VIP lounge issue: Kalam’s men ‘embarassed’

Don’t be shell-shocked if you spot former President Dr A P J Abdul Kalam standing next to you at the Bangalore International Airport (BIA).
Kalam, who was snubbed by the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) personnel here on Saturday evening when he was told not bring his staff to the VIP lounge, has contemplated taking the aam-aadmi’s route while walking out of BIA in future.
Bangalore Mirror had in its report 'Kalam gets angry, protests insult' (Jan 10) narrated how the country’s top scientist was visibly irked after the CISF personnel insisted that he can walk into the VIP lounge, but not his staff. The CISF personnel had cited the recent directives from the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS) to Kalam, who arrived by an Indigo flight at 5:50 pm to attend some public functions in the city. The incident was described by the Kalam’s office as an "embarassment".
When Bangalore Mirror spoke to Kalam about the incident on Sunday afternoon, he just smiled and walked away. However, his officer on special duty V Ponraj said: “When we were waiting in the VIP lounge for our luggage to arrive, a CISF officer by name Kannan came to me and said that the VIP lounge is meant only for personalities who are exempted from security checks and not for those accompanying these personalities. I was asked to inform Dr Kalam that he cannot bring his staff along through the VIP route.”
Normally, Dr Kalam takes the ordinary passengers’ route. He collects his luggage and walks out of the terminal building. But that changed when people started mobbing him for autographs and photographs.
Ponraj conveyed the message to Kalam. The latter coolly said: “No problem. We will all go together and collect our luggage. As all of us are going to a function we have to go together. Instead of you collecting the luggage and we going separately to the function, I will come along with you and all of us will walk out together after picking up our luggage like the normal procedure. We will follow the rule if that is the case.”
Ponraj said Kalam contemplated walking like an ordinary passenger to avoid confusion. Ponraj said: “It will be very difficult for us to collect the luggage and run around with it to catch up with the convoy. This will be a waste of time.”
11/01/10 Neethu Reghukumar & Rakesh Prakash/Bangalore Mirror

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Categories: Airports Jan 2010