It is really sad that scores of Indian students studying in the US have been detained by ICE on charges of violating Visa laws. One wished it did not happen. But now that they have been detained, and reports suggest ICE is looking for around 600 students for similar offence, the issue has drawn the attention of the Indian Americans here and of government of India.
Whatever the government of India is doing is appreciable. Contacting students in detention, contacting their parents back home to pledge government’s support are all part of the job of the Indian diplomats here , and of the EAM mandarins in New Delhi.
But, can anyone ask a sovereign government to bend rules for a chosen few? If your answer is “NO”, you know what is going to happen. Particularly now that the Trump administration has taken a stand that America will not welcome “illegals”. See the stand of Trump administration on DREAMERS. More recently, pronouncements about illegal stay and , of course, illegal entry.
it is not a humanitarian issue like we had in Middle East when we evacuated Indians from South Sudan or from Kuwait. It is purely an internal law and order issue of America. India, or for that matter, any country, cannot even make a suggestion to a sovereign nation on this issue. Clearly, law of the land has been knowingly violated by our Indian brethren . Nobody can defend what they have done. It is better not to try to defend what is indefensible. India had better not .
Let me say here. India has denied consular services, passports and visas to a number of Sikhs from Punjab branding them as Khalistanis and separatists, hand in glove with Pakistan and other interest groups against India, bent upon wrecking the Indian nation. Do you think America or Canada, or Britain can make a suggestion to India to lift the “ban”?
In this election year, Modi government will not like to be criticized for not taking care of Indian citizens abroad. They will not like the opposition to make it an issue in elections, howsoever little the issue may be. So, there may be an extra effort on the part of the government of India to play up its efforts to seek relief for the students facing the difficult situation.
America is not India, where a Prime Minister , or a lesser person, too can bend rules. India is still living in a feudal order. I will rather have my Indian brethren suffer for whatever they did, wittingly or unwittingly, rather than imagine America following Indian style of governance.