Vineeta Pandey 

The spike in tensions between India and Pakistan due to allegations of harassment reflects a deterioration of bilateral ties. Tit-for-tat harassment continues to haunt diplomats on either side

India and Pakistan are trading charges and hurling accusations at each other over the harassment of their diplomats. The Indian side has alleged incidents of unauthorised entries, intimidation and forcible stoppage of Indian High Commissioner’s vehicles in Islamabad. Besides, it has accused Pakistan of disconnecting water and electricity supply at the diplomats’ residences and the construction site of its Consulate. India has also lodged protest against multiple acts of hooliganism against its properties and personnel. In one case an official’s home was broken into and laptop stolen. High Commissioner Ajay Bisaria’s car was also stopped by Pak agencies in the middle of a busy road to prevent him from attending an event.

“Blank and obscene calls on telephone, knocking at the door in the middle of the night, blocking of path, are part and parcel of Indian diplomatic life in Islamabad. One does not feel safe to go out in the night to purchase anything in case of emergency even in the diplomatic area as you never know how the agencies those who tail you through the day may behave in the night,” said an official who had experienced these things during his posting in Pakistan some time back. Delay in granting visas, giving only city specific travel permit to block diplomatic staff of each other from leaving the city are routine. The phones lines are always tapped, houses bugged, and every action, movement and even visitors scrutinised. Besides, there are always ‘ding dongs’ (running away after pressing the door bell) and ‘ting tongs’ (blank telephone calls).

Sometimes things get worse with abduction and torture of Indian officials posted in Islamabad. In 1999, Rajesh Mittal, an Indian official posted in Isl-amabad, was abducted, brutally tortured and was almost killed before India intervened and managed to bring him back on a wheel chair. In 2002, an assistant in the Indian High Commission, AK Khanna, too was abducted and tortured in a similar way. Indian officials said though such things have stopped over the last few years, fear remains of a possible attack.

 

The Pakistan High Commission too has complaints with regard to harassment of its diplomats in New Delhi. Pakistan foreign office claimed that six incidents of harassment were reported in a span of three days in New Delhi. Pakistan High Commission has alleged that the vehicles of the diplomats, their families and students are routinely stopped and abuses hurled at them on the busy roads by unknown motorcyclists. Pakistan has 120 diplomats posted in New Delhi while India has 110 in Islamabad. Both sides, despite a strong diplomatic presence in each ot-her’s country, have these perennial issues among them which refuses to subside.

Mental harassment of diplomats from ‘enemy’ countries is often used as a tool in statecraft. It is often reciprocated in same measure. In 2016, United States President Barack Obama expelled 35 Russian diplomats on charges of meddling with the American elections and harassment of its diplomats in Moscow. In fact, Russians have a running diplomatic spat with the US over harassment of diplomats with both accusing each other and at occasions even shunting out diplomats. A foreign diplomat from a Third country recently mentioned how Russian diplomats in New York complained of ‘sonic weapon’ attacks on them. The Russians told the diplomat that they could not sleep without the help of sleeping pills due to the vibrations from a sound wave in their residential premises that was bugging them.

Similarly, the US accused Russians of harassing its diplomats by breaking into houses, scattering belongings and even killing their pets. A case of drugging and poisoning of US diplomats too has been reported in the past from Russia. In October 2016, the US accused Russia of spiking the drinks of two American diplomats with date rape drugs when they were in St Petersburg to attend a United Nations conference on anti-corruption.

A report in The Guardian in 2011 mentioned how Russia targeted diplomats of Western countries by breaking into their homes, moving around personal items, opening windows and setting alarms in an attempt to intimidate them. These incidents and their intervals increased tremendously after US imposed sanctions on Russia over the Ukraine crisis and annexation of Crimea.

The New York Times in an article in 2012 quoted diplomatic cables released by Wikileaks in which the US embassy had accused Venezuelan Government of harassing and intimidating its diplomats. This included blocking and seizing of “household and commissary rations” for the embassy. Venezuela accused US diplomats of bringing “dangerous and subversive contraband under the guise of diplomatic cargo”. Despite protests by the Americans, Venezuela continued to scan all diplomatic cargos and ‘pouches’ brought in by them on the grounds that their diplomats were facing similar harassment in their US postings. In addition, there have been allegations of denial of visas to the new embassy personnel and in 2014 both sides even expelled each other’s diplomats.

Bugging of residential complexes, phone tapping, email interception, hacking and physical surveillance are common. But there have been some bizarre cases of harassment too reported by diplomats. For instance, the American diplomats who have served in Cuba raised complaints about special kind of torture through “infrasonic weapons”. The US officials claimed that a group of their diplomats in Havana “suffered severe and unexplained hearing loss” possibly caused by “covert and advanced sonic devices” which emanated a special kind of sound not audible to human ear. It was alleged that these devices were either installed inside or around the diplomats’ residences.

Last December, Peru expelled North Korean diplomats for allegedly trying to kill families of the American diplomats and trying to sexually harass the teenage daughter of a diplomat in Lima in a bid to intimidate the US.

In 2012, Germany expelled four Syrian diplomats in a spy case after arresting two persons who were snooping on the opponents of President Bashar al-Assad. Last year, there was a diplomatic crisis between Turkey and the US after Ankara arrested a staffer in America’s consulate on charges of terrorism.

Coming back to Pakistan, the problem of harassment is not only with Indians but other diplomats as well. After sharp deterioration of ties following the killing of Osama Bin Laden, the American diplomats claimed of harassment and intimidation by Pak. These included delays in visas for staff, blocking shipments of materials, surveillance of staff and contractors.

Afghanistan diplomats too feel the heat in Pakistan from time to time. Four diplomats posted in Afghanistan’s Consulate General in Peshawar were arrested and harassed by the Pakistan police in March 2015. In June 2016, vehicles belonging to diplomatic staff from Afghanistan’s consulate in Peshawar were stopped and searched at security checkpoints. Afghan diplomats are also subjected to travel curbs from time to time.

Bangladesh and Pakistan have also been engaged in similar diplomatic tussles sometimes even leading to expulsions. Bangladeshi diplomats have often complained of harassment though various means, including excessive surveillance which at times goes “beyond tolerance level”. On one occasion, Bangladesh complained that Pakistan agencies illegally picked up its diplomat while he was going to drop his daughter to school and detained him for hours. Both sides have also expelled diplomats on charges of spying.

Sometimes ding-dong, sometimes ting-tong. Sometimes worse. All these are part and parcel of a diplomat’s life.

( Vineeta Pandey is Senior Editor, The Pioneer)

Courtesy: Pioneer: Friday, 23 March 2018