By Vinay:
After the serial ‘salaam’ing of Mr. kalam for being silent on the issue of getting frisked and the serial slamming of the Continental Airlines for frisking him, it seems many netas are still not satisfied.
One young neta from Orissa has come up with a solution; that not 31 but only 3+1 should be exempt from frisking; they include three heads of the executive, the judiciary, the legislature and then the President.
This idea seems reasonable and the neta here is Baijayant Panda, a MP from Orissa.
The question is why these 31 souls are exempt from this routine checking?
Are they above their people just because they hold highest offices?
Does frisking demean their status?
Of course we hold them in high regard, and that regard is for the position he holds rather than to the person himself.
Let’s object when an American frisks when our Prime Minister is on an official visit to that country, but we have no right to do the same when he’s on a private visit.
Kalam might have been a good President, but now he is just like me and you even though his position is high on the Table of Precedence in India.
Let’s not be hypocrites.
It’s because of these stringent measures that America has been successful in avoiding another attack on its territory. Look at ourselves; we are still paranoid – thanks to the feudal mindset of our leaders and the lethargic police system, common man has to live under permanent fear of another train blast, Mumbai attack and IC – 814 like hijack.
Somewhere I read that General Zia was killed not in an air crash but was murdered by planting ‘mango bombs’ in his baggage(of course he and his belongings were exempt from any frisking) – it’s said that because of his love for mangoes he carried them with him whenever he travelled. His mangoes cost many innocent lives with his.
This attitude of ‘I am above the rest’ should be sacrificed for the good of the nation at least. Unfortunately it’s inherent in us, we each want to dominate others and frisking makes those 31 look equal with majority of the lesser souls.
It was not an “unpardonable Act” by the Airlines as our politicians cried out but in my view it was an exemplary commitment to duty by the American authorities.
