NEW DELHI: Speaker Somnath Chatterjee is winning applause in political circles around the country for standing up to Britain. Chatterjee has decided to call off his trip to the UK because British authorities refused to honour the constitutional dignity of his position.
The attack to the constitutional authority comes by way of complying with the strict rules and regulations of airport security, in place since the 911 attacks in the US and intelligence reports of terrorist threat to Heathrow.
The British authorities are unwilling to allow the speaker of Indian parliament without the normal security drill which all VIPs as well as ordinary travellers follow.
Chatterjee believes that as the speaker, he should not be subject to these rules. But the British government has clarified that all visiting dignitaries to the UK, except head of states or governments, are subject to security procedures. The Indian government is not going to take up cudgels for Chatterjee who said that on previous occasions, he did not have to go through any frisking.
London stuck to its guns saying that Somnath Chatterjee was not being singled out for checks. Everyone passing through British airports had to follow the same rules, though as VIPs they would be given due respect and attention, the UK authorities said.
All diplomatic missions in London are well aware of these procedures that are now firmly in place. "We have informed diplomatic missions in London that such procedures are a necessary part of airport procedures. All passengers departing from UK airports may therefore be searched before boarding an aircraft, Dan Chugg the spokesman of the embassy said on Wednesday.
Indian officials said there was nothing that the government can do in this case. "It is after all the prerogative of each national government to decide what rules have to be followed while entering a country," an officer said on condition of anonymity.
