Here is the link: http://travel.state.gov/travel/cis_pa_tw/cis/cis_1139.html
Here is the pdf: US Dept Of State Description Of Indian Criminal Justice System
Here is the text:
CRIMINAL PENALTIES: While in a foreign country, a U.S. citizen is subject to that country’s laws and regulations, which sometimes differ significantly from those in the United States and may not afford the protections available to the individual under U.S. law. Persons violating Indian laws, even unknowingly, may be expelled, arrested or imprisoned. For example, certain comments or gestures towards women or about religion that are legal in the United States may be considered a criminal violation in India, subjecting the accused to possible fines or imprisonment. Furthermore, since the police may arrest anyone who is accused of committing a crime (even if the allegation is frivolous in nature), the Indian criminal justice system is often used to escalate personal disagreements into criminal charges. This practice has been increasingly exploited by dissatisfied business partners, contractors, estranged spouses, or other persons with whom the U.S. citizen has a disagreement, occasionally resulting in the jailing of U.S. citizens pending resolution of their disputes. At the very least, such circumstances can delay the U.S. citizen’s timely departure from India, and may result in an unintended long-term stay in the country. Penalties for possession, use, or trafficking in illegal drugs in India are severe, and convicted offenders can expect long jail sentences and heavy fines. Engaging in sexual conduct with children or using or disseminating child pornography in India is a crime, and is prosecutable in the United States. Please see our information on Criminal Penalties.
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This is precisely what I had referred to in my comments to Mr. Lalwani, Ref. Responses to “Mumbai HC: Hubby Can Be Jailed Despite Patch-Up” (http://ipc498a.wordpress.com/2008/03/13/mumbai-hc-hubby-can-be-jailed-despite-patch-up/#comment-7072). I’m glad someone took the initiative to look it up and make it available for our readership. Good Work!
And now what?!
In the true vein of the tolerant Indian, do we shrug off any merit to that message? Perhaps it might have some marginal worth as a mediocre bathroom reading and post-evacuative cleanup material? Nothing more! Do we turn the other cheek to belittling (but rightfully so) world opinion? Or do we, the purported torchbearers of the likes of Gandhiji, Pandit Nehru, SVP, Kalam Azad, etc. have what it takes to admit our misfeasance, malfeasance, and nonfeasance and other criminal lapses; pass the torch on to our more competent (and unsullied) younger generation to salvage the tattered remnants of our nation’s once stellar integrity and values that we’ve tarnished with daring impunity and world-renowned finesse?
The clean-up starts with our own back yard. Somewhere there, in the rubble, under that putrefied pile of stench lays our pre-Independence ancestral garments. They don’t boast a Gucci label, or Armani, or CK. Theirs is a humble label that reads, “National Integrity, Ethics, Values” bestowed by the Mother Company affectionately referred to as “SHARAM”.
Then, as if by magic, there mysteriously manifests an air of humble Pride when one dons on a garment of “SHARAM”.
Isn’t it time to try it on for size? It still just might fit.