Mind over marshals

One of its planes had been blown up some months earlier by suspected Middle East terrorists. This sent the Americans into a tizzy and turned all brown-skinned people into suspects. My wife and I, our attendant and two Indian sailors were the only brown-skinned persons on that Pan Am flight.

One of the airlines’ security men was an African-American, the other a white. Though I told them I was going to Bucharest to take up a diplomatic assignment, they would have none of it. We were referred to a German agency that they had hired and put us through a grueling two-hour search.

Was this racism? Was the treatment of the 12 Mumbaikars racism? Maybe, maybe not. We in India are guilty of many biases ourselves – including casteism and communalism.

The happenings in the air and at Amsterdam induce many thoughts in me. First, the Americans are paranoid about security. After 9/11 they have become even more so. If one can avoid traveling to the US it is advisable not to go there. My last visit to the US was a couple of days before those attacks on the twin towers.

The sky marshals on NW 42 are the ones who triggered off the entire farce. These sky marshals are not particularly educated and certainly not conversant with cultures beyond their own backyard. Their instructions are to go for anything suspicious, they did just that.

These marshals spied a dozen brown-skinned people, some with beards and all with Muslim names, behaving funnily (according to their patterns of behaviour). That was enough to set off alarm bells. They should have known that terrorists do not attract attention to themselves in this manner. In particular they should have known that the twelve had developed a collective personality and in the company of each other had been transformed into a herd. A trained policeman would have attempted to pierce this collective personality and made them think and act as individuals. There was no need to call the Dutch air force or the Dutch police, or to turn back the aircraft for uncouth behaviour!

The Dutch police did their job according to their procedures. The hand-cuffing is standard procedure in the West. The solitary cells need to be questioned by the European Courts for Human Rights.

A third thought that comes to mind concerns the use of cellphones on flights. I am unable to understand how a cellphone was permitted to be used on board; if the twelve were using their cellphones the sky marshals could have confiscated their instruments. All other passengers would have applauded.

There is a strong feeling among Indian Muslims that they are being discriminated against while traveling not only abroad but also within the country. It is true that there are very few fanatics in the community but those who have come to adverse notice in recent times are followers of Islam, albeit from the lunatic fringe. The plight of the remaining 99.9% is the same as that of the Sikhs in Punjab during the decade of terrorism in that State.

We cannot blame the US and Holland if they adopt what they consider defensive measures. The solution lies within the Muslim community itself and, just like Sikhs put to rest all misconceptions of the brain-washed separatists in their own community, perhaps our Muslim brothers should imbibe some lessons from that period of our country’s history. The State cannot win the fight against terrorism. Only the community involved can.

The writer is one of India’s most accomplished policemen, having served as DGP, Punjab, and Commissioner of Police in Mumbai