Kalam episode demeans whom?

The political and official outrage at ex-President Abdul Kalam having to undergo an airline security check, like everyone else has made all-India news. The incident, as reported, happened in April at a Delhi airport before he took a US flight; the check was by airline personnel.
There is a clash of cultures: that rules are to be impartially applied to all is an alien concept to us. No one expects a minister or an IPS officer to use public transport or do his or her own shopping, unless occasionally from a chauffeured car. For that matter, if the boss in a non-government office joined the lunch queue counter, waiting his turn, it would make most people around uneasy, or be seen as condescending. The concept of an official circular which exempts large sections from any queue or security procedures comes naturally to us, unlike many other societies. Is this state of affairs desirable? We disagree, strongly. Kalam himself didn’t object to the frisking here and complied with the same procedure when he disembarked there, as did everyone else. Our point remains, though, even if he had thrown a tantrum at one or both ends; we commend the airline for not making an exception for a VIP. We are clear on the allied point, that a democracy uncomfortable with the equal and impartial application of rules is storing no small degree of peril for itself. Besides ensuring lack of needed change, many things are unsatisfactory since rule-makers are never at the receiving end. The Kalam episode looks like reinforcing VIP privileges; it should be a signal to mobilise against such notions.
22/07/09 Editorial, The New Indian Express/ExpressBuzz

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Categories: Airports Jul 2009, Foreign Jul 2009