Do you know who I am?

There is a big hoopla going on for the “incident” involving frisking of APJ Abdul Kalam. That incited me to tap vigorously on my keyboard to blog my thoughts away..

I feel amazed at our (Indians) audacity to talk of such issues when there are far more critical problems lying unattended to (What about the places where people have taken arms against the government? Does that not weigh heavily in politicians’ minds? The politicians waste time in parliament over the issue which is nothing but a mundane but pretty strict security check for the US airlines. I think, we Indians should take a definite lesson from this episode. If the security forces have to provide top-quality security standards to people anywhere, the rules will have to be followed. After having suffered in the past due to terror strikes, Indians should just treat such procedures as sacrosanct.

Dr. Kalam, on the other hand, should not dwell more time on this than it deserves. This is one more aspect of our daily lives, he would like to change about India, where societal status or political stature do not hinder the security process for general public. Question is: Must every rule be bent in India? Or is there a remote possibility of going by the book especially when national security is considered. If Dr. Kalam’s vision of India in 2020 is to be achieved, we will have to do away this feudalist mentality of assigning greater-than-law status to anyone.

Why is US a superpower today? There might be lots of reasons to it. But one apparent reason seems to be that the rules are not bent as regularly or with such impunity as in India. I distinctly remember watching over television, how, for a misdemeanor with a waiter, Russel Crowe, an Academy Award winner actor was handcuffed from behind and taken in just like a regular con by cops there. There were no rules bent and it was for the world to see on television.

My take: Security should be paramount. If you don’t want to be frisked, better stay at home.