Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan was detained for as long as two hours early on Saturday at the Newark airport in the US, thanks to his surname ‘Khan’ that features on the alert list of US airport officials since the 9/11 attacks.Khan, who is on a visit to the US to attend an Indian Independence Day event as the guest of honour, was released after intervention from Congress MP Rajiv Shukla, who spoke to the authorities in the US and the Indian consulate.
According to reports, the actor was detained after his name flashed on the computer. Khan was asked a bounty of questions about the purpose of his visit. His hand baggage was checked and he was not even allowed to make a single phone call for about an hour.
In a statement given to a news daily, SRK said, “I told them I was a movie star and had recently visited the country for the shooting of my film. Nothing seemed to convince the immigration officer. There were other immigration officers who even vouched for me but this particular officer did not listen to anyone. I even told them I had an invitation from the South Asian community and was there to attend an event.”
Shukla, in a statement to Zee News said, “It is really sad and unfair. Just because he has a common surname does not mean that every Muslim can be taken as a suspect or considered to be a terrorist. The concerned authorities should adopt an attitude so that a well-known name like Shah Rukh Khan is not harassed like this. They should focus on getting the actual suspects.’’
This episode, quite ironically, comes at a time when SRK is wrapping up Karan Johar’s ‘My Name Is Khan’, a film touching upon the same issue, that of the minority being targeted for no fault of theirs only because of suspicion and no solid proof.
The actor is to return to India on August 18.
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