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My Name is Khan: When reel turned real
Mumbai, August 15 “I was really hassled perhaps because of my name being Khan. These guys just wouldn’t let me through,” he said in a text message to mediapersons in India. After a couple of hours’ interrogation, he was allowed to make a call, he said, and he got in touch with the Indian consulate, who vouched for him and secured his release. “I felt angry and humiliated,” said Khan, who had just finished a month-long shoot in the United States for his upcoming film ‘My Name is Khan’, which is about a Muslim man’s experience with racial profiling. A US consul official in India told a television channel they were inquiring into the matter. Last month, US-based carrier Continental Airlines apologised to former Indian President APJ Abdul Kalam for frisking him at New Delhi airport. In a same incident, George Fernandes, who was the then Defence Minister, was forced by US security officials to remove his shirt and shoes and made to undergo check at an airport in Washington when he was there on an official visit a few years ago. This had led to a furore in India. — Agencies India takes up issue with US New Delhi, August 15 US Ambassador to India Timothy J Roemer, meanwhile, said, in a statement, “We are trying to ascertain the facts of the case - to understand what took place.” Describing Shah Rukh Khan as a “global icon”, Roemer said, adding that, “He is a very welcome guest in the US. Many Americans love his films.” Information and Broadcasting Minister Ambika Soni denounced Shah Rukh’s detention, saying that, “I don’t think that this manner of detaining (in the name of religion) is justified. But in the US, several examples have surfaced where frisking takes place more than required.” She was of the view that there should be a tit for tat response. |
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