Former Indian president Abdul Kalam was once again humiliated by security staff while visiting the United States, Indian media reported on Sunday.
At New York’s JFK airport on September 29, frantic security officials forced the crew of an Air India flight to open the aircraft’s doors moments before it was about to begin taxiing, the report said. Seeking to frisk one of the passengers they had already screened once before boarding, the security personnel took away the jacket and shoes of the former Indian president. However, the belongings were returned later, the report added. Kalam was the president of India until July 25, 2007. The fresh incident is not a new experience for the father of Indian nuclear programme, as he was humiliated in the same way two years ago at the Delhi Airport. In April 2009, Kalam had been frisked by officials of the US Continental Airlines despite the fact that his name was on the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security’s list of people exempt from security checks in India. The US has apologised to Kalam for subjecting him to frisking at the JFK Airport. In a written apology to Kalam and the Indian government, the US said, “Appropriate procedure for expedited screening of dignitaries had not been followed.”
Kalam frisked twice, once inside aircraft, in US
