Message from yellow haze in Indian Parliament: Could we have SPG training for lesser security personnel?

The security breach in India's brand-new parliament building on December 13 brought back two memories. One was of the late 1990s when I was in the Lok Sabha in the press gallery when I saw a youth suddenly jump from the visitors' gallery into the main hall that was just about eight feet below and shouting slogans calling for a hill-state called Uttarakhand carved out of Uttar Pradesh, which is now a reality.

The other, strangely, enough was of Bangalore in 2003, where I was covering the visit of the then Israeli prime minister Ariel Sharon. Given the threat Israel faces from hardline Islamist and Palestinian groups, I expected strong security—and there it was. However, what I saw were very pleasant security men whose eyes may have been taking in details of various things in their horizon, but whose conduct including a bit of amiable chatter gave nothing away.

Bottomline: Strong security needs alert eyes, keen ears, efficient arms, and high-tech equipment but what it is and what it is seen to be are two different things.

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I was on a video discussion after the yellow smoke attack this week with a panel of fellow journalists who have covered parliament, and the talk veered around to how media persons now have an entry into the new parliament building as if it were a backdoor. The snide tone was inescapable as one mentioned the surfeit of glamorous and curious visitors including movie stars entering the house from front doors to have what in India we call a "dekho" —and the potential for security distraction such things hold.

Between the "dekho" and the decorum of the house falls the long arm of the administration. There are enough and more experts telling us what should have been done or could have been done or must be done to boost security after some youngsters with no apparent connection with organised groups smuggled in canisters that oozed a yellow smoke haze that sent shivers down the spines of Indian VIPs. Given that the incident happened ominously enough on December 13, the anniversary of the 2001 attack by terrorists in the adjacent old parliament building in New Delhi, the fears are understandable.

Then there are questions on everything from novel protests to whether guns could be smuggled in the way the canisters were and whether the recent expulsion of Lok Sabha member of parliament Mahua Moitra after a cyber security breach was an overreaction by the ethics committee.

Beyond all this, I still think the focus should be on elegant but hard-as-nuts security of the kind I witnessed in Bangalore. Security personnel, in my humble opinion, come in various shapes, sizes, and personality traits. I have covered a couple of G20 summits in high-security zones, been to the prime minister's house and chief minister offices, and entered parliament premises on countless occasions.

Many of us have also been through airport security checks which became tedious after the 9/11 attacks months before the Indian parliament was attacked in 2001. Many guards have little or no hard training whatsoever and casually use the frisking device or inspections as a routine act with bureaucratic rules. There are standup comedians like Varun Grover who have made a career out of mocking security staff and their gauche ways

In India, the Special Protection Group that guards the PM is one I am understandably impressed by, as it comes close to what I witnessed with the Israeli VIP security. They are professional, focused, well-dressed and pleasant. In terms of both recruitment and training, they reflect personality traits that are distinct from the kind I have witnessed elsewhere.

What this means is that in both recruitment and training, we need people well above the standards often encountered in Indian security cordons

The harsh fact is that the Indian government is caught in a maze following this week's yellow haze. It has to juggle public convenience, security alertness, and global threats from overseas-based baiters like Khalistani hardliners who have been issuing public threats to India. Could we think of the SPG going beyond its traditional brief to train lesser mortals of the security hierarchy so that we can scale up security not merely in numbers but in quality? Maybe we could do with retired SPG staff being deployed for this.

(Disclaimer: The views of the writer do not represent the views of WION or ZMCL. Nor does WION or ZMCL endorse the views of the writer.)