Italy reneging on promise unacceptable, says Manmohan
Taken by surprise by the Italian refusal late on Monday night to send back the two marines, facing trial for killing two Indian fishermen off Kerala, India set in motion the process to regain lost ground by summoning its envoy and telling him that Rome must stand by its commitment to send the duo within four weeks to stand trial here.
India tried to hold Italian Ambassador Daniele Mancini by his undertaking to the Supreme Court that allowed the two marines to leave for their country to cast votes in the February 24-25 general elections.
Foreign Secretary Ranjan Mathai told Mr. Mancini that the Italian government was “obliged to ensure their return.” This means India feels there is a window of about 10 days during which Italy can turn things around because the marines were let off on February 22.
This interaction at the diplomatic level in the evening was preceded by political activity with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh telling a delegation of parliamentarians from Kerala that Italy reneging on its promise to the Supreme Court of ensuring the return of the marines was “unacceptable.”
Dr. Singh’s previous use of the term “unacceptable” — following the beheading of an Indian soldier on the Line of Control (LoC) — has led to a virtual freeze of high-level dialogue with Pakistan and impacted initiatives to loosen restrictions on trade and people-to-people exchanges.
External Affairs Ministry officials contested Italy’s contention that it was not going to let the marines return because Rome had decided to raise a bilateral dispute on facts, procedures and processes of the case.
Silent on request
But it also emerges that India kept quiet on an Italian government request sent almost a week ago to set up a meeting at the diplomatic level to amicably resolve the controversy. Even as India was sitting on this letter, Italy pulled the rug from under its feet by declaring that it was voiding its commitment to the Supreme Court in the absence of a reply.
Offer of talks
The Foreign Office contends that the offer of talks could not be mixed up with the commitments given by the Italians to the court. Mr. Mancini promised the court that the two accused would be “kept under its [Italian government] constant custody, supervision and control in Italy during this [four-week] period” and this assurance was buttressed by an affidavit of undertaking.
“As far as we are concerned, Italy is obliged to ensure that the two marines returned in the time frame given by the Supreme Court. Basically that is the position I took at the meeting I had when I summoned the Ambassador of Italy a little while ago,” Mr. Mathai told journalists.
Asked whether the Ambassador breached his assurance, the Foreign Secretary said he simply took note of the position conveyed to him that the message received from his Embassy was not acceptable. And he said he would convey that to his authorities.
Breach of faith
External Affairs Ministry sources said the main issue was breach of faith with one diplomat saying he had not come across such an instance anywhere in the world during his three decades of service. Italy and India had interacted extensively on the technicalities of the case and it was obvious they did not agree on three aspects — jurisdiction, applicability of Article 97 of the U.N. Convention on the Law of the Sea and the right of marines posted on a cargo ship to fire on suspected pirates.
Keywords: Italian marines, Indian fishermen killing, Italian marines case, Italy refusal, Enrica Lexie, Supreme Court judgment, India-Italy ties, U.N. Convention of the Law of the Sea
Where the honourable Indian Supreme court has gone When so many Indian
citizens (Tamil fishermen from Tamil Nadu) have been captured, tortured
and killed by Srilankan army on a daily basis. The Indian
supreme Court and Indian Government are partial by means of their great
injustice to tamil Nadu people. Oh poor tamils atleast awake now. One
type of Justice to Kerala people and other type of justice to tamil
nadu.
you let go things right under your nose and then start blaming. defintely you are not caring for us
We Can't Accept this, India should show its aggressive face atleast now in the worlds arena that if we allow a Italian to be a president if national party it don't mean we are slaves for them.
sathyavrath,
If the same happened in italy, just imagine what will happen. If this is duty, then any marine can kill any fishermen and just need to call it as duty. Being an indian citizen atleast be responsible before commenting such things... two indians just like you lost their life...If it was your brother will you say the same?
It is a breach of faith. I had such a premonition when the decision was
taken to send the Marines back home for the elections.
This shows the callousness attitude of our government, at least in these cases fast track court should've expedited the verdict before the marines were allowed to go back to Italy, as the time goes people forget about this case as well
The announcement of Italian Mariners, who killed our two fishermen in
the sea are not coming back is shocking. The Italian Ambassador
stood as a security in the Supreme Court. If Italians do not stand by
their promise in the SC , GOI should suspend all Diplomatic Relations
with Italy. GOI will never do this as was the case with Bhopal Gas
tragedy when the MNCs did not honour the agreements. The same is
happening with Plachimada Tribunal. GOI is more interested in the MNCs
than our poor Indian Fishermen. GOI should act. All legal actions
should be taken.
