Holland should not owe India an apology

Much has been made about the detention of 12 Indian businessmen in Holland after their behavior, which included "using cellphones, attempting to pass cellphones to other passengers and unfastening safety belts while belt use was still required," lead to their flight to Bombay being returned to Amsterdam under military escort (see The New York Times).

The fact that the passengers were visibly Muslim, with Muslim beards, scullcaps, and robes, only added to the alarm. Muslims are behind most transnational terrorism in recent years. That said, it must be admitted that Indians can be unruly fliers:

An Indian Airlines attendant who flies on the Kolkata-Bangkok sector says, "These so-called educated passengers do not switch off their cell phones when they are asked to do so, and still make calls when the plane is ready for take off or is landing. Before the plane halts, they jump up from their seats and open the baggage. They ignore the 'seat belt on' signs. It's really tiring to attend to such passengers."

Having flown on the route between Kolkata and Bangkok, I can vouch for what the flight attendant said. That flight was one of the most unnerving flights I had ever taken. Upon return, I wrote a letter of complaint to both the travel agency organizing the trip and Indian Airlines. I recalled taking the travel agency to task for claims about the quality of tourists that booked with them, and referred to the tourists as "louts and boors." Of course, I received no reply.

Safety instructions are not enough. Rules need to be made that violations of safety instructions will result in the plane being diverted and passengers violating safety instructions will be removed from the plane, and need to be stated as part of safety instructions.

The Netherlands should not owe India an apology for detention of the 12 passengers.