Radio tag comment: US apologises for distasteful remark by officer

NEW DELHI: US Deputy Chief of Mission Donald Lu on Tuesday expressed regret over the distasteful remarks made earlier in the day by the Public Affairs Officer at the Hyderabad Consulate, Juliet Wur, that tagging of Indian students in California was “hip and happening.”

Wur, defending her country’s decision to radiotag scores of Indian students who were duped by a fake California-based university, wondered why Indians were agitated over it.

“Those anklets are used when you have somebody who might flee. And so you give them the choice - prison or an anklet. The anklets are very hip and happening. Many of our movie stars choose the anklets than sitting in a suit in a prison," Wur said.

Soon after her comments appeared on TV channels, Jawed Ashraf, Joint Secretary (Americas) in the External Affairs Ministry, called Lu and told him that the comments were in bad taste and "unacceptable."

Lu expressed regrets over the comments and said Wur has been asked to publicly apologise.

Foreign Secretary Niurpama Rao will formally talk to the US Consulate about the plight of students as the Americans showed no signs of backtracking on their decision to force the affected to wear bracelets around their ankles till the investigations into the alleged immigration racket were completed.

The students have been forced to wear the radio tags to enable the American authorities to keep a tab on their movements inside the US.

Indian students at the Tri-Valley University in California face the prospect of being deported after the college was shut down for allegedly acting as a cover for an immigration racket.

Many students from Andhra Pradesh moved to California but attended courses on-line, and were reportedly found working in other states, according to US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).