How dare you check a VIP at the airport

NEW DELHI, NOV 3: The Civil Aviation Ministry has ordered a freeze on the induction of Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) at 10 airp...

NEW DELHI, NOV 3: The Civil Aviation Ministry has ordered a freeze on the induction of Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) at 10 airports across the country, including those in the four metros. The ostensible reason: several VIPs have complained they don’t like security checks! The decision to involve the CISF in airport security was taken after the Kandahar hijack.

The immediate provocation for this order is what the Ministry calls the “mishandling” of Jayashree Mahanta, Rajya Sabha MP and wife of Assam Chief Minister Prafulla Mahanta. Incidentally, the Chief Minister’s wife was

stopped from marching straight to the tarmac to board the aircraft accompanied by her supporters. A few days later, she is said to have forced the CISF security detail to allow her to board the aircraft without following mandatory security procedures.

Mahanta’s case was cited by Civil Aviation Secretary A H Jung in a letter to the Director General of CISF, B B Nanda. Speaking to The Indian Express, Jung confirmed the move and said: “The induction of the CISF has been put on hold but we are yet to find any alternative.”

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The move against the CISF isn’t new. Two weeks before Jung’s note, Union Minister for Civil Aviation Sharad Yadav wrote to Home Minister L K Advani claiming that there were “adverse reactions” (to the CISF deployment at airports) by members of his ministry’s consultative committee. He also mentioned the incident involving Mahanta’s wife.

Sources say that Yadav’s unhappiness with the CISF stems from the fact that he would rather have an independent airport force under his control. He has expressed this desire several times and critics say he sees that as a potential source of largesse for his constituents.

While none of the consultative committee MPs contacted were willing to comment, sources in the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security say that the MPs’ “concerns” merely relate to the fact that they want to be allowed inside the airport without any security checks.

Says a senior bureau official: “As far as we are concerned, until the government tells us officially that MPs should not be subjected to security checks, we will follow the rules.”