New Delhi: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) reiterated its demand for an apology from the United States of America and said entire case is cooked up.
"The foreign policy of US is being determined by its state department, the over zealous Preet Bharara who have own agenda and ambition. The entire case is cooked up, maid has presented herself as a victim to take shelter in the US laws when victim is only Devyani," BJP spokesperson Ravi Shankar Prasad said.
Prasad also said that he condemned Bharara's statement and called him a "man of Indian origin who has political ambitions in US." US Attorney Preet Bharara, who is prosecuting the case, had outrightly denied claims that Devyani was mistreated and arrested in public and handcuffed. The US though distanced itself from Bharara's statement.
Echoing Prasad's comments, BJP leader Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi said that US must apologise because it is "not just a matter between India and US anymore but a global matter. This means no diplomat can enjoy immunity anywhere."
The government too justified the demand for an apology saying, "US behaved atrociously with our diplomat, they should apologise. It is a legitimate expectation," Union Information and Broadcasting Minister Manish Tewari said.
Earlier in the day, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kamal Nath also took a tough stand against the US and said their actions were 'totally unacceptable'. "India will not accept anything less than an apology. America should drop all charges. America should know that times have changed and India has changed," he said.
However, Minister of External Affairs Salman Khurshid refrained from making any further comments on the issue and said that talks with the US were on. "We are discussing the issue with the US. We are dealing with this through diplomatic channels. We care about our relations with them," he said on Friday adding that steps have been taken to maintain the dignity of the India diplomat.
The statements from the government come as the US State Department on Friday refused to drop charges against Devyani adding that the case would proceed according to all necessary legal procedures.
"The US has taken steps to re-unite the alleged victim with her family. We are aware of existence of allegations that the family was intimidated in India, I can't confirm those but in general we take those allegations seriously," said US State Department Deputy Spokesperson Marie Harf.
The US Marshals Service has denied having conducted a cavity search on Khobragade. The US Marshals in a statement said, "In reference to the question about the cavity search the answer is no. Khobragade was subject to the same search procedures as other arrestees held within the general prisoner population in the Southern District of New York which in this case was a strip-search."
Khobragade, a Deputy Consul General at the Indian consulate in New York was arrested for allegedly filing false immigration documents allowing her to bring her domestic help Sangeeta Richard over from India.
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