A day after news emerged of former President APJ Abdul Kalam having been frisked at the John F Kennedy International Airport in New York on September 29, the United States issued a statement “regretting” the incident.
“We deeply regret the inconvenience that resulted for him (Kalam) as a result of the September 29 incident involving the security screening at JFK Airport in New York,” a statement from the US Embassy said. The US government had utmost respect for Kalam, the statement added.
The apology came after External Affairs Minister S M Krishna today spoke to the Indian ambassador to the US, Nirupama Rao, and directed her to take up the matter in writing at the “highest-level” in the US. India also threatened retaliatory action against US dignitaries unless such “unacceptable” practices were stopped.
Eighty-year-old Kalam was frisked in New York on September 29, before boarding an Air India flight. According to the news agency PTI, even after Kalam had taken his seat in the aircraft, the US security personnel forced the crew to open the door and took away the jacket and boots of the former president to check for explosives, as they had forgotten to do so before his boarding. The items were later returned to Kalam.
Criticising the incident, the Bhartiya Janata Party said it “cannot be tolerated” and asked the government to take up the issue with the US government. “The way the former president was treated was insulting. The government must take it up with the US,” BJP leader Shahnawaz Hussain said.
Kalam was subjected to similar frisking in April 2009, when officials of US airliner Continental Airlines frisked him despite his name being on the list of people exempt from a security check.