No need to bring caste in here. The diplomat in question was Dalit, i.e. from the lowest of castes, formerly called untouchables. I can see a nice fat lawsuit headed Preet Bharara's way. There is the 1995 Scheduled Caste, Scheduled Tribes Prevention of Atrocities Act which is invoked precisely against this sort of police highhandedness. The maid issue is more about class and the cozy system of diplomatic privileges that existed for years before this new unilateral interventionism began, threatening to rip apart long-practiced diplomatic norms. Don't know if I necessarily mourn the passing of the old ways, just that it's not a Cold War world anymore. Expect a massive pushback.
No need to bring caste in here. The diplomat in question was Dalit, i.e. from the lowest of castes, formerly called untouchables. I can see a nice fat lawsuit headed Preet Bharara's way. There is the 1995 Scheduled Caste, Scheduled Tribes Prevention of Atrocities Act which is invoked precisely against this sort of police highhandedness. The maid issue is more about class and the cozy system of diplomatic privileges that existed for years before this new unilateral interventionism began, threatening to rip apart long-practiced diplomatic norms. Don't know if I necessarily mourn the passing of the old ways, just that it's not a Cold War world anymore. Expect a massive pushback.