Editorial
Hijack Scare
FORTUNATELY, fear of yet another hijack drama, this time involving a Bangladesh Biman flight to Dhaka from Calcutta, has proved to be unfounded. The eleven Dhaka-bound Israelis, detained in the West Bengal capital on suspicion by the CBI officials of a hijacking plot, have been released after interrogation, bringing to an end two days of intense speculation over their ulterior motive. The alarm bell rung by the Indian intelligence agency, albeit false as it has proved to be in the end, has been a blessing in disguise, nevertheless; for it has prompted the government into taking stock of the security arrangements on the aviation front. Security at all airports in the country has been beefed up and vigilance intensified. Also, international airports world-wide where Biman aircrafts land have been requested for extra vigilance.
These are certainly reassuring pieces of news; however, there is a probability that with the passage of time, especially with the after-effect of the Indian Airlines hijack drama dying down, we may lower our guard. In other words, what we need are not ad hoc arrangements but ones that are made on a longer-term footing. The point we are trying to make here is that primarily because terrorist activities across the globe have been on the rise that we should brace for the worst at all times. Hijack attempt on Biman flights may not only be driven by Bangladesh-specific interest, as speculated in the 'false alarm'; any militant group could use the national airliner for their ideological and political interest.
On more than one occasion in the past, there have been security breaches at the Zia International Airport. Death of a young man in the wheel carriage of a British Airways aircraft that took off from ZIA, is a memory of not too distant a past. The fact of the matter is: there may be too many loopholes in the security system that need to be plugged. The hijack scare should make us renew our commitment to greater aviation security. It may have proved false this time around but who knows the national airliner may be a target of some militants. Should we not therefore be ready for the worst to keep out of the harm's way?
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