Security146;s vain apparatus

In the wake of September 11 2001, rules governing international travel have been tightened and security checks intensified for visas, immigr...

In the wake of September 11 2001, rules governing international travel have been tightened and security checks intensified for visas, immigration, and flight check-ins. But how foolproof are these procedures?

In June, I and two other Indians attended a conference in the Caribbean. Our tickets were all for the same flight, on the same date, from Mumbai to London and onward to Bridgetown, Barbados. Since the West Indies do not have a consulate in India, the foreign office of Barbados had sent us e-mails confirming that our visas could be collected on arrival in Bridgetown. I was also told that I would need a British visa too, since the itinerary involved changing from Heathrow to Gatwick airport in London.

I was in Italy when the invitation to the conference came. I was told that processing my UK visa would take two weeks, for security reasons 8212; but my application would not be accepted without my first having a formal entry 8216;8216;permit8217;8217; from the Indian police to validate my presence in Italy. This, Indian authorities declared, would take 8216;8216;about a month8217;8217; as they were 8216;8216;busy with immigration and security checks of aliens8217;8217;. There was no way I could have my British visa ready before the conference date. I had to therefore return to Bangalore, to 8216;8216;apply for a British visa from my home country8217;8217;, pay Rs 3,825 as visa fees, and leave for London five days after.

At Sahar airport in Mumbai, British Airways staff refused to check me through to Barbados because I had 8216;8216;no visa for the West Indies8217;8217; e-mails from the foreign office were 8216;8216;unacceptable8217;8217;. I was given a boarding pass up to London but was advised that I 8216;8216;may not be allowed to board the connecting flight from Gatwick8217;8217;, because I did not have a Caribbean visa.

The delegate from Kerala, on the same flight, was told that he would have to collect his bags at London and re-check in. There was no mention of his being stopped from proceeding to Barbados, although he too did not have a Caribbean visa on hand. The delegate from Delhi merrily checked her baggage through, to Barbados, no questions asked. She did not even have a British visa, but that did not bother British Airways staff at Delhi. At Heathrow, immigration officers waved her through. All three of us took the same flight and reached Barbados where our Caribbean visas were handed to us.

So why had I spent Rs. 3,825 to get a British visa, if another passenger could get away with not getting one? Why had I been made to go to the trouble of coming back from Europe to Bangalore, just to acquire a British visa, if the same airline could allow another Indian to board without the papers? Why were three different sets of rules applied, for three academics, going to the same conference?

What are the security implications, if rules and checks are applied arbitrarily? And what are the chances that someone who enters London without a British visa, slips out en route from Heathrow to Gatwick, with nefarious intentions? No checks were carried out, to ensure that those in transit board the onward flights they are booked on.

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All that lax security does, is to penalise law-abiding citizens while failing to prevent the evil-intentioned from slipping through.