Diplomat row: Protests held at Hyderabad, Kolkata

Hyderabad/Kolkata: Protests broke out in Hyderabad and Kolkata on Thursday against the arrest and subsequent ill-treatment of Indian diplomat Devyani Khobragade in New York even as the incident continued to draw criticism from parties across the political spectrum.

In Hyderabad, Left workers and other activists held a protest outside the US Consulate at Begumpet. The protesters, under the banner of All India Peace and Solidarity Organisation (AIPSO), raised slogans against the US administration. They held placards accusing US of being a racist country. Police removed the protesters from the place.

With India locked in a face-off with the US over the treatment meted out to Khobragade, Chief Justice of India P. Sathasivam also spoke disapprovingly of the action by American law enforcement agencies.

It was upto the government to decide on what steps should be taken, "but as an individual, it should not happen to our high officials," he told reporters in Chennai.

The Indo-American Chamber of Commerce (IACC) lent its support to the protests against the "humiliating treatment" of the diplomat and demanded that US tender an unconditional apology.

CPI-M and Congress cadres organised marches to the American Center in Kolkata. Condemning the US action against Khobragade, DYFI and SFI of the CPI-M and the Congress said the case should be withdrawn immediately.

A girl shouts as she is taken away by the police during a protest march to American Consulate in Kolkata on Thursday - PTI

CPI-M's protest march began from Esplanade and was stopped near the Lindsay street crossing where the slogan-shouting members carrying anti-US placards and festoons demonstrated and put up a roadblock.

The Congress march began from the Birla Planetarium, opposite to Shakespeare Sarani, and was stopped by the police near ITC Park. Seventy-two DYFI and SFI activists and 17 Congress workers were arrested in connection with the protest, the police said.

Several activists had staged protests outside the American Embassy in New Delhi on Wednesday.

Accusing the US of double standards, BJP said circumstances surrounding the criminal case against Khobragade were suspicious and the issue impinged upon the sovereignty of India.

Downplaying the regret offered by the US over its treatment of Khobragade, the saffron party said it was for the Indian government to see "what type of regret is there".

Party spokesperson Ravi Shankar Prasad said in New Delhi the larger issue is the way the maid's parents fled to the US on a visa quickly given, indicating a well thought-out plan. He wondered what would be the US response if one of its diplomats was treated in a way half as bad as Khobragade.

Former Prime Minister and JD(S) leader H. D. Deve Gowda demanded that the Indian government take "strong steps" on the matter.