Much ado about minor breach

The pre-embarkation check of Kalam was in violation of a BCAS circular that exempts certain VVIPs/VIPs from security checks. Civil aviation minister Praful Patel has gone so far as to call the breach in protocol "unpardonable".
It seems simple on the face of it there exists a law to deal with precisely such violations and which lays out punishment. But consider that in India, more VIPs are exempt from security checks than any other democracy in the world. In the US and Europe, the general rule is that only heads of state travelling by their own aircraft are exempt from these checks. In India, on the other hand, the VIP list has become a status symbol. It includes 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 and also the Dalai Lama. Congress president Sonia Gandhi and her family members are on the roster too, as are the three services chiefs. Robert Vadra, Priyanka Gandhi's husband, is also exempted when travelling with SPG cover.
The question is, why should there be such a long list of exclusions? Not only that, while most exclusions are by dint of the posts they hold or once held, why should Robert Vadra be mentioned by name? In these terror-struck times it's important that security protocols be taken seriously, and VIPs themselves should set an example in this regard.
23/07/09 Times of India

To Read the News in full at Source, Click the Headline

Categories: Airports Jul 2009, Foreign Jul 2009