India may have lost its case against a pro-Pakistan US diplomat Robin Lynn Raphel but it has not lost hope as its lobbyists are still trying to pursue the case on different charges. US Justice Department has no substantial evidence to prosecute her on charges of spying for Pakistan, as reported by The New York Times. But despite being proved innocent, Raphel stands severely punished due to irreparable damage to her reputation. This is what India wanted; punish anybody who has sympathies with Pakistan even if he or she is a mighty American. There are some elements who are pushing to prosecute her on some other charges, but prosecute her nevertheless.
The case was initiated when India having failed to prey on Raphel used Pakistani journalist Hamid Mir to make an explosive but largely unsubstantiated statement. He alleged by way of revealing that Ambassador Robin Raphel, a senior administration official sympathetic to Pakistan, was the person who strengthened the Taliban in 1990s. Mir is widely perceived to be working for Indian interests in Pakistan. His father, the senior Mir, was honored by Hasina Wajid of Bangladesh for fighting anti-Pakistan battle on media front which helped India to tarnish image Pakistani forces leading to liberation of Bangladesh from Pakistan.
The Indian were after Raphel for a long time for her pro-Pakistan views and were on the look-out for an opportunity to get her out of their way and dislodge her from her prestigious job. The opportunity was provided to them in the shape of revelation which Indian establishment managed through their precious Pakistani asset, Hamid Mir. This statement made apparently at the behest of Indians triggered a probe against Raphel by the FBI.
According to the The Telegraph, India’s official apparatus was not involved in the tip. The US embassy was behind relaying the information divulged by Mir, albeit in the course of routine transmission of material. The long-running counter-intelligence probe of Raphel, who began her American civil service career with the CIA, appears to have taken a critical turn when Hamid Mir, executive editor of Pakistan’s Geo TV, made revelations about her nearly two-decade-old support for the Taliban to senior editorial staff of The Indian Express in the third week of October, 2014. His “revelations” are taken seriously because of his long association with the Taliban and al Qaeda.
Pakistan and India fight it out in power corridors of Washington, DC
Although Justice Department feels handicapped to pursue the espionage charges because of lack of evidence, there are some hawkish elements in FBI who insist on prosecuting Raphel for taking home some of the classified documents but to prove the case, CIA will have to declassify those documents which may not be in the national interest.
The biggest blunder made by the investigators was to leak to media the news of ongoing investigations. This has damaged the reputation of a professional diplomat.
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