Frisky business

The US may achieve the near-impossible,get India to curb some VIP privileges

The US may achieve the near-impossible,get India to curb some VIP privileges

The civil aviation ministry and the US Transportation Security Administration TSA have had longstanding friction over whether Indias long list of dignitaries could be made to submit to the security drill. A couple of months back,the ministry accused the TSA of interfering in internal matters of India,and warned of a diplomatic impasse if it did not get its act together. For the Indian establishment,the frisking of former president A.P.J. Abdul Kalam or former ambassador Meera Shankar are larger parables of power how dare a foreign nation dishonour our VIPs,who are accustomed to gliding through every cordon? On the other hand,no force is as formidable as the TSA,in making sure every body and object is scanned or patted down,in its defence of the homeland.

Now,after much back-and-forth with the US,the civil aviation ministry is considering editing its VIP list,to four-six categories from the current 33. That means that apart from the special people with SPG protection and a few others,everybody else will be treated like regular travellers at US airports though cabinet ministers and the like will be entitled to expedited clearance. There will be no lifetime privileges for a former governor or minister or judge. India will,obviously,do the same for visiting American officials and contrary to what one might think,they have their own swollen list of exemptees.

This is a small,welcome step away from our VIP-cosseting culture,but does it need special intervention from US aviation authorities to make the change? Why cant we impose the same rules here? Many Indian VIPs are obsessed with silly status-differentiation,and we believe its only right for them to lead friction-free lives. Powerful officials never wait in line,they get free passes when others buy tickets; they are insulated from every routine encounter with inconvenience. Those who make and enforce the rules in India feel their entire selfhoods at stake when asked to live by the rules. And to change that culture of social inequality and VIP privilege will take much more than a few tweaks in airport procedure assuming this decision makes it past the home ministry and external affairs ministry.