No doubt that there exists circumstantial evidence that Italian marines
did kill innocent Indian fishermen without being provoked. This act
can't be justified in any way but as Italian government had already
offered and paid a settlement worth one crore INR to the family of
deceased (I seriously wonder if Indian govt would be willing to pay
such an amount), it doesn't make sense to pursue this matter any
further.
Besides, our Indian courts are equally guilty in not finding a quick
solution to this case, after all incident happened in Feb 2012 and
marines had to stay in the country as hostages. Therefore, I feel such
a reaction from Italian side is justified.
But one thing to note is that the decision to snap ties with Italy
comes at a crucial moment when CBI is on the verge of making a
breakthrough in chopper scam which could reveal many high profile
politicians involved. Snapping ties will definitely cripple CBI's
efforts in exposing these dirty politicians.Good work Indian govt!!
Great to see some sane and sensible voices here. The politicians are
fanning the sentiments of gullible people for their own ends. The
pirates are a scourge in the Indian coast and the marines thought and
acted in good faith against this scourge. A honest mistake had been
made and duly compensated. If an Indian soldier had done such an act,
would we cry for his blood? Why these double standards? And to condemn
everything Italian, as the opposition is doing, just because their
opponent hails from there is not only illogical but jingoistic and
irrational.
The Indian prime minister should understand that he has made India
laughing stock with the rest of the world by its handling of the
Italian undertrials. It is no use now telling the Italian ambassador
about diplomatic and moral niceties. The point is India proved that it
was possible to push it over. Italy has just pushed India over. There
is nothing that India can do about it. It only shows our government in
an extremely poor light.
Its an insult to the Indians and shows how little the Europeans think of
an Indians life. Had those marines killed and American or some other
west European fishermen the whole situation that we see today will be
different. Of course the trail date took lots of time in India as there
are other cases pending before the court. These Italian marines are not
special people to be put in front of the que in the courts. Its time
from Indians to wake up to this insult.
Strict action must be taken against the Italian Marines who claim that they shot the fisherman mistaking them to be pirates. What I do not get is how they blatantly lied to India to get their marines back home with no dignity in their deeds. Shame on them. Now since we know their real colors, the Indian External affairs ministry must give the knaves a piece of their mind.
After giving committment to the Supreme Court, it is unacceptable by any
standards for the Italian Govt. to fall back on its promise.
Moreover, after reading some of comments here, I just want to say,
guilty or not is to be decided by the courts and not by all and sundry.
Were the marines right or wrong in shooting two innocent India
fishermen is to be decided by a court of law after a proper trial and
for this the presence of those two absconders is must.
Law must take its own course and yes it is not yet the occasion to say
the Indian justice delivery system is not working in this case.
Sathyavrat's comments below are spot on. Further i am appalled by the response of Salman Kursheed "still reading the letter" and PM "upset". Come on, these top authorities should atleast take some moral responsibility and resign from their posts.
I don't know whether to laugh or cry after reading all the comments and reactions on Hindu as well as on other websites. Didn't everyone know that those two Italians were leaving India for ever? How could any one with the right mind assume that they would be sent back to India to stand trial? People are talking about severing relationship with Italy, arrest those people who gave them permission to go to Italy etc etc.. This was a planned move by the both Indian and Italian governments to settle this issue once and for all. Politicians in both countries know that people will react angrily for a few days and forget this whole episode. It is only Indians who are at the receiving end, be it abroad or in their own country.
In past we did something which we must not. But it doesn't mean we can't make progress on that issue now. Talking has no alternatives.
No, one wrong does not justify another. If the marines were
promised to return, they must return.
I disagree with the given logic, because by the logic of 'focus on
more important issues', all crime should be allowed to run wild,
because we have many important cases ending in the court already.
That is a farce.
India should take diplomatic and economic sanction activities as
below.
1. no more diplomatic talking with Italy and no diplomats should stay
in India. GOI should expel them ASAP
2. Cancel all trades with Italy and GOI should create legislative to
avoid future trades with Italy.
