Khobragade: An Intercultural Disaster

       Devyani Khobragade was caught in the midst of diplomatic controversy. She was charged with visa fraud and falsifying documents to get her domestic help Sangeeta Richard in to the United States. Her problems stemmed from her helper Richard when she got a lawyer to sue Khobragade for not paying her the correct amount of money for her work. They had established an agreement in India that she would be making roughly $350 dollars a month when in all actuality she should have been making $4500 a month because minimum wage in the US is considerable higher than India. This incident caused Khobrogade to be arrested for visa and document fraud, and while she was being processed in to the system she was strip searched, had her DNA tested, and supposedly was treated very poorly for being part of the Indian consulate in New York.

       This turned into an international disaster when India found out about her treatment while being processed for her crime, and they said it was morally and ethically wrong for the way her case was handled, and were upset that she was treated as a common criminal. The story goes into further detail but the main point I am trying to make is that not all the facts were looked at before people reacted.
       I believe the situation was taken out of hand, I believe both government should have reviewed the documents promising Richard a certain pay for her work with Khobraugade. The indian government also said that she should have receive immunity from this treatment because she part of the consulate, although she wasn't officially a diplomat. Speaking from an intercultural standpoint I believe that the US should have treated her with some immunity so both countries could get to the bottom of this situation.

     We were not very open-minded about the situation and did not consider any Indian law before pursuing Khobragade with charges on fraud. There are two very different cultures involved in this issue, and we did not give India the respect we should have. Devyani Khobragade obviously made some poor decisions regarding her domestic help Sageeta Richards and how she was paid, but things got out of hand when this issue could have been solved over a meeting of international parties and the persons directly involved. I believe if we were patient and waited for all of the facts to come through we would have had an easier time solving this issue, and also avoided the international disaster we are still currently in.

Suggested Music:
       I chose this song because we just need to figure this issue out and shake it off. Regarding this case many mistakes were made and many people are upset, but we can't let this ruminate forever. Many people are pointing fingers of who did what, but most importantly is we solve this case diplomatically and move on.

Taylor Swift "Shake it Off"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nfWlot6h_JM

Suggested Reading:
       The book below goes in to depth about international law, and the Khobragade case was featured in a section regarding international relations and diplomatic immunities.

Teachings on Basic Topics in Public International Law

 By Amos Enabulele, Bright Bazuaye

Suggest Media:
       A full interview with Devyani Khobragade regarding this incident and her future plans.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GgH4ejgRMuI