New Delhi/London, July 21: Former President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam has been frisked by an American airline in violation of Indian rules, triggering a furore in Parliament but also raising questions whether exemptions should exist in an age when terrorists have struck at almost every mode of mass travel.
The Centre has showcaused the carrier, Continental Airlines.
Kalam was reportedly made to wait on the aerobridge at the Indira Gandhi International Airport here on April 24 as the Continental Airlines’ staff spent several minutes debating whether to put him under the scanner. Kalam was then asked to hand over his mobile and bag and go through a complete body check during which he had to remove his shoes.
The former President co-operated with the staff and didn’t lodge a complaint but reports of the protocol breach emerged today.
In Parliament, Patel told angry MPs a showcause notice had been served on the airline asking why action should not be taken against it for the “wilful violation”.
Patel said he would meet Kalam and express regret over the incident. “We will ask for corrective action from the airline and in case they are proven wrong, we will ask them to tender an apology,” he said in the Rajya Sabha.
However, the minister said any action would have to be in consonance with international practices.
A Continental official defended the frisking, saying it was a regular check and asserting “we don’t have special rules for VIPs”.
“Like all carriers flying to the US, Continental has to abide by the Transportation Security Administration procedures of the American government. These requirements require a final check in the aerobridge, just before boarding the aircraft,’’ he said.
The Continental official pointed out that “Kalam was very co-operative and underwent the entire process without any hitch”. “We don’t understand why this issue has been raked up now.”
Ministry officials said the US had officially agreed to follow the VIP list, though they didn’t specify whether Continental had accepted the “exemption list” in writing.
India is one of the few countries in the world to have such a list that has increasingly become a status symbol. The list is reviewed periodically and released by the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security. The latest one has 24 posts and individuals.
These include the President, Vice-President, Prime Minister and cabinet ministers, former Presidents, Lok Sabha speaker, chief ministers, Chief Justices of the Supreme Court and high courts.
Union cabinet secretary, the Dalai Lama, Congress president Sonia Gandhi and her family members are the others on the roster, as are the three service chiefs.
The inclusion of Robert Vadra, Priyanka Gandhi’s husband, had kicked up a furore. Under current rules, he is exempted only while travelling with his wife, Sonia or Rahul, who are under SPG cover.
But government officials refused to explain the reason for such a list and why the VVIPs were more equal than the other passengers.
Neither would they entertain a question raised by a regular “non-exempt” plane passenger. “What if someone kidnaps a VVIP’s relative and blackmails the person to carry a bomb into the plane? Why should others put their lives at risk just because some people won’t allow themselves to be frisked like lesser mortals?” the passenger asked.
Another passenger wondered whether the list was a feudal appendage those in power could not shed. “Everybody should be frisked. In fact, those at the very top should make themselves an example and step forward to be searched. Voluntary gestures will only help inculcate a culture of alertness and security consciousness,” he said.
Earlier too, a raw nerve was touched when the then defence minister George Fernandes was body-frisked in the US.
A civil aviation ministry official said most countries, including the US, allowed exemptions only when the VIPs were travelling by special aircraft, not when they were on commercial flights.
In London, a former officer with knowledge of security procedures told The Telegraph: “If a former Prime Minister like Lady Thatcher or Sir John Major has personal protection, they are effectively secure inside a bubble. They would have pre-arranged clearance and go through VIP gates without being frisked. If they did not have personal protection, they would be dealt with like anyone else. For convenience, it is possible they would be taken through a special entrance but the checks cannot be waived.”
Some saw a “racial prejudice’’ in the Kalam episode, though Continental was the first airline in the US to bring in a black pilot. “Will an Indian airline be ever allowed to frisk Bill Clinton or George Bush (in the US)? This is nothing but racial prejudice,’’ said Neelam Sinha, a frequent flier.
CPM’s Sitaram Yechury wondered whether the frisking had anything to do with the name Abdul Kalam. He said that if that was so, it was “much more serious”.
