Domestic strife

In a fresh and confusing twist to things,Home Minister P. Chidambaram admits that there is nothing on record against FTII student Neetu Singh,a Nepali national deported last month. Singh found herself inexplicably deported by Maharashtra Police on charges of having a hand in anti-India activities. Her estranged husband,Amresh Singh,is an up-and-coming politician from Nepal,by all accounts adept at playing every side in the nations power structure. He is also regarded as something of a power broker in India. Neetu claims that her marriage was on the rocks,and that her husband was using his connections to harass her in India. Back home,she is reportedly being pressured to sign divorce papers. Amresh Singh,however,claims that this is a larger plot by Nepals royalists to besmirch his reputation and cut him down to size in the peace negotiations.

The details are foggy,the stories counter each other. The demand for Singhs return was filed by her father and brother,and womens groups have rallied to her defence. On what basis was she deported? Surely the men in her life,no matter how influential,could not get away with curtailing her agency and her new life in India simply because of their unhappiness with their choices? If she was indeed involved in anti-India activities,surely Maharashtras intelligence and law machinery is obliged to convey the nature of that activity to the home ministry. Whose purposes did she serve? If not,this arbitrary deportation must have come at the behest of a few powerful men,and the Indian government certainly has some accounting to do how can a foreign national be deported without any inquiry or proof being supplied?

Right now,the government looks complicit at worst,and uncoordinated at best. If the Maharashtra police cannot adequately convince us of the need for Neetu Singhs deportation,then it conveys the impression that the Indian government is manipulable by a powerful man with marital issues. The home ministry would do well to get the story straight,and get it out.