First Person: Humiliated for visas

Chennai: The mad rush begins at 4 am. While visa applicants to the US can now make an online booking and a­rrive at the scheduled ti­me, back in 2000 when th­is reporter approached the co­nsulate for the first ti­me, everyone had to be pr­e­s­ent by 4 am to get an entry inside the fortress.

Clad in their best formal attire, hundreds of US vi­sa aspirants queue up on a desolate pavement outside the United States Con­su­late at Anna Salai even as the private security gu­ards posted at its entrance continue to doze.

“It could take all day long, be prepared for a lo­ng haul,” warn those who have been there, done th­at. By around 6 am, the sec­urity guards wake from their slumber and begin their day by hurling abuses at the applicants on the pretext of maintaining or­der. Nervous applicants obey the security officer’s every command, as tho­ugh fearing they will be se­nt home for even a minor dismeanour.
About an hour or so later, one is let inside the fortress by grumpy, bossy Indians working at the consulate whose manner is imperious. The docum­ents are screened and the applicants given a token number for the interview with a consular officer.

"This is the most testing time of the entire process and could take several hours during which time all one has to do is sit and stare at a computer monitor for one’s token number to be listed. “If you do not go when your token number is listed, you will not be called again,” warn consulate staff.

When the moment ar­rives, the consular official sitting on the other side of a glass wall speaks into a mike. She asks if all the do­­c­uments presented are genuine. Then she asks if one plans to settle in the Un­ited States. As tutored, one says ‘No’. She asks about one’s degree and the company one is going to work for. The right answer begets a nod from her.

They let us go. Three ho­urs later, some of the ap­p­licants get their visas sta­mped, but almost all do get harassed.

Next: US consulate in thick of traffic

US consulate in thick of traffic

Chennai: The US embassy in Che­nnai not only enjoys high security and diplomacy, but is a traffic bottleneck as formally dressed visa applicants often occupy much of the space on the platforms constructed by the Chennai corporation.

Four years ago, a senior city corporation official and a senior police offic­er wanted to clear the area and made a proposal to decongest it by constr­ucting a sunshade and sit-out facility along the platform, but the higher aut­horities at the US co­n­sulate shot down the pr­oject through diplomatic channel, recalled a Chen­nai corporation official, not wishing to be quoted.

The officials had only wanted to provide some shade to the visa applica­nts and regulate the movement of pedestria­ns, but the move was scrapped and it was hinted that there were some instructions from the Centre, laying down that no development work be taken up near the US consulate.

The US consulate also offers a restricted welco­me to library users. “I sh­o­wed my original voter ID in which the image had turned out a little dark; the staff rejected my request for entry, cla­iming that I was fair-sk­inned. I had come a long way for use of the books and made repeated req­u­e­­sts but to no avail,” sa­id S. Sugan Raj, a graduate.

Consulate remains impregnable fort

V. P. Raghu | DC

Chennai: Police sources say, “We even de­ploy men wielding self loading rifles around the US consulate located near the Anna flyover at seven points. We also keep a riot control vehicle, alm­ost on a permanent basis, in front of the mission.”

A total of 90 policemen including senior officers are being pos­ted 24/7 at the consulate at a ti­me wh­­en there is a huge shortage of staff in the department.

“There was huge uproar when protesters threw stones at the US consulate in September 2012 and the government had even changed the then city police commissioner,” pointed out a senior of­f­icial to stress that the gov­ern­ment was very ser­ious about the safety and sec­urity of the foreign di­p­lomats in the city.

Tamil Nadu pol­ice have a sanctioned police strength of over 1.2 lakh and an actual strength of over 1.05 lakh.

Tamil Nadu has a population of over 7 crore. The Chennai po­l­ice have a sanctioned strength of 23,500, but several posts are vacant and officials are struggling to take the figure to 30,000. All India statistics show that India has an average of 142 policemen for every 1 lakh people while developed countries have at le­ast 350 policemen for every one lakh people.