dismisses lawsuit against PM Modi over 2002 riots

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will not have to face a U.S. lawsuit claiming he failed to stop anti-Muslim rioting in 2002, a federal judge in New York ruled on Wednesday.

U.S. District Judge Analisa Torres upheld the U.S. Department of State’s determination that Modi is entitled to immunity as a sitting head of government from civil lawsuits filed in U.S. courts.

The lawsuit, filed in September by an obscure human rights group on the eve of Modi’s maiden visit to the United States, made international headlines at the time, though officials from both countries brushed it off as a distraction.

Joseph Whittington, the president of the human rights group American Justice Center and a city council member in Harvey, Illinois, acknowledged in September that the case had little chance of succeeding but said there was victory in “symbolism.”

Babak Pourtavoosi, a lawyer who represented the center, and Whittington did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

U.S. judge dismisses lawsuit against PM Modi over 2002 riots

The judge’s decision comes ahead of a planned visit by President Barack Obama to attend India’s Jan. 26 Republic Day celebrations at Modi’s invitation.

The lawsuit claimed Modi, a Hindu nationalist, did nothing to halt riots in his home state of Gujarat in which more than 1,000 people died in reprisals after a train carrying Hindu pilgrims was set on fire.

As a result of the allegations, Modi was denied a U.S. visa in 2005, but Obama was quick to invite him to the United States after Modi’s election as prime minister.

The September visit was intended to revitalize the two countries’ relationship, which was severely strained in 2013 when U.S. authorities in New York arrested an Indian diplomat, Devyani Khobragade, for underpaying a domestic worker and subjected her to a strip search. The State Department later granted her immunity and essentially had her expelled in a series of diplomatic maneuvers.

Whittington said last fall that some of his constituents in Illinois were refugees from the Gujarat violence, prompting him to take action against Modi.

The State Department did not immediately comment on the ruling. A spokesperson for Modi could not immediately be reached outside of business hours in India, and the Indian embassy in Washington did not respond to a request for comment.

By Ellen Barry, NY Times, Dec. 20, 2014

NEW DELHI--Nearly a year ago, when Devyani Khobragade, an Indian diplomat, returned to New Delhi after being arrested by United States marshals in connection with her treatment of her Indian maid, she was celebrated as a symbol of India’s offended dignity, and the cause of a serious rift with the United States.

But much has changed since then. Relations between the United States and India are on the upswing ahead of a planned visit from President Obama in January. And a recent series of interviews in which Ms. Khobragade recalled her humiliation at being handcuffed and strip-searched have not gone over well with the Ministry of External Affairs.

Indian authorities have opened an inquiry into whether Ms. Khobragade violated internal regulations that bar ministry officials from making unapproved statements to the media that could affect bilateral relations, according to an Indian official, who spoke about the diplomatic matter on the condition of anonymity.

It was the second inquiry into Ms. Khobragade’s actions. An earlier one found that she had violated regulations by failing to inform the government that her children had been issued American passports, and she was penalized for that, the official said. Offenses on this scale could lead to an oral or written warning, and might affect future promotions, the official said. Ms. Khobragade’s status has been changed to “compulsory wait,” indicating that she is between postings.

On Saturday, Ms. Khobragade told NDTV, a cable news station, that she had not violated any internal regulations in her recent interviews and that there was no discussion of her resigning from her post. Her father, Uttam, said that officials were restricted only from criticizing the government in the press, and that in her interviews, “Devyani didn’t talk against the government or about the government.”

He said his daughter was being treated badly.

A year ago, Ms. Khobragade’s case laid bare an unexpected brittleness in relations between the United States and India. A deputy consul general posted in New York, she was arrested on a criminal complaint that she was paying her maid, Sangeeta Richard, less than $1.42 an hour, despite promising on her visa application to pay the minimum legal wage.

Indian officials cast Ms. Khobragade’s arrest as an offense to India, and it led to a diplomatic rift. Indian authorities removed security barriers at the American Embassy in New Delhi and canceled a number of privileges accorded to American diplomats. The resignation of Washington’s ambassador to India, Nancy J. Powell, was widely seen here as fallout from the imbroglio.

In an effort to resolve the dispute, the State Department granted Ms. Khobragade diplomatic immunity and told her to leave the country.

In an interview with NDTV last week, timed to the anniversary of her arrest, Ms. Khobragade said she hoped that the government would persist in addressing her case with the United States, despite a marked warming trend between Washington and New Delhi.

“Yes, the relationships have become better, and I’m all the more happy for it because I’m a professional and I certainly want Indo-U.S. relations to become better,” she said. “But having said that, I also want that my issue--this issue of the arrest, the illegal arrest and the fallout it’s had on my personal life--is resolved.” In the interview, she said it was “a bit difficult to recount” her New York arrest, but went on to do so, noting that it “included a strip-search. And, yes, I have to say there was a cavity search.” American officials have denied that a cavity search was performed.