Re: [silk] security and choosing sides

[ashok]

i think arbitrary detentions at airports
and in airplanes have been happening all the time, its just that we hear
about
them nowadays because many of the detentions
nowadays appear to be triggered by terror perceptions.

in 2000 i was stopped while entering
nairobi for carrying a 'day-of-dead tableau' in my luggage (not the george
romero
'day of the dead' but the mexican festival
of holy communion....).  the tableau had a bunch of small clay skeletons
climbing
out of coffins and partying at a dinner
table (set  -- unfortunately for me --  in the style of the last
supper...).  the customs officer 
immediately stopped me and i was detained
and locked up in a room for 6 hours, all i was asked was : 'this is demonic...
are you practising witchcraft.....'
[**]

apart from that, i have been detained
for shorter durations both in india and in another country in africa ...so
i guess
the frequency of detentions is quite
high.....

i was finally let off when the shift
turned and somebody with a brain finally understood my explanation...

[**] - witchcraft is a criminal offence
in kenya. though the law barely defines as to what constitutes witchcraft.



[EMAIL PROTECTED]
wrote on 09/05/2006 06:13:55 PM:

> > innocent Muslims. That is obviously wrong, as was the detention
of twelve
> > Indians on a Northwest flight for misbehavior of a commonly seen
kind that,
> > for the first time in the history of aviation, was considered
suspicious of
> > terrorist  behavior. This arbitrary detention seems to be
a bigger worry in
> > the West that it is in India.
>