3. Cut the Indian Tourists flow into Italy. These activities will
affect Italy trade much more than ours.
Even countries like Japan, Korea and China were making economic
sanctions against the countries that create disputes with them. why
Not India? Time to prove that Indians are not fools and Idiots.
If the Italian Government does not honor its commitment can the
Ambassador who stood surety be held accountable as per the practice in
vogue in India.
But then law is confusing and does our Law Minister have a clear
vision of the line of action to be taken.
Law has different yardsticks depending on various factors which the
lay man will not be able to understand.
I would request members of the legal profession who will be reading
this article to give their judicious views
India can keep quiet as it did so far when our fisherman were
killed by Srilankan army
a commitment made in Supreme court of India should be honored at cost.
If any country feels that making commitment in Supreme court of India is
a joke and then all diplomatic relations with such country must come to
end.
...and if the demands are not met then what will our government do? Declare we will stop playing cricket with them? (well they don't have a competitive cricket team and we can't even THINK of competing with them in football). Our laxity and apathy in dealing with crimes is well known. If we don't respect/protect our own people, how can we expect the outsiders to take a stand for our victims?
Let no stone be left unturned in bringing back the two marines and completing all due legal processes per our laws. To conduct ourselves will be an action that affirms our allegiance to the spirit to justice, which will go a long way in establishing our credentials as an emerging power. To permit concessions and allow slack to take hold of the case now will effectively mean that the world community will take us less seriously.
If in establishing ourselves as a 'no nonsense' citizen of the world, we cause discomfort to some nations who still think we are an under-developed state which will willingly relax legal procedures in order to accommodate their business dealings, then this will be a great opportunity to set the record straight.
Let us get tough now and let nobody think we are pushovers.
Italy had given ample opportunity for India to make a case against the Marines, but they were held by India without a trial date set. This is unacceptable by any standard. The marines should never have been held in the first place, they were doing their duty and shot the fishermen inadvertently. It was not a case of murder as most jingoistically claim.
That India justice system is so incompetent is India's fault. Not the Italians.
To top it, the Italians have offered compensation when they were not obliged to do so.
The prolonged custody only made the marines as hostages. Italy and the marines have a right to sue the Indian government.
It is surprising and shocking. I think Italy has made a calculated decision. Our legal experts have to study where they missed or how to ensure the justice to the fishermen's families are met.
Nothing is going to happen. Severing relations with Italy will not be a logical step.
If we put substance over form, India should rather devote its energies towards Pakistan who has India's most wanted - Said Hafiz, D Ibrahim etc.
Of course, justice must be delivered and government should stand for it. But we need to decide priorities. Bringing back Italians is not justice delivered, it is just a symbolic act of the justice delivery. If government is really interested in giving justice, it should work for other MOST wanted.
Time to move on. Italy has paid blood money to the fishermen families already, the
fishermen were killed in questionable circumstances in may or may not be Indian waters. It was honest mistake on the parts of Italian marines who mistook the fishermen as pirates. India should rather pursuit the chopper deal accused more vigorously but I am afraid that won't happen as many highly placed people in India and Italy are involved in that scam where Indian people have lost hundreds of millions.
What is the meaning of justice in our demo'crazy' where the notorious
criminal escapes while thousands of innocents are still in jail without
bail or trail and without even prove their crimes...
The cardinals from India, especially the one from Kerala, who is in Rome
for selecting the pope, should abstain in protest of Italy's decision
India must freeze all trade relations with Italy including defence purchases. At present balance of trade is in Italy's favour and is increasing each year in their favour. If Italy does not keep up their promise given to the Indian judiciary, we should not have trade. In contemporary world money is the only way India can make them to listen.
Mr PM please avoid giving speeches ,please act for the people of India
The Italian Ambassador who stood for the Security should be arrested and
put into jail and then let us what happens to Italy.
We should arrest the people from Italy consulate or who ever got approval from Delhi for their vacation and hold them in prison till the culprits are back.
All those who are responsible for allowing two mariners to go to Italy
are responsible to bring them back for the trial in India. Just making a
statement that Italy's decision is unacceptable and one will not appear
for them will not be sufficient. They are responsible for their coming
back. They should do all the legal actions for this.
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