US action on Indian diplomat reprehensible and condemnable: Ravi Shankar Prasad

This kind of treatment given to Indian diplomats is unacceptable, says the BJP man

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Ravi Shankar Prasad said the treatment given to Indian diplomat Devyani Khobragade in New York last week, is regrettable, reprehensible and condemnable.

"BJP condemns the way the US police and government treated her and kept her in custody. She was not only stripped and handcuffed, but was also locked with drug addicts," said Prasad.

"This is regrettable, reprehensible and condemnable. It is very barbaric. This kind of treatment given to Indian diplomats is unacceptable," he said.

"This isn't the first time an Indian citizen is disrespected. Former president A P J Abdul Kalam was also mistreated in an airport," he added.

Union Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde said that justice would be granted to the Indian Diplomat.

"We have spoken to whom we should have and justice will be granted," said Shinde.

Earlier this morning, Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi and Shinde refused to meet the visiting U.S. delegation of several Congressmen in protest against the matter and way it was handled.

On Monday, National Security Advisor and Speaker of the Lok Sabha Meira Kumar too had refused to meet the delegation marking their protest on the issue.

India's Deputy Counsel general Devyani Khobragade, 39, was arrested on December 12 for presenting false documents for a visa application for her Indian origin babysitter and housekeeper at her home in New York.

She was taken into custody after she dropped her daughter to school at around 9 a.m. She was charged with presenting false documents and visa fraud, which has maximum sentence of five and ten years of imprisonment respectively.

She was later released on a USD 250,000 bail. On December 13, Indian Foreign Secretary Sujatha Singh summoned American ambassador Nancy Powell and lodged protest over the incident.