Students Federation of India activists protest against ignominy to Shah Rukh Khan due to his detention at the Newark Airport, in Musheerabad, Hyderabad, on Sunday. — PTI

“I did feel bad. I felt angry. I am glad my family wasn’t there. God knows what they would have done to them,” Khan said yesterday in a statement issued by his office in Mumbai. — PTI

‘King’ in US media

Washington, August 16
At a time when the Obama administration is attempting to develop a new relationship with the Islamic world, Bollywood superstar Shahrukh Khan’s statement that he was grilled at a US airport because of his Muslim name has gained prominent space in the American media.

The presence of ‘King’ Khan, who was followed by American mainstream media quite prominently for a “byte” in connection with yesterday’s incident at the Newark airport, could have gone unnoticed otherwise, as has happened in the past.

The actor had returned to India only a few weeks ago after month-long shooting for his film “My Name is Khan” in the USA. The “Daily News” headline on the incident read “Bollywood star Shah Rukh Khan held at Newark Airport; claims racial profiling due to Muslim name”.

“The Washington Post” headline said “Indian star questioned at airport, raising ire”. Its report said, “The news of Khan’s detention broke on a day of national pride (India’s Independence Day), marked by parades, family picnics and girls wearing bangles in green and orange - the colours of the Indian flag.” News channels aired non-stop coverage of Khan’s troubles, along with reactions from Bollywood A-listers, civil rights officials and security experts, some of whom defended the questioning in a post-9/11 scenario, the daily said.

Outrage among NRI fans

Chicago: NRI fans of Shah Rukh Khan here have said that they felt bad about the treatment meted out to the superstar by immigrations officials at the Newark airport.

“It is an unfortunate incident. 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 looks 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.

Salman flays US airport authorities

Mumbai: Bollywood star Salman Khan has criticised the US airport authorities for detaining and questioning fellow star Shah Rukh Khan. Shah Rukh was en route to Chicago for a parade to mark Indian Independence Day when he was pulled aside for questioning at Newark Airport in New Jersey on Friday.

“Just because of few Muslims, billions of the community members face problems, which is not right,” Salman said.

Just a routine: Bhajji

Baruipur (West Bengal): Star cricketer Harbhajan Singh cannot understand the fuss about Shah Rukh Khan’s grilling at the Newark airport in New Jersey, which he described as a “routine” affair. Harbhajan said he has undergone numerous checking and screening procedure and never found anything wrong with that.

“I don’t know what exactly happened there. But I just heard that he was detained for two hours that I think is a routine procedure. You people have made it a big news,” the off-spinner told reporters after laying the foundation stone for a cancer research institute here today.

Shah Rukh Khan deserved respect as a public figure, but screening was a routine procedure followed at airports across the world, he said. — Agencies

Khan not singled out because of his name: US

The spokesman added Khan was questioned for 66 minutes as part of the agency’s routine process to screen foreign travellers and was not detained. — Agencies