The Followers of spiritual leader Asaram Bapu who protested against his frisking at Ahmedabad airport would do well to pause and reflect on the predicament of those responsible to ensure that flying remains a safe experience for passengers. The ritual of being frisked and searched at an airport is not particularly enjoyable. But it is an essential part of the drill across the world. It is wrong to see it as any kind of an act aimed at belittling anyone. Exempting certain constitutional authorities, like the president, the prime minister, members of the cabinet or Supreme Court judges is a straightforward matter. But what should be the criteria to evaluate other VIPs? Should it be TRPs, the latest income tax return of a tycoon, or the earnings of a matinee idol? And just how does one measure spiritual attainment when it comes to a security check?
Unfortunately for many a VIP, security systems do not register the ‘Do-you-know-who-I-am?’ category. And so, time and again, airport security checks have triggered a breakout of egoistic shingles in the collective hide of VIPs, self-styled (or otherwise), sants and sadhus not excluded. The post-9/11 world has made things worse. Even former Defence Minister George Fernandes, with his minimalist kurta-pyjama and chappals, was strip-searched on a visit to Washington. Last year, Speaker Somnath Chatterjee refused to travel to Australia as a waiver of airport security checks was not guaranteed. Suggestions that VIPs be excluded have been politely ignored. Meanwhile, not even a handful of the millions frisked are suspected to be dakus any more than the hurt sant was.
Security checks can undeniably be improved upon. But it is for VIPs to recognise that they are also role models and should comply with the laws without grumbling, if only to set an example for hoi polloi. And if security checks are such a nuisance for them, there is always the other option: the VIPs could charter their own aircraft. Most of them can well afford to do so.