“All men are created equal, but some are more equal than others…”
George Orwell, Animal Farm
On July 4, I happened to go to the Marriott in Islamabad in the evening.
I was driving my car and stopped at the Security Check. I had a green number-plated car in the front and a security personnel vehicle at my left. Both these vehicles were allowed to pass the security barrier without being subjected to the routine checking. When it was my turn, I was made to do the customary drill of opening the bonnet and the boot for the scanners. When the security attendant had finished the job and motioned me to move on, I asked him why he had not checked the two vehicles. He flatly responded: “We do not check the ‘official’ ones”. When I pressed him further that this is not how the security protocol commands, he feigned ignorance and turned the other way.
At the entry to the hotel, I asked for the Head of the Security and I was given his mobile number. I called, but there was no response.
In the hotel, I approached the facilitation desk and asked for the Head of the Security. The lady said that he was not around. I left my name and number and requested her to let him know that I wanted to talk about an important issue. I also told her where I would be for the next one hour.
When I was having food in one of the hotel restaurants, a gentleman approached me. Introducing himself, he said that the Head of the Security was not available and that he was his deputy and I could talk to him, a certain retired major from the army. I explained the matter to him. He conceded that, yes, the security was supposed to check all vehicles irrespective of whether these belonged to the ordinary citizens or government personnel. However, he was quick to add: “Sir, this happens only in civilised societies”. He went on to explain further that there was a farewell dinner in honour of the outgoing Chief Justice of the Supreme Court (SC) that evening at the hotel and that a blanket clearance for all vehicles of the entourage had been granted which, in real terms, meant that none of the vehicles belonging to the justices of the SC would be subjected to the customary security checks.
Later, I received a call from the Head of the Security who said that the issue had been duly reported to him and that he would conduct an enquiry. In response to my request that I be informed of the outcome, he said that he would ensure that such lapse would not happen again. When I insisted on being informed, he said that he would ‘try’ to do so. Till the writing of this piece, I have not heard from the gentleman.
Understandably, the vehicles in the front and to my left were part of the justices’ entourage. Does it entitle them automatically to skip the security check? Or, is this part of the servile hospitality accorded by a leading hotel of the city to please the lords and other such ‘important’ customers to continue having their patronage in the future?
“What I saw last night left a very bad taste in the mouth. My lords, please start respecting the cloak that you preach to the world. Don’t use it to buy meaningless conveniences like unchecked passage through security gates. Don’t reduce yourselves this low!”
It could also be a mix of both: the mighty lords demanding a place in the uppermost echelons of the governmental hierarchy and the attendant lords of the hotel eager to grant them all of that, even more. Where does that leave the ordinary citizens who are often subjected to the humiliation of frequent checks, even body searches by an ever-increasing coterie of smelly, uneducated, ill-mannered and uncouth security guards who are not accustomed to even the basics of what a security drill is all about? They just stop your path and move the scanner all over your body, possibly deriving some vicarious pleasure in the process – the scanner and the uniform they wear being their tools of dominance over an individual who has little option but to succumb to the drill.
Why should the justices of the Supreme Court or, for that matter, the political dons, members of the bureaucracy or other government officials escape passing through the necessary security checks which all other ordinary citizens have to? Why should they be accorded a status that is incompatible with the one given to the others in what is supposedly an Islamic Republic?
The justices are the custodians of law. They must also see that it is being applied at all and sundry irrespective of what position one may hold in the national hierarchy. If, however, they become victims of the ‘equal but not equal’ syndrome that members of the national political mafia are so deeply and irretrievably afflicted with, that would be setting a wrong precedence for others to follow. Their job is to impose the writ of law without creating exceptions for anyone – their own selves included.
The fact that the same hotel has been a victim of a major terrorist activity in the not too distant past, they needed to be more careful than the others in following the security protocol without allowing exceptions. If these exceptions are being allowed as a matter of corporate policy with an intention to attract clientele, it is taking an unwarranted risk that could jeopardise the lives of others who may be visiting the hotel. But, if it was a security slip as part of what the attendant described as “we don’t check the ‘official’ ones”, then the hotel management needs to look closely at the caveats that have been drilled into the security protocol, thus jeopardising the lives of their guests on a daily basis. Immediate steps should be taken to plug all such holes.
And, to the justices – you are the upholders of law. You should not reduce law to becoming your servile attendant as is the wont with an increasing number of people attaining ill-gotten political and financial solvency in the country – political power and money being the two instruments that can buy you whatever you may wish in a land that is ruled by the worst of the villains cyclically elected by crudely manipulating a corrupt system.
What I saw last night left a very bad taste in the mouth. My lords, please start respecting the cloak that you preach to the world. Don’t use it to buy meaningless conveniences like unchecked passage through security gates. Don’t reduce yourselves this low!
Come on raouf, you may have been in an American hotel but your still in Pakistan. Sounds like your upset you weren’t given the same special treatment the judges were. Lol
The question is – why a security check. The simple and obvious answer is to ensure the safety of the premises and those who use it regardless of the social status of the users. It therefore should mean the security check shall apply without exceptions. However, if special arrangements have been made prior to the arrival of certain individuals that those individuals have been pre-screened and declared safe may be granted exemption from the security check at the gate. A blanket exemption from a security check for a certain "class" is without a doubt a grave security risk which must not be allowed be it Pakistan or any developed country. It must be remembered terrorists succeeded in breaching the security of Karachi Airport, Mehran Air Base or GHQ because of such exemptions for certain "classes". A security check cannot be considered a "privilege".
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