HVK Archives: Now she eclipses the PM
Now she eclipses the PM - The Indian Express
T.V.R. Shenoy
()
May 9, 1998
Title: Now she eclipses the PM
Author: T.V.R. Shenoy
Publication: The Indian Express
Date: May 9, 1998
Atithi devo bhava' - most Indians are familiar with the concept.
Would someone now care to provide an Italian translation?
Between them, Sonia Gandhi's media managers and the External
Affairs Ministry have succeeded in amusing/irritating several
high-ranking visitors at India's cost. Time-honoured procedures
of diplomatic protocol have been torn up by courtiers more loyal
than the queen herself.
Let me explain. A few weeks from now the Crown Prince of Morocco
will arrive on a state visit. The new government understands the
significance of our ties to the Arab world perfectly well. How,
unfortunate it would be if the trip were marred by breach of
protocol.
The office held by the Crown Prince is analogous to the Vice-
President's. (He is, in fact, coming in response to an invitation
by K. R. Narayanan made when he held the post.) As a guest of the
nation, the Crown Prince will stay at Rashtrapati Bhavan as a
matter of course, an honour not given to, say, Margaret Thatcher
when she was the British Prime Minister.
Diplomatic protocol recognises that a head of state or his deputy
takes precedence over a head of government on ceremonial
occasions such as a state visit (assuming that the same person
doesn't hold both offices). In keeping with this it is Atal
Behari Vajpayee and his ministers who must call upon the visitor,
not the other way round.
There are just two persons whom the Crown Prince will visit. The
first, perfectly in keeping with time-honoured precedent, is the
President of India. The second instance is the breach of protocol
referred to above: Morocco's heir apparent will call upon Sonia
Gandhi.
As I understand it, this is not being done at the insistence of
the Crown Prince. It is the work of some bureaucrats in the
Indian External Affairs Ministry. And the reason offered is that
it isn't safe for Sonia Gandhi to drive down from 10, Janpath to
Rashtrapati Bhavan!
This is just about the stupidest excuse I have ever heard. The
distance between 10, Janpath and Rashtrapati Bhavan is easily
covered in five minutes. And even less if you, like Sonia Gandhi,
have the Special Protection Group (SPG) clearing the roads of the
hoi polloi.
During the recent election campaign Sonia Gandhi visited about
150 constituencies. Does the Foreign Office - elements of it
anyway expect us to believe that all those places were safe but
Rashtrapati Bhavan is not?
I am afraid it isn't the security experts but Sonia Gandhi's
media managers who are responsible. It looks wonderful on
television to see foreign VVIPs being graciously welcomed by
Sonia Gandhi at her house. Much less dramatic to see her trudging
up Rashtrapati Bhavan steps like a host of others!
At times, however, the lady is a little more polite to guests.
Her meeting with Nelson Mandela was at Rashtrapati Bhavan. (The
great South African leader probably saw no reason to pander to
white-skin arrogance here after a lifetime of battling it at
home.) And, predictably, it was she who sought an audience with
Pope John Paul 11, not the other way round.
But the majority have been advised by the Foreign Office to pay
homage at 10, Janpath. Of course this is nothing new. It began in
the days of Narasimha Rao, and was continued by Deve Gowda and
Gujral. But that is no reason for the Vajpayee ministry to accept
farcical claims of "security".
Frankly, it is time that the whole question of security for
Indian VVIPs wag re-examined. When the SPG was created by Rajiv
Gandhi lest we forget - the agency was given one mission: to
protect the President, the Vice-President, and the Prime Minister
of the day. There was no mention of former office bearers, leave
alone their wives and children.
The Rao government amended the SPG Act to shield former Prime
Ministers as well, for five years after they demit office. In an
open bid to woo 10, Janpath, this was later extended to 10 ears.
(Rajiv Gandhi had been rejected by the voters in 1989; Sonia
Gandhi and her children would have been ineligible for SPG
protection as of 1994.)
The expenditure on security is now crossing all rational limits.
The SPG's budget is Rs 50 crore, but the hidden costs are
greater. Sprawling bungalows are provided even for the likes of
Priyanka Vadra. There is an outer ring of security provided by
either the local police or paramilitary forces.
These are the standard expenses. Sonia Gandhi's whirlwind
campaign across India cost taxpayers quite an additional packet.
The SPG had to ferry bullet-proof cars all over the country. The
total cost of providing security during her campaign came to
roughly five crore rupees.
We can only be thankful that Chenamma Gowda or Shiela Gujral
didn't campaign! After all, under the law they too are entitled
to the same level of protection. And so are their children.
The utterly ridiculous state of affairs is exposed by the case of
Prabhakar Rao, son of former Prime Minister Rao. The Enforcement
Directorate wanted to interrogate him in connection with the urea
seam. He went underground, with full SPG cover. Rao's guards, the
head of the SPG explained, couldn't divulge his whereabouts but
they wouldn't prevent his arrest!
Want more? Narasimha Rao himself is no stranger to criminal
charges. But under the law the SPG must protect his person (at
least until 2006) even if he ends up in Tihar Jail!
Chew over this nugget: the SPG Act mandates that Prabhakar Rao
and Priyanka Gandhi receive a greater degree of protection than,
say, L. K. Advani. Yet the Intelligence Bureau privately admits
that the threat perception to the Home Minister is far greater.
Does that make any sense at all?
Amending the SPG Act will take time and trouble. Until that is
done you can't really blame the SPG for obeying the law as it
stands. But what shall we say of the mandarins in the External
Affairs Ministry? Which Act of Parliament are they obeying in
insisting that the Crown Prince of Morocco and other
distinguished guests call upon Sonia Gandhi? By what authority
are they turning protocol upside-down, implicitly giving Sonia
Gandhi a higher rank in the hierarchy than even the Prime
Minister?
I wonder if the Foreign Office has thought of the message being
sent out: Delhi's streets are unsafe in spite of all the security
given to Sonia Gandhi. Is that really what any patriotic citizen,
even a naturalised Indian, wants the world to hear?
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