How Un-diplomatic Meeting A Diplomat

As President of the Residents’ Association, I was woken up passed mid-night by an urgent call from a local Nursing Home. That a drunk diplomat was forcefully trying to enter the Nursing Home and abusively manhandling the nurses and refusing to listen to the doctors. I had known some high ranking diplomats and ambassadors socially, therefore, it was rather un-nerving how to handle a drunk diplomat inside my colony.

At about 1.30 AM, I arrived at the Nursing Home to witness the scene: the drunk diplomat, accompanied by a woman was shouting “ I am a diplomat, you can’t stop me”. He was politely led out of the building but now he was forcing his way in the building and pushing the staff and the nurses at the main gate of the nursing home. If you hold him, he would shout: “Don’t touch me, I am a diplomat.”

At a short distance was the police force hesitatingly inactive, refusing to intervene against a diplomat. I approached the drunken man and politely requested him to observe decorum and obey the medical authority. I requested him to leave …but the woman charged me for improper behaviour, and challenged me “ how could an Indian stop the diplomat from not meeting the ambassador’s wife” admitted there. I pleaded that no discourtesies are meant but under the hospital rule visitors are not allowed inside the nursing home at late hours. Suddenly, the drunk one charged and pushed me to the barbared wired fence. In shear self defence I pushed him back, and the drunk as he was he fell on the muddy floor crying “ he attacked me, he tried to kill me…I am a diplomat…” The smart woman in support of the man rushed towards me. I gave her a push and sternly advised to go home and asked the man to accompany me to the police station. But he spread himself on the road, refused to get up and walk. I asked the policemen to help and four of us dragged the man to the police station. The woman had driven away in disgust.

At the police station, the man was searched and his diplomatic identity was established. He was a first secretary in a North African Embassy. We dutifully informed the embassy who came to collect the man. We also reported the incident to Foreign Ministry. The next day, the embassy released a press note that “Some RSS –Hindu goons have attacked a Muslim Diplomat inside the Nursing Home where he was visiting the Ambassadors’ pregnant wife…” I was charged for beating the diplomat who enjoyed the diplomatic immunity.

That was the first year of the Janata Government which was formed with the Jan Sangh (Hindu nationalist Party). Recently released from the Indira Gandhi’s prison, Atal Bihari Vajpayee was the Foreign Minister.

We appeared before the Minister and Atalji spoke to me in Sanskrit that he had police report that I did slap (ardha-chandrika) the diplomat. I explained the situation and said that “diplomatic immunity governs where the man behaves diplomatically. The man was behaving un-diplomatically and as there was no other way to control him I was obliged to use physical force to constraint the drunken man. But I hold no grudge against his country with whom we have good relations.”

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs asked the Embassy to withdraw the First Secretary from India within 48 hours.