SHAHRUKH DETAINED AT NEWARK AIRPORT IN USA


On August 14, 2009, Khan arrived in the United States in order to both promote My Name Is Khan and to participate in various India-related events around the country (including Indian Independence Day). After arriving at Newark Airport in New Jersey, he was pulled aside by TSA officers while waiting for his luggage. and questioned for 66 minutes in a separate room about the nature of his visit. Khan stated that he was told that it was because "they said my name was common to some name that popped up on the computer." The officials asked if he could provide names of people to vouch for him. Khan noted that he "had all the documents; they were asking me where I was going to be staying. I gave the name of FOX people with whom I had finalised a deal a few days ago as contacts." However because they wanted to check his luggage which the airline had lost, Khan said that he "was taken to a room where many people were awaiting a secondary check on visa, most were Asians. In fact many officers were reluctantly vouching for me, some people were asking for autographs and a Pakistani fan even said he knew who I was. But the officers said it was procedure and kept taking numbers from me." While he wasn't allowed to use his own phone, Khan was permitted one phone call. He was thus released after officials from the Indian Consulate intervened. Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel stated that the event will be further explored with U.S. officials. According to the BBC, "Elmer Camacho, a spokesman for the US Bureau of Customs and Border Protection, said the questioning was part of the agency's routine process to screen foreign travellers."


When later asked during an interview whether he was angry, Khan responded that, "I did feel bad for a lot of people in that room, I know because I had an escort and someone would recognise me, I will get out. Others may face more trouble [...] I have extra security because of my name. I can handle this but when you have someone as respectable as an ex-president getting frisked, I am nobody" (in reference to the frisking of President A. P. J. Abdul Kalam earlier in the summer). Khan later stated that, "I think it is a procedure that needs to be followed. But it is an unfortunate procedure." When asked if he would demand an apology, Khan replied that he would not.


The incident has initiated debate on the topic and demonstrations in India. A number of individuals have also responded to the event. Director of My Name Is Khan, Karan Johar was asked during an interview with MiD DAY about the similarity between the film's plot and this incident. Johar responded: "It's upsetting because I got a text message this morning asking me if it was publicity plug for my movie. (Sarcastically) I mean, if I had that much power over the Homeland Security, why would I allow Shah Rukh to go through something like this? [...] What's really shocking is the fact that when I was writing the film, I never thought that what happened to the protagonist of the film would happen to Shah Rukh." Dr. Shashi Tharoor, the Indian Minister of State for External Affairs and a member of the Indian Parliament, commented on the incident stating that "we all found it offensive" and praised Khan for handling it with "great dignity." Actress Juhi Chawla also stated that it was "as absurd as Brad Pitt coming to India, being strip-searched, investigated and interrogated." Other figures in the Indian entertainment industry each with the last name "Khan" noted similar travel experiences (Zayed Khan, Iqbal Khan, Shabina Khan, Kabir Khan, Irrfan Khan, Dilip Kumar/Yusuf Khan, Eijaz Khan). Deepak Chopra's son, author and businessman Gotham Chopra echoed these sentiments by stating: "It's not just American customs agents being provincial, it's the fact that I would guess that in India alone, there are several million Khans. I'm not joking. Khan is one of the most common Muslim names and India is not even an Islamic country. "Ghengis Khan," anyone? Khan is like Jones or Smith. This is how our security works in the US? This is how we are catching terrorists? Are you kidding me?" Many respondents to the Times of India blog suggested that, "the episode was being blown out of proportion by Shah Rukh Khan and the Indian government." 




Bollywood Reacts
(Source: Times of India)


Zayed Khan: “Of course we Khans go through this kind of humiliation all the time. I’ve gone through it, Salman has gone through it.
I’m glad people are talking about it because of Shah Rukh.


