The power show in politics

DEMOCRATICALLY elected leaders are routinely expected to be guarded by a large posse of commandos and policemen who are supposed to keep away their own electorate. Some rue the fact that such security detail is now a status symbol in our still developing country and causes inconvenience to the public and burdens the exchequer.

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I cannot help but contrast it with my experience in the US barely a few years after the terrifying attacks on the twin towers in 2001. I had travelled to Yale University for the commencement ceremony of my son, a graduate student there. George W Bush, the then President, was also expected to attend the three-day celebrations with his wife for their daughter’s graduation.

Used to the bandobast that accompanied every prime-ministerial visit in India, I was surprised to see the almost negligible security detail surrounding the leader of the world’s sole superpower. The car in which the President was travelling with his wife was led by four motorcycle-borne security personnel in the front, and two at the rear; a helicopter hovered overhead. This was soon after the Iraq war had been declared. Many people within the US opposed the war effort, and there were considerable voices of protest on the campus. Students had planned protests to make their voices heard during the President’s visit. Yet, his small cavalcade did not block regular road traffic, except for a few minutes at intersections when he was passing through.

That evening, the university president and dean of the college had invited students and their guests for a party at an auditorium, so we made our way there. President Bush was already at the venue, and the guests were meeting him quite freely. I could only spot one armed Secret Service agent in plainclothes standing far away, keeping an eye on the proceedings. We also made our way to meet the President, but happened to get into a conversation with a dean, who was aware of the recently concluded elections in India. He informed us that Dr Manmohan Singh had visited Yale just a few months back to participate in an economics seminar.

While leaving the party, we saw a few protesters holding placards and demonstrating at an intersection that the President was expected to pass through. As his motorcade neared the site, it slowed down and he waved at the demonstrators, who raised both their pitch and their placards. I was left bewildered that such an unobtrusive security arrangement was possible for the President of the United States. And, to think that our assorted league of important persons would probably consider such arrangements as an affront to their dignity.

The view here could be summed up as the reverse: if your security detail causes no inconvenience to the general public, you are probably just a lightweight!