Medina-Jaipur Flight Security Lapse?
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the pigeon takes flight.
When a farmer from Moradabad, Habib Hussain, goes to Saudi Arabia for a job and feels like returning to India because he is unhappy with the job, he cannot get back because the passport is in the possession of the employer.
As a cleaner in the airport whose job it is to clean toilets in aircrafts, Habib has access to flights. So, he locks himself up in the toilet of an Air India aircraft flying from Medina to Jaipur so he can reach India. He is discovered soon after the flight takes off by the crew members but the commander of the flight is convinced that Habib does not pose a security threat to the flight and the flight carries on to its destination.
Upon arrival, Habib is arrested in Jaipur. The crew members are summoned by the police for getting details of the security lapse. And the media is happily following this story on these lines.
But, nobody in the media is raising any question on the practice of impounding passports of employees by employers in other countries which is illegal. If Habib holds a valid Indian passport, the Indian government is duty bound to protect him and his interests in the countries he visits and takes up employment in. Otherwise, the passport has no meaning.
Has the Indian government ever taken up this matter with the governments of gulf countries? This is certainly not the first of such cases. Also, why does the government not act against travel agents who organize jobs for unsuspecting victims where the victims get shortchanged? Surely, such travel agents are criminals in the eyes of law.
It is important to investigate how Habib managed to hoodwink the security system and reached India without travel documents or money and it is important to put corrective measures in place. The airport security needs to be toned up in Saudi Arabia. The Air India crew needs to pull up its socks.
But, once that is done, the bonafides of Habib must be confirmed and if he is found to be a victim of circumstances, he should be dealt with leniently. It is not fair to punish a victim. As of now, nobody is looking at the plight of the victim. Nobody is looking at the circumstances which forced him to take such an extreme step.
And, as a long term measure, the Government of India needs to play a proactive role in such cases and intervene in matters where employers in other countries confiscate the passports of Indians before offering them employment.
The passport is a document that is supposed to be on the person whenever he travels out of India. It is not a document that is issued to him to be deposited with the employer abroad. When we fail to protect the interests of Indian citizens working abroad, it puts a question mark on our integrity. Can this happen to an American citizen?
In all probability, this case will be closed by punishing Habib and penalizing some airport security officials and crew members of Air India. But, by doing that, have we addressed the problem? NO! Because, the root of the problem lies elsewhere and so long as we do not address it, this problem will continue to hog others.
