Meera Shankar, India's second female Ambassador to the USA have been in the news recently. The controversy was that she got frisked/patted-down by the security personnel at the Tennessee Airport on 4th Dec 2010. I was literally fuming with anger when I saw the hype in the television channels. I straight away posted "I denounce the pat-down search of Meera Shankar, Indian Ambassador to the US, by US officials" on FB as a gesture of my protest. But later I came across many an opinions about the instance on the internet while searching for the news and some of them were really funny.
India responded quickly as soon as the news came to light and shown their protest. All the main stream media were fuming against the 'unacceptable' acts by the US security personnel. Our Foreign Minister, S M Krishna has called the incident unacceptable and asked for a report. He has also noted that it has happened twice in three months time. I too have a disagreement with the way the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) handled an Indian Ambassador to the US. There are protocols to be followed when dealing with Diplomats, especially Ambassadors because not just any individuals but are representatives of a nation.
The main issue was that, she was singled out allegedly because of the way she dressed. The TSA indirectly said that she was patted down because of her bulky clothing (read Saree), which according to most of the people is triggered by racism and profiling. Onlookers said that the way she was patted down was so humiliating, which probably meant that she was made to strip at least her pallu down in front of many people. She was pulled out from the line despite being told that she was an ambassador. The TSA said that 'no one' (I believe he meant people like Obama too) is exempt from security checks. Even our Ronen Sen, former diplomat to the US, said that these security screening at airports is applicable to dignitaries from all countries, but with exception of Union Cabinet ministers and above on official duty. But our brothers in US forgot this exemption also when our Civil Aviation minister, Praful Patel was detained and questioned at Chicago airport. Do not forget that the ass-holes from the American airliner Continental Airlines had dared to frisk our former President Dr. Abdul Kalam right at the Indhira Gandhi International Airport, Delhi on April 24, 2009, clearly violating the protocols. This was done on the insistence of the company's american MF (free for interpretation by the readers) boss.
I wonder, what would have been US's reaction if one of their official (forget diplomat or ambassador) were treated like this on their visit to India. Imagine Condoleezza Rice being frisked at our of our airports. I am sure that US will understand that no one is exempt from security checks. Wait a minute, did I say Condoleezza Rice? Alright, now I see why they don't think about these kind of action from Indians. They are very much confident that no one will bother to pat-down the ones like Condoleezza Rice or Michelle Obama. The only chance was Hillary Clinton but people here will rather sympathize with her about her encounters with sperm filled napkins from her hubby's office some years ago. But still there are people here in India who are fuming about what happened with Meera Shankar. so Hillary, next time when you come to India, beware of being stripped and frisked at one of our airports as part of our regular security checks. And you can even expect a live telecast of the same on the main stream media in India as "Flash News".
I happened to come across a very interesting discussion forum on msnbc.com regarding a news post titled, "Sari-clad India ambassador gets pat-down at Miss. airport". Please click here for going through them and I promise that they are really interesting. Most of the Americans on the forum were of the opinion that if they were made to go through all these then everyone else should also be made to. Well, fair enough but please elaborate everyone else. Does that include all the american dignitaries too? The funny part is that you get to read the comments by the typical/stereotyped Americans in our jokes (read, dumb and stupid) who are of the opinion that diplomats are politicians (:O lmao), we Indians are anti-american, we are plagued with violence issues, majority of Indians are Muslims (No offence. With all due respect to the Islam, I am just stating the profiling of the Muslims by a brainless American bro) and think that diplomats are not the representatives of a nation but are like any other individual around. There were of course a few Americans with some sense who felt that what happened was unfortunate and the officials at the airport were brainless to do this to an ambassador. For the american officials who plan to visit India, please click here to check out some of the reactions (very decent, so far) to this instance here in India and please educate your people there about the protocols or we Indians may have to un-educate ourselves.
Now readers, please post your comments on whether we should give a tit for tat or maintain our silence as always.
Cheers!!!
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