SRK was detained and questioned

Shahrukh Khan, who has not finished the shooting of his forthcoming film, ‘My Name Is Khan’ in New York, said that he did not feel like going to the US again. The whole episode started when the superstar Khan reached Newark airport to take part in the Independence Day celebrations in Chicago on Saturday. He was not only detained for more than two hour at the airport but also had to face questions from the custom officers.

According to the news, he received such a humiliation solely because of his Muslim surname. However, Dr. Khan told the Press Trust of India that he was released only after he was allowed to message an Indian politician, who in tern contacted the Indian embassy in Washington on his behalf. And the star was released following the intervention of the embassy of India in the US. He gave his early reaction that he felt angry and humiliated by that experience only for his Muslim surname.

US customs officials reportedly confirmed that Shahrukh Khan had been detained but only for 66 minutes while Elmer Camacho, a spokesman for the US Bureau of Customs and Border Protection, said that the questioning was a part of the routine process to screen foreign travelers. Later on, SRK tried hard to calm down the situation as well as his fans by saying, “I think it's a procedure that needs to be followed, but an unfortunate procedure.” US ambassador to India, Timothy Roehmer however assured that the embassy would look into the matter. He said, “Shahrukh Khan, the actor and global icon, is a very welcome guest in the United States. Many Americans love his films.” He also added on, “The embassy is trying to ascertain the facts of the case to understand what took place".

While giving an explanation of being late, he said to his fans, “I was treated shabbily just because I happened to have Khan as my last name.” He further said, “It was very unprofessional of the airport security staff of not allowing me to use my cell phone to contact my local organizers.” He also added on that he was never treated like this anywhere during his travels throughout the world.

His forthcoming film, ‘My Name Is Khan’ is set on the backdrop of New York City and on the background of terrorist attack on the twin towers of World Trade Centre on 9/11. SRK is playing an innocent Muslim man, which also becomes a terrorist suspect by the US police. It seems that fate has played a strange irony with the superstar that he actually has come to understand what went through the innocent people, who were wrongly victimized because they belonged to a particular religion. Neil Nitin Mukesh experienced a similar incident when he was detained at an airport in the US, because of his fair complexion. He too then was engaged in the shooting of ‘New York’, another film based on 9/11.

It seems that terrorism is not suiting the stars of Bollywood at all.

SNAPS INDIA/ANI