Envoy denies passengers were detained on the basis of racial profiling.
NEW DELHI: The external affairs ministry has lodged a protest with the Dutch government about the shoddy treatment of 12 Indians detained by authorities in Amsterdam. South Block summoned Dutch Ambassador Eric Niehe on Friday and conveyed India’s unhappiness.
“India expressed what it felt about the matter. Ambassador Niehe was told that this was not in conformity with the friendly relations between the two countries,” spokesman Navtej Sarna said. Secretary (West) Shashi Tripathi too lodged a protest with Niehe.
“No evidence has been found against the detainees and no reason was given for the detention. So, there are no charges,” Sarna said, describing the incident as “unfortunate and regrettable”.
Sarna said Niehe was told by Tripathi that such actions could “lead to presumption of profiling”, an inference to racial or religious discrimination.
Niehe tried to allay the perception, saying he comes from a multi-ethnic country and the detentions were not made because of racial profiling.
New Delhi was also angered by the stalling tactics of the Dutch. Initially, Indian diplomats at The Hague could not get the Dutch to confirm the nationalities of the detainees.
“The embassy had to be very persuasive to induce the Dutch to part with information. Till Thursday evening, they did not confirm the nationalities on grounds of respect for ‘privacy and security’,” Sarna said. Even after confirming that the 12 were Indians, the Dutch did not respond to initial requests for their passport numbers, he said. An Indian official who handled the fiasco told DNA that while the establishment understands the right of the pilot and sky marshals of the airline to divert the plane, they were not happy with the treatment of detainees and the way the Dutch dealt with their Indian counterparts. The detainees were apparently handcuffed and kept in isolation cells for 24 hours.
