Indian aviation security rules are fragile

New Delhi: The new security regulations at Indian airports that bar carrying a variety of items into aircraft can be easily breached. I did that four days ago -- although that was not my intention.
In the wake of the terror plot unearthed in London, what cannot be taken in as carry baggage has shot up to cover such items as perfume, gel, liquid drinks, toothpaste, laptops, liquid medicines (with doctors' prescription they are permissible), deodorant, shampoo, sweets and even baby milk (unless an adult tastes it in front of the security staff!).
But while flying from New Delhi to Srinagar, I packed my glaucoma eye drops in my carry bag - not one but three of them! The bag passed through x-ray. They were not discovered.
The return journey from Srinagar was equally telling.
In Srinagar, there is a blanket ban on carry hand baggage - or so I was told. However, mobile telephones, which figure prominently on the list of banned items in much of the West, are not barred in Srinagar.While Kashmiris and other Indians are told in Srinagar to check-in every baggage, I saw two foreigners - both white men - exempted from what I was told was a must do! Both carried into planes bags bigger than mine!
24/08/06 M.R. Narayan Swamy, Indo-Asian News Service/DailyIndia.com, US

To Read the News in full at Source, Click the Headline