Ghazala Wahab

Bengaluru: Eventually he relented. But not before the agitated Indian Air Force officer had made his point.

Defence minister Nirmala Sitharaman inaugurating Aero India 2019

“Sir, these arrangements are for your own security. If there is a mishap, it is people like you who will blame us,” he said in a voice bordering on angry frustration. Both his frustration and our plea were valid. Two days before Aero India 2019, confusion was writ large. His objection was to the gate numbers mentioned on the individual entry badges and the vehicle pass, both of which didn’t match. One allowed entry from Gate No 1, and another from Gate No 2b.

Are you suggesting, officer, that my car should go inside without me from this gate and I should walk down from another gate, despite having valid entry passes?

He nodded.

But eventually, both the car and I will be going inside. What is the logic of entering from separate gates days before the show when exhibitors are still setting up their stands?

If the reasonableness of the argument convinced him, he didn’t show it. He allowed the car in as a favour after a brief speech on the importance of following security guidelines. This was all very well, because by the time the show was ready for inauguration on February 20, even the modicum of security had ceased to exist.

The same car was waved in casually on the morning of February 20, when Union ministers, Nirmala Sitharaman, Suresh Prabhu, D.V. Sadananda Gowda and Subhash Bhamre along with Karnataka chief minister H.D. Kumaraswamy were expected to be at the show, in addition to several international delegations, some led by ministers.

Perhaps, they are lax because we have come in very early, we reasoned. The inauguration was scheduled at 9am and we entered at 7.15 am. However, security, or lack of it, was the subject of several conversations over the next few days.

Visitors at the air show

“Isn’t it amazing that given the present times, the security arrangements are so poor,” an exhibitor from a British company