The Times of India has this report about family members of three men arrested in Singapore for alleged rioting accusing officials of external affairs ministry and Indian embassy in Singapore of turning a blind eye and deaf ear to the plight of their kin. Apparently officials refused to answer their calls or reply to petitions after informing them of their wards’ arrest on December 12. Minister for Overseas Indian Affairs Vayalar Ravi said he has yet to get a full report from the Indian high commissioner in Singapore about the situation.
One concerned father in particular, Chinnappa from Mallaiyur near Pudukkottai, said he tried calling the Indian embassy several times but no one attended to his calls. A number of Indian nationals were coralled after the conflagration on Sunday, of which 53 persons have been hastily deported. However, there is confusion since no official communication about the names of those arrested or to be deported has been released. The stone walling is in place.
Meanwhile, in a more civilised part of the world, US Secretary of State John Kerry has expressed his regret over the way an Indian diplomat was treated when she was arrested in New York. State department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said the transfer of diplomat Devyani Khobragade to India’s Permanent Mission at the United Nations should grant her full-diplomatic immunity temporarily and protect her from any arrest in the US. The visa fraud complaint filed by the diplomatic security wing of the state department is still a legal case, but at least Khobragade will have her day in court. Kerry is planning to call on external affairs minister Salman Khurshid soon to discuss a way forward to the sudden eruption of tension between the two countries.
We may need the storm in a teacup, a.k.a. once in 40 years’ occurrence in official parlance, to boil over before the protestations of Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch are given the light of day. An application to the High Court in relation to the deportation of Rajendran Ranjan may have been filed, one of 4 charged in court but subsequently had their charges withdrawn (wrongful arrest?), but one man is determined to draw blood. Commissioner of Police Ng Joo Hee spells it out: “.. because the persons who received the warnings, in this case, are foreigners… So they are then deemed as undesirable immigrants in our country. And then there are powers that the state has, to proclaim someone a prohibited immigrant and to remove him from the country.” Same guy who said “(ex-CNB chief) Boon Gay has been found not guilty… but certainly his acts are reprehensible.” His self righteous moralising is still ringing in our ears. Maybe when the Singapore embassy in India is picketed, he should be sent to the frontlines.
Tattler
*The writer blogs at http://singaporedesk.blogspot.com.