Financial Daily from THE HINDU group of publications
Thursday, Sep 11, 2003
Financial Daily from THE HINDU group of publications Thursday, Sep 11, 2003 |
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Industry & Economy
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Events Government - Security Security alert leads to chaos at Sharon luncheon meeting — Lack of coordination is spoilsport Our Bureau
New Delhi , Sept. 10 GUESTS arriving at the 11th floor of the upmarket Taj Mahal here would have been forgiven for thinking that they were in a fish market and not the confines of a luxury hotel. The hotel floor provided the only passage to the luncheon meeting hosted by the trade and industry for the visiting Israeli Prime Minister, Mr Ariel Sharon. True, that when you lunch with one of the most protected men in the world, security will be tight. And it was. But what spoilt an otherwise perfect maiden visit by an Israeli Prime Minister was the total lack of coordination between Indian and Israeli security agencies. No sooner did one get off the lift at the 11th floor that a huge mass of people waiting patiently in line to be security cleared greeted you. No quarrels with that, except that the queue refused to move, not for a few minutes but for close to three-quarters of an hour. The apex chamber organisers were also frantically looking for the Deputy Commissioner of Police in-charge of Mr Sharon's security as the business visitors scheduled to participate in the event were not being allowed in. The Israeli security officials were uncompromising. "You get the people who have gone up already, down immediately. We have cancelled the visit to Agra and Mumbai. We will cancel this, but will not compromise on the security of the Prime Minister," an exasperated Israeli security agent told a senior Delhi Police official. Initial appeals by senior Delhi Police officials, including an Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police, to allow the queue to move fell on deaf ears. However, after a lot of cajoling by senior police officials, the Israeli security officials relented and allowed the media team to move up. But not before senior Delhi Police officials shouted orders like "Arre bhai, frisk the people going up properly. Do not bother about the metal detectors. Frisk them by hand. But keep the lines moving." The security threat perception, however, did not end even after newspersons had entered the `Long Champ' restaurant, the lunch venue. Apart from being asked to move from one table to another, the organisers kept asking all those standing on the side to sit down as the Israeli Prime Minister would not enter the venue till every one was seated. Eventually, it was left to the Director General of the Israeli Prime Minister's Office to make a public announcement requesting every one to sit down so that the "Prime Minister and the Finance Minister can enter the room" which eventually led to the programme starting close to 25 minutes behind schedule.
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