The behaviour of the immigration officials and the security personnel at the security checks are really bad, without any humane touch. I had to snub once to a security as he was addressing me "Tum, tum" ("you" - addressed in a derogatory tone).And of course we Indians always have the fetish for white skin, in every sphere of life!!!!They get a better treatment. At the same time, the parents were definitely very very callous. Do they expect any leniency to be showered on them in the States (while travelling without papers?).
In a way I am not surprised as to what the officials did. It is the way most Indians behave. This is due to years and years..hundreds of years of slavery to white people that it is ingrained in the subconscious and possibly the DNA of public officials.
These two little kids shouldn't have been denied a visa. In America if both or even one parent is American the child is allowed to stay in the country. Here both the parents are of Indian origin..at least they deserved a temporary visa of a week till the papers were sent through. They are a family not terrorists that the officials had to be so strict about. It just doesn't make sense that the French guy was given a transit visa and not the Indian origin kids. This is such a shame for India and Mumbai.
It is very bad that a family did not know about Indian visa rules for reentry. American visa or American Citizen did not require any visa for all european countries and require visa for asian countries. Being stayed for 7 years one should know global rules and should be face any consequencies.Blaming Indian officials for ones mistake is no good.
Well that was definitely a problem with the custom officers. They should have handled the matter well.
Since the matter was for the lack of the formalities of immigration rules. And looking for the latest scenerio of threats none can be confided since a matter of naional security.
And well I am ashamed of such NRI's who come to india and are ashamed of the things in India.
A message to all such people:
Please donot visit India if you are ashamed enough and please dont present yourself as Indians. We are ashamed of such kind of person who are ashamed of their motherland.
Hi Vijay, I am very sorry to hear about the suffering you had gone through in mumbai immigration office. First place, after staying in USA for a long time of 9 years, you had probably forgot how the people in India deal things. Mistake is totally on your part to forget the mandatory documents. Inspite of lot of bombing in mumbai, how can you expect an official to give your kids a transit visa? Have you ever anticipated how we people in mumbai live every moment? why would the immigration risk the lives in mumbai by allowing the people with out proper visas? And more over for the last 9 years what have you people contributed to government of India? I am sorry if I am being rude. But this is how an ordinary Indian would perceive this situation.
Mumabai immigration, its the worst. U wont c customs people checking ur baggages the one checking will be mumbai local police ( bribe experts). If u got two big bags u need to give them 500 or miss ur connecting flight or train...and i always expect all dis..
one thing : a person born / brought up in usa will not possibly have any attachment for india once he is old enough to think. but when kids are young, the immigration or customs could have got them a transit visa considering their young age and PIO background. one thing. the father could have asked them what was the "rate" that the immigration guys wanted...a bit of kickback would possibly have done the trick! some money changing hands would have helped...i guess that the immigration guys asked for too much ! shripad sathe
I wish a more balanced account of the incident were presented instead of sensationalizing. In the first instance, the couple seems to have been happily oblivious of the absence of the POI card and the visa even after boarding two international flights. So what if the immigration officials at those airports did not ask? And what if the couple stole these children and came to India? Once they are out, tracing them and the legal wrangles can be heavy. That could be the immigration's perspective. They could have been more polite and helpful but we do not know if the couple acted "big" in the first instance. As for the French national, any traveling Indian businessman will tell you that even the toughest regimes do grant transit visas when they have to make unscheduled and urgent stopovers in places on business, and they already have a good traveling record with that country. May be the French national also fell in that category! Nothing of this sort was even broached. Really Trashy reporting.
While I have all my sympathies for what the family went through, I was shocked to read "I am ashamed to be an Indian" kind of reaction. Why? Does one set of officers constitute as a nation as varied as India? The French man would of course add fuel to the fire, that's all firangis have done all these years.
Let me ask, do we enter the U.S. without our visa? I'm not supporting the officers' behavior but I am shocked how you could forget such papers, and to top it, then be ashamed of your basic identity? Post-Godse, were Maharshtrians ashamed to be Marathis, or sikhs ashamed after Indira Gandhi's assassination? Are secular Muslims ashamed of their religion because of Osama? NO. And they needn't be.
Be proud to be an Indian, and you'll see the underlying reasons for all our problems. Those officers too, somewhere were probably obligated to be kind to the firnagi, rather than let him know India's Law cannot be taken for granted.
THis is not about discrimination or bias or colour of the skin....its about how STUPID and ignorant the parents are.. Actually i am truly ashamed to be an Indian when my fellow Indians are so ignorant as to even complaint about this.
we live in a dangerous world post 9/11 and there is no favours done or asked for. The same immigration official would be fired if he start letting people in just on the basis that they look like Indians. Lets face it the KIDs are not Indian citizens and there are laws that govern entry and exit of foreign nationals into and out of India. Those laws simply have to adhered to. If foreign nationals cant comply with our laws they simply are not welcome. Plain and Simple.
