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Kathmandu,Monday January 31, 2000 Magh 17th, 2056.
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There
is security problem at TIA
The
article Good neighbourliness by Madhab P Khanal in The Kathmandu Post
on January 21, 2000 is not only biased but also based on
unsubstantiated things. Throughout the article, Khanal tries to drag
unsubstantiated stuff to prove that India is responsible for all the
wrongs in Nepal.
Khanal
notes that India has been using the hijacking of the Indian Airlines
plane as a means to humiliate Nepal diplomatically as well as
politically. In support of his thesis, he cites the Indian assessment
of the situation that the security lapse at TIA led to the hijacking
of the plane.
It
would be childish to make blunt remarks that India treats Nepal as a
hostile country. Nepal and India have been maintaining best of
relations both at the government and people to people levels.
Therefore, despite certain jerks, the friendship between the two
countries will continue to remain smooth as ever in the past. Since
India accords highest priority to Nepal’s development, it will be
unfair to say that this country has been humiliating Nepal on the
hijacking issue.
It
is time to review our security situation at TIA. A number of Nepalese
papers have commented that there is lack of transit lounge at TIA. A
large number people are given security passes as there is no control.
Frisking of passengers is hardly done. So much so that the duty free
shop lies in the security zone where no person other than the
passenger is expected to go. As a result, many illegal activities are
carried on at the airport at the cost of the nation's security. The
entire border between Nepal and India is unsafe because of the lack of
adequate security. Today, we have come to a situation when the
regulation of the border will be meaningless if air security,
particularly at the TIA, is not maintained.
In
this sense, the hijacking of the plane is just an eye opener. Can
Madhab Khanal deny that there has been no violation of some of the
above facilities at TIA? And if such fundamental facilities are
violated, how can we treat our airport as safe? Therefore, what is
required most is to correct the mistakes, if any. Mere denial of the
truth like what foreign minister Ram Sharan Mahat has done will not
help us reach any conclusion.
Rachana
Pradhan
-Thahiti, Kathmandu |
