Arrested Indian software engineers being treated like common criminals

From Shyam Bhatia
DH News Service
WASHINGTON, Jan 26

It is a travesty of natural justice that 27 Indian computer professionals are being treated as common criminals by the US Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) which has confiscated their driving licences and told them they are under house arrest until brought before a judge.

In all civilized countries the underlying principle of law is that all are innocent until proven guilty. But in the case of 27 Indian citizens confined to their suburban Texas apartments, the INS has already convicted them and taken away their most basic human rights, including the right to social contact, freedom of movement and the right to purchase food for survival.

DOUBLE STANDARDS: Worse, the hearsay evidence of racist comments by agents of the INS suggests that in the US, the greatest champion of worldwide human rights, there are double standards when it comes to ''lowly`` Indians who are worthy only of second class treatment at the hands of US bureaucrats.

These are the sorts of attitudes associated with discredited European colonial powers who justified their centuries of exploitation as the white man`s burden to civilize the globe. More`s the pity that such unlovely impulses have crept into the New World where anyone and everyone has the right to dream of a better future. The offence the Texas 27 are guilty of is that they allowed their employers, Frontier Consultants and Softech, to redeploy them to jobs that weren't specified in their B-1 work visas. Frontier and Softech claim this happens all the time and is perfectly legitimate. A US judge will rule on the issue in a few weeks` time.

RACIST COMMENTS: Whatever the judge's decision, nothing merits the racist comments of INS agents, or the handcuffing of decent, god-fearing Indian citizens, including a couple of pregnant women, who were simply doing their jobs to the best of their ability. Nor do they deserve to be treated like naughty children confined to their homes and deprived of their driving licenses by order of the INS.

But for the generosity of local Indians in San Antonio who have taken on the responsibility of making sure enough food and water is available, most of the Texas 27 would now be starving. The apartments to which they have been confined follow the usual contours of American urban planning and are miles away from local shops and other amenities.

Totally bewildered by what has happened to them, these highly educated professionals face the prospect of further humiliation when they are prosecuted. After treating them as common criminals, the INS is expected to argue that they should be deported.

The guts of the INS argument is that they are guilty of work permit violations because they were employed in jobs, such as revamping the software needs of the Randolph Air Force base, which were not authorized by the terms of their B-1 temporary work visas.

But the INS charges have been challenged by Frontier and the other recruitment agency, Softech, who say they are entitled to subcontract their employees to other projects.

''Usually, they come here and work on an inhouse project, then they are farmed out and placed in different projects,`` says Hyderabad born Mrs Geeta Dhondi of Frontier consultants.`` ''Thats how the IT industry works.``

Her company brings over about 40 to 50 computer professionals every year from India, but most of her recruiting is done within the US and Canada.

Since the totally unexpected arrests, her company has paidout —100,000 in bail money, lawyers fees and insurance costs. ''So far we are managing to support everyone, but what will we do if the cases drag on for two months,`` Mrs Dhondi asks?

Last night she told Deccan Herald that Frontier Consultants had been in contact with Andhra Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu who has promised his personal help and asked to talk to Frontier`s lawyers. In Washington the case of the Texas 27 was raised with State Department officials by Indian ambassador Naresh Chandra. The officials told him they were not aware of what had happened but said they would investigate.

''I am from Warangal, near Hyderabad, that`s how I contacted Chandrababu Naidu,`` Mrs Dhondi told Deccan Herald. ''He assured me of his help and wants to talk to our attorneys and he`s assured me he wants tohelp me.

''These people have to go to work, how long can we support them? The company cannot support indefinitely; for the moment we are doing all we can, but how long will this case go on for.

''So far we have paid 75,000 dollars for bail. Now the company has to support them and is ready to support them, but next month car rentals, apartment rentals will come in and they have to be paid.

''Right now we can support them but what happens after two months. Insurance alone costs 10,000 dollars per month, attorney fees are a minimum of 10,000 dollars, they could rise to at least 50,000 dollars per month.``

Innocent until proven guilty: surely, some decent, god-fearing Americans in distant Texas understand the injustice of what has happened and are ready to stick out their necks to help 27 Indians incarcerated in their apartments. Or is the New World taking up the bad old ways of the Old World that the United States was created to escape from?