Little sympathy for Khobragade in foreign press

NEW DELHI: The Devyani Khobragade case has drawn the attention of the US press but there is little evidence of sympathy for the arrest and the subsequent strip search of the Indian deputy consul general in New York. Major newspapers have skipped writing editorials on the subject so far. And, rather tellingly, Jonathan Shainin, news editor of New Yorker, tweeted: “My prediction: Khobragade outrage will be seen as an embarrassment six months from now.”
New York Times pointed out: “It is not unusual in India for domestic staff to be paid poorly and be required to work more than 60 hours a week; they are sometimes treated abominably.Reports of maids being imprisoned or abused by their employers are frequent,” said Gardiner Harris in his NYT report, adding, “The idea of a middle-class woman being arrested and ordered to disrobe is seen as shocking.”
The newspapers also outlined how incidents of stripsearches, pat-downs and interrogations at airports have earlier made news in the country. “Top Indian officials are exempt from security screenings here, and long lists of officials who are permitted to bypass the screenings are posted at many Indian airports. When those officials are required to pass through security screenings in the US and elsewhere, that fact often makes headlines in India and is seen by some as an insult to the country,” wrote Harris.
Washington Post’s Annie Gowen called the removal of cement blocks outside the US embassy in Delhi “a final slap” in the slew of “reciprocal measures” India took against the US.
A news report issued by Associated Press was carried in several newspapers, such as San Francisco Chronicle, which said: “The case has touched a nerve in India, where the fear of public humiliation resonates strongly and heavy-handed treatment by the police is normally reserved for the poor. For an educated, middle-class woman to face public arrest and a strip search is almost unimaginable, except in the most brutal crimes.” UK’s Guardian said that the arrest touches upon a “range of sensitivities” in India.
Correction: An earlier version of this story inadvertently identified Jonathan Shainin as the editor of New Yorker. He is the news editor and the copy has been edited to reflect the same. The TOI regrets the error.