Shahrukh Khan's US detention
Saturday, August 15, 2009
2009 was a bad year for Shahrukh Khan. He was in news for all the wrong reasons, the biggest one being his detention (in his words) in US because of his surname 'Khan'. Shahrukh had gone to attend an Independence Day function in the US when he was held for two hours at the Newark airport.
Event list
Angry fans burned a U.S. flag in protest, a Cabinet minister suggested searching visiting Americans and an actress tweeted her outrage after Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan said he was detained for questioning at a U.S. airport. Though U.S. immigration officials denied he was formally held, fellow Indian film stars and political leaders condemned what they called "humiliating" treatment given to Khan, a Muslim who is well-loved in a largely Hindu country. One Cabinet minister suggested a "tit-for-tat" policy toward Americans traveling to India.
Angry fans in the northern city of Allahabad shouted anti-U.S. slogans and burned an American flag.
The US based group, which has a large following among Pakistanis and Asians living in that country, has slammed US authorities for subjecting to genuine Muslim travelers with humiliating inspections and interrogation after 9/11. The group has also criticized the US policy of profiling people on the basis of their race, religion and place of origin, which it feels is discriminator and uncalled for.
In any case, the statement by the group point out, that these airport inspections and interrogations have not yielded any positive result so far, and hence have proved to be futile. The group members have met Transport security officials in this regard pointing out the discriminatory nature and futility of the inspections.