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Comment by srmarm | Hacker News Reader

I remember dropping my bag at a luggage store at the big train station in Mumbai. Bags needed to be scanned before being stored, not uncommon. Except the scanner was on the other side of the station.

So I was sent off and queued up to get my bag scanned and more importantly get my receipt stamped to say it'd been scanned walked back through the crowds where I could have done anything with the bag - to the luggage drop where the attendant checked that I had the correct stamps to say it had been checked! No seals on the bag, nothing to stop me giving them a different bag, just the essential stamp on a bit of paper!

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Ah yes, it's the "yessir" bureaucracy, the "magical piece of paper" bureaucracy. Designed to keep privileges and maybe as a job program

Malls are the worst when it comes to security theater. Most will check your car's boot for illicit materials when you park. But they won't check the car's interios - you could have anything inside!

You'll usually be frisked at the mall entrance. Women will only get frisked by a female security guard. If the female security guard is absent (pretty common), any female visitor can just walk through without getting frisked.

Do you mean shopping malls?

Not op but yes they meant that.

Wait, everyone gets frisked at Indian malls?

Was certainly not my experience 20 years ago.

At least happens here in Delhi. I can't remember if it happened before the 26th November 2008 Mumbai terror attacks, but that might have been the instigating factor.

You're right it wasn't true back then. I don't live in India anymore, but I believe a lot of security measures (and security theater) were implemented after the 2008 terrorist attacks in Mumbai: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2008_Mumbai_attacks.

Not in South India, in any of the cities I've been to. There was a brief period (possibly after the 2008 attacks that the others mention) when that was the case, but that didn't last long.

Bangkok, at least pre-COVID, metal detectors at all underground station entrances and all department stores. All with security guards. All waving people straight through while the things beeped alarmingly. Worst was when a tourist paid attention to the signs and attempted to show the security guard the contents of their bag. Eyes rolling everywhere as the crowd backs up, waiting for the guard to get them out of the way as fast as possible. But despite all that, they still insisted everyone actually had to walk through the detectors and you would be blocked if you dared try to enter through the exit door (without a metal detector).

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