On 11^th December 2013, Indian diplomat for the U.S., Devyani Khobragade was charged of committing visa fraud by the US Department of State Diplomatic Security Service. Following the charge, she was arrested on 12^th December.

She was then transferred into the custody of US Marshals Service. What followed has left the whole of India fuming. Devyani Khobragade was strip searched and had to undergo a cavity test and was forced to spend the night with criminals and drug addicts. The next day she was presented to the magistrate where she pleaded of not being guilty and was released the same day on a bond of $250,000.

Devyani Khobragade is an Indian Foreign Service Officer formerly functioning as the Deputy Consul General in the Consulate General India in New York. In what has panned out as the most controversial decision, the US government disregarded the diplomatic status of Devyani and treated her as a criminal before trial. What we ought to remember here is that Devyani Khobragade was not in the US as a tourist, student or a person seeking big bucks. She was there as the official flag bearer of India. Disregard for her respect has been directly seen as a disregard to India, the biggest democracy in the world and a rising superpower.

The question is not whether Devyani is guilty or not , the question is why was her diplomatic immunity not considered while dealing with the case. She being an Indian citizen and a representative on diplomatic level, is governed by Indian laws and regulations. Any crime committed by her is the Indian government’s problem, which is very well capable of dealing with it. Diplomatic Immunity via the Viena Convention- a privilege to States’ representatives such as Devyani states that she is not liable to arrest or detention pending trial expect in cases of grievous crime. Was this case befitting a grave crime that she was subjected to both arrest and detention?

The outrage in India was justified and called for. But what followed was something blown a bit out of proportion. Removal of barricades from the US embassy sent out the wrong message. Yes, Devyani is the nation’s representative. Yes, this is a matter of national pride. But the focus should have been more or correcting the wrong rather than adapting a tit for tat attitude. Even that did not bring out the desired effect . Though John Kerry expressed regret over the way the case was handled, the US government refusing to take back the charges against Devyani nor take any action against the concerned personnel who handled the case.

Maybe this is an indication that powers of the West have stopped taken India seriously. If the same case had happened with a Russian or Chinese diplomat, things would have been handled a lot more differently. Despite a sizeable population in the United States, despite having ‘healthy relations‘ between the two countries it has now become clear that India’s foreign policies are no longer taken seriously as it used to be a decade ago. The rampant corruption, lawlessness and a weak government at the Centre is not helping matters.

Devyani who just returned to New Delhi no longer holds immunity according to the US Government. She may no longer go back to the US but to submit to a court of law and may face criminal charges. The Indian Government reacted by pulling strings and forcing the US government to ‘withdraw’ a similar ranking officer. This officer was allegedly involved in helping Sangeeta Richard, the victim in the case against Devyani.

For now, personal life has taken a hit for Devyani as she leaves behind her husband and children in New York.  How the case pans out is yet to be seen, but one thing is certain- the U.S. India foreign relations stand as a casualty in this curious case of Devyani Khobragade.

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Over the past few days, Arvind Kejriwal and his Aam Aadmi Party have been making headlines. Front page headlines have been synonymous with them since the formation of the party. They got fame in whatever they did, be it the pre -poll campaigning or the collection of funds. But they were successful in connecting with the janta , the Delhi poll elections are evidence of the same.

Arvind Kejriwal was seen as that angry, frustrated common man out to correct the wrong. No one ever doubted his intentions but people always questioned his ways. Will a common man be able to cope with the nitty gritty of politics? By winning the Delhi elections Mr. Kejriwal has certainly showed that one can fight elections in a transparent way devoid of corruption. He has certainly connected with the people of Delhi and of India, in general.

Even on his swearing-in ceremony, he reiterated that he was not hungry for power and that he had come into politics to give the power back to the common man. He also mentioned that he will bringing certain systems into place where the common man will be given the real power. Question remains, how will he do that while remaining under constitutional boundaries.

Days within formation of government, the Aam Aadmi Party delivered two of its major promises- delivering 20 kilolitres of water free of cost and slashing the power tariff by 50 percent. The two moves will benefit majority of the population in Delhi and be welcomed by the common people.

On giving it a bit of thought, one may think of the decisions as a public-pleasing stunt. With the Lok Sabha Elections around the corner and the Aam Aadmi Party contesting on over 100 seats, there are allegations levied on Mr. Kejriwal for being opportunistic. The opposition BJP and even a few leaders from the Congress are questioning his moves regarding the providing of free water. As almost 40 percent of Delhi households do not have a pipeline connection, they will not be able to avail of this facility. Also both BJP and congress leaders are asking why no move was taken to curb the rampant illegal supply of water in Delhi through the tanker mafia. This might be a little harsh on the government as the opposition is asking them to do in 5 days what was not done in 15 years. But the valid question is that providing almost 667 litres of water free to each family every day would eat into the profit of the already ill –supplied JAL Board of Delhi.

On the cutting down of power rates, this move will be affecting over 28 lakh of the 34 lakh households in delhi. The move of cutting down the power rates by half will cost the government 200 crores. Also the government is likely to announce the power audit of various state electricity distribution companies.

Many experienced leaders have snubbed the policies of Mr. Kejriwal as being public pleasing and un-sustainable; now whether they hold up in the long run is yet to be seen. One thing is for sure. Mr Arvind Kejriwal and his Aam Aadmi Party have certainly brought a fresh approach to politics. They certainly have delivered on their promises for now. Whether they will be able to maintain the same standard all throughout is the big question.

For now, they have won the battle and are gearing up for the long war. Delhi is being run by ‘Aap ka CM’.

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