Shah Rukh Khan or My Name is Khan 43, was stopped and questioned by US security at Newark airport on his arrival from India for about two hours on Saturday and was released only after Congress MP Rajiv Shukla spoke to the authorities in the US and the Indian consulate.
He was detained after his name flashed on a computer and was asked several questions about the purpose of his visit, because his name was part of a common checklist prepared since the 9/11 attacks.
But SRK did’nt took it seriously, while Salman Khan also appreciated the tight system of America.
Don’t make a big deal of Shah Rukh Khan’s detention
After a long time actor Salman Khan has come up with a real gem. On hearing about Shah Rukh Khan being questioned by US security at Newark, New
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Jersey, he said it’s good that the country has such a tight set-up. And that “there has been no attack after 9/11 because of this”.
Salman has a point. SRK might be an icon to Indians, even to the desi diaspora spread across the globe, but to America he’s just a visitor.
We may be convinced he cannot be involved in anything that’s remotely violent, but the guard given the responsibility of stopping something like 9/11 from happening in his country again will want to take no chances.
Interestingly, the same day that SRK was detained in Newark, there came news that the great Bob Dylan, wandering around Long Branch, near New York City, was asked for an ID by two cops too young to know who he really was. When he couldn’t furnish one, Dylan was taken back to the resort where he was putting up and staff there vouched for him. And America is Dylan’s own country. Was there a furore? Not even a little blowin’ in the wind.
SRK’s detainment is not a big deal, Salman
Bollywood has been divided into numerous opinions over Shahrukh Khan’s arrest in the US airport. If Bollywood celebrities like Karan Johar, Priyanka Chopra, Ritiesh Deshmukh, Vishal-Shekhar and Pritish Nandy expressed shock over his detention at the airport then Salman Khan carries an altogether different opinion.
Salman Khan said, “It is not such a big deal, when we go there we too have to go through the security check. There has been no attacks there since 9/11 because of their stringent security measures. I think it is a good thing (the security).”
In the past too, there are ample examples of well known personalities being held for their title and for security reasons. Former President of India, A P J Abdul Kalam, was refrained by an American airline at the international airport here before boarding the aircraft in April 2009.
Bollywood actor Neil Nitin Mukesh too was detained at the US airport when he was on a frequent visit to US for ‘New York’ shooting for being too fair. Director Kabir Khan also meted with the similar situation.
Govt. to raise Shahrukh’s detention issue with US
Bikaner (ANI): The Government on Sunday said that it intends to strongly raise the incident related to Bollywood actor Shahrukh Khan’s detention at the Newark International Airport in US, with the United States. Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel, reacting to the incident, said that such incidents were unacceptable.
Buzz up!
“We will take the issue with the United States government strongly. Such incidents involving Indians due to their religion or nationality should not happen. We will not accept it,” said Praful Patel. Khan was detained for about two hours on Saturday morning at the airport in New Jersey, USA, where he had arrived to attend a South Asian related event.
Khan was released after Congress MP Rajiv Shukla spoke to the authorities in the US and the Indian consulate. He was detained after his name flashed on a computer and was asked several questions about the purpose of his visit.
Shah Rukh Khan detained for two hours at U.S. airport
New York: Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan was detained and questioned for two hours at the Newark Airport near here on Saturday.
The 43-year-old actor was detained by immigration officials because his name was part of a common checklist prepared since the 9/11 attacks.
The officials wanted to know why Khan was visiting the U.S. and posed other such questions, after his name popped up on the computer screen at the counter.
He was let off at the intervention of Indian Consulate officials here.
“I was really hassled at the American airport because of my name being Khan… It was absolutely uncalled for… I felt angry and humiliated,” said Khan, who was heading to Chicago to take part in an Independence Day celebration.
“It is a Muslim name and I think the name is common on their checklist,” he said.
In New Delhi, the government took up the issue with the U.S. embassy which said it was ascertaining details about the incident.
U.S. ambassador Timothy J. Roemer described Khan as a “global icon,” who is a welcome guest in America.
Khan has been frequenting the U.S. to shoot for his film “My Name is Khan.”— PTI
NRI fans of Shah Rukh Khan feel sorry about treatment meted out to him
Chicago (USA), Aug 16 (ANI): NRI fans of Shah Rukh Khan here have said that they felt bad about the treatment meted out to the Bollywood superstar by immigrations officials at Newark International Airport.
“It is unfortunate the incident that happened with Shah Rukh Khan at the airport where he was detained for two hours. The homeland security wants to take measures for people like Americans but when you talk about big names like Shah Rukh Khan that’s quite high priority and usually there is somebody to usher them in. It is kind of unacceptable that it took two hours for the homeland security to figure out who Shah Rukh Khan was,” said Hema Virmani, a fan of the star.
Shah Rukh was enroute to Chicago for a parade to mark the Indian Independence Day on Saturday when he was pulled aside for questioning at Newark Airport in New Jersey on Friday.
A U.S. consul official in India told a television channel that they were inquiring into the matter.
As news of Khan’s detention broke on Indian television channels, fans and actors began posting angry comments on the Internet.
Minister for Information and Broadcasting Ambika Soni told a television station that while she could not say if Shah Rukh Khan had been detained “on religious grounds, there have been too many instances like these in the U.S. concerning Indians”.
Last month, U.S-based carrier Continental Airlines apologised to former Indian President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam for frisking him at New Delhi Airport. (ANI)
NEW DELHI – India’s former ambassador to the United States Naresh Chandra on Saturday said that the detention of Bollywood superstar Shahrukh Khan at Newark International Airport for two hours, clearly exhibited the “ham-handed” approach of American security agencies.
He told ANI over phone that a formal complaint about this harassment should be reported to the US State Department.
Reacting to the incident, Ambassador Chandra said: ” The authorities should have taken maximum 10 -15 minutes for questioning Shahrukh, but it took two hours. It is great incompetence and has lowered the image of (US) Homeland Security”.
Sources said that Khan was indeed detained at the US airport and questioned for two hours. They said he was released only after Indian Officials intervened.
Sources here said that the Consulate General of New York was in touch with Shahrukh Khan and the matter has been taken up with the U.S. Embassy in New Delhi.
According to sources, the Indian consulate could register a formal complaint against the security agencies involved in this “embarrassing” incident.
Some experts said that a formal complaint should be sent to the US envoy in Delhi.
Chandra, however, said that making it a big diplomatic issue would be counterproductive because the incident had nothing to do with US policy, but was the handiwork of lowly officers deployed at the airport. By Naveen Kapoor (ANI)
In light of Shahrukh Khan incident at Newark, do you think US Homeland Security systematically targets Muslims?
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