There have been times when I’ve been with 17 people in a team on tour or for a shooting in the US. Out of these only one gets detained on the airport while the others get cleared in no time at all. Guess who invariably gets detained? And some Caucasian bully who does these checkings by the book and who thinks all Khans are terrorists will tell you it’s a random check. Tell me, how can there be random checks on 5 US airports one after another and in all of them only yours truly gets detained for additional checking? I think there’s a big difference between being secure and being ignorant. I think American investigation agencies need to take a close look at the way they treat a certain community of people. How uncool is to humiliate your guests?? We in our family have stopped going to the US because of these, ha ha, random checks on the airport. We don’t go to the US for holidays, only for work and to meet family and close friends. The Americans must realize they’re losing out on a lot of goodwill. They first insulted our former president Abdul Kalam. And now Shah Rukh. Humiliation of Indians anywhere is unacceptable. Nothing has been done about racist attacks on Indian students in Australia. I see no difference between what’s done in Australia and in the US to Indians.


Iqbal Khan (tv actor): “Such attacks on Khans is nothing new. These things happen at American airports. It is time for all Muslims in the world to let everyone know Islam means believing in God and the Almighty and in peace ... ..It’s happened to me. Once I was to go to the US for a show. I was the only one who didn’t get a visa. And I was the only Muslim. However recently I applied again and I got a 10-year multiple visa.


Shabina Khan (dress designer): “I really dunno what happened with Shah Rukh in the US. But I definitely get into issues at the airport thanks to my surname. It’s annoying. I’m now on my way to the same show where SRK was detained and harassed. I hope I don’t get into any hassles. It’s scary.”


Kabir Khan (director): “I was accompanying my wife in the US along with the Morani Brothers. It was a flight from LA to Washington just 15 days after 9/11. So the fear and parnaoia were not totally unjustified. We were waiting for the flight to take off talking to each other in Hindi when some passengers complained that we were talking in a ‘strange’ language. Within no time two burly FBI agents came on board and took me and my co-passengers to the front of the plane. When they got to know my name they questioned me for more than two hours, googled my name for terrorist links and then finally allowed me to fly.They asked me if I had been to Pakistan. I told them no. If I had told them I had been to Afganistan they’d have freaked out. Two other passengers on board refused to fly with us. So they were asked to de-board, the logic being that if my name was cleared by no means could I be prevented from traveling. So you see post-9/11 persecution comes with its inbuilt safety measures. But I honestly think a part of the global fear is justified. We can’t blame people for being paranoid after what has happened.”


Irrfan Khan: “More than the physical torture it’s the wounds of humiliation that never heal after you undergo such a horrific experience. It happened to me on two occasions. I was detained in New York and Los Angeles airport for secondary interrogation. I was outraged. I was told to quietly come into a room for questioning and identification verification. I wasn’t allowed to talk. When I tried to ask why I was being treated this way I was told to keep quiet. I wasn’t allowed to use my phone, even to inform the people who had come to receive me at the airport. They said, ‘No, you just sit down.’ All because my name was Irrfan Khan. The authorities did their job like computers, not caring how it affected the individual. You can’t argue back or rationalize. America is a country of superior, sophisticated knowledge. Surely they can tell the difference between a terrorist and an innocent traveler. On a second occasion this time in New York, when I was detained I blew my top. I told this big Black American guy, ‘Please clear the confusion about my identity once and for all. Or don’t provide me with a visa. I don’t want to come back to the US’ The guy wanted to know if it was a threat. I was taken aback. Mira Nair had to intervene. She advised me to never counter-question them. I wasn’t allowed to even get up from my chair. This is the free spirit of America. This 90-minute detention changed me completely. Just the thought of being held froze my blood. Can you imagine what a 90-day detention can do to an innocent man thrown into jail?”


Dilip Kumar (Yusuf Khan): “After hearing these atrocious accounts who wants to travel to such a stupid place when our beautiful India offers Kashmir’s jannat and Kerala’s luminous glory? God forbid if we have to go to such a country.”


Eijaaz Khan (tv actor): “I’ve gone through similar experiences a couple of times in the US. While all my friends breezed through immigration I was questioned and had to give the address I was staying at, and for how long. My whereabouts were even checked by them later. This was in February after 9/11. I guess this kind of treatment is to be expected by us Khans. We’ve to take it in our stride.”