'Kalam frisking at NY airport was serious blunder'

Terming as a "serious blunder" the frisking of former president A P J Abdul Kalam at New York's John F Kennedy International Airport, India on Thursday said it would not accept any violation of rules that permit exception for certain dignitaries of the country.

Foreign Secretary Ranjan Mathai said the issue of frisking was laid to rest by the "gracious person" (Kalam) though the Transportation Security Administration of the United States was willing to send an official in person to apologise for the incident. However, Mathai said in cases of frisking of people who are not exempted one should "get used to the way things work in the world, not necessarily the way things work in our own country."

"With respect to the particular incident of a former president (being frisked twice), it was a serious blunder on the part of the TSA official. They admitted it was a mistake and they were willing to send an official to apologise. He is a gracious person," he told an interactive session with participants of the Jagriti Yatra 2011.

He was responding to a question on what his ministry was doing to prevent the recurrence of incidents like the one where Kalam was frisked twice at New York Airport in September last year. Mathai said India will not accept any violation of rules that apply to categories where people are exempted or

privileged. "We will not accept, under any circumstances, any violation of the rules. However, where there are no exemptions, we need to take in our own stride...One element is there are rules and regulations regarding security and consular requirements. They should be followed," he said.

"There are only a microscopic minority who are affected by such things," he said, adding awareness has to be created with regard to cultural symbols like turban.