My name is Khan! So what?

The Hindu : Front Page : I don’t feel like stepping on U.S. soil: Shah Rukh

I am flabbergasted by the Indian media and the public reaction over the SRK incident in Newark, US airport. When Dr. Kalam was strip searched in Delhi airport by the Continental Airlines staff there was no public outcry nor extended media coverage. It was a small news item in daily newspapers and couple of days of MPs from the entire Indian political spectrum talking about it in the Parliament. That’s all. No protest by public, no threat from a cabinet minister, no US flag burning, etc. It really puzzles me; for the media and the Indian public, an actor is more important than an ex-president of India who made India a superpower!! Unlike SRK, Dr. Kalam did not make any issue out of it. George Fernandes had gone through a similar situation in US when he was India’s Defense Minister and he did not make a big deal out of it either. But for SRK and his new movie My Name is Khan, it is a great publicity and he is using it very well and the media is helping him!! Shame on him ....

In US airports, this is routine. There is nothing inhuman about it. Whenever a passenger name pops up from their watch-list the passenger have to go through a secondary screening, in some cases, questioning by US immigration officers. This is nothing to do with having a muslim name. I have couple of my colleagues who have gone through the same secondary screening and they are neither muslims nor they are foreigners to US. They are both born in US and downright christians!!

SRK enjoys all the benefits of being a bollywood star in India but he can’t expect the same everywhere he goes. These kind of things happen and the immigration officers are simply doing their job!

Finally, something to keep in mind; in US airports there is no VIP list, only a Watch-List!!

I agree with u .I have Muslim friends who are working at topmost positions in very big firms in the United States.SoI feel the Muslims are treated equally In the US .

Regards,
Amarpreet

i agree ..

The headlines in Times regarding SRK was really .. "My name is Khan. Is it ?!? Step aside please... " :bigl augh

I agree completely to what you said dear.And I think we have to practice this in India too, there were no terror attacks in US after 9/11 and its obvious that this strict securtiy rules do play a role in ensuring safety of the country.

hi friends,
completely agree with u,he is just using this as a golden opportunity to encash n promote his new movie,but right now a similiar incident comes to my mind what happened in Australia,where many students were really being harrased,that was the movement when we as an Indians must raise our voice,n stop these kind of activities ,anywhere- - - --'\';

I don't think a personality like Shahrukh needs publicity stunts to promote his movie. He didn't promote RNBDJ and even then it got the biggest opening ever.. So this whole talk about publicity is totally false. Second, the movie is not releasing until February 2010. Don't you think he would have done it near the film's release rather than 6 months before it.

We in India should stop questioning the victim and start taking the issues in our hand. We always do this. Instead of doing something about the problem, we put our neck in the sand like ostrich and start questioning the person who is nothing but a victim in it

Originally Posted by athandri

The Hindu : Front Page : I don’t feel like stepping on U.S. soil: Shah Rukh

I am flabbergasted by the Indian media and the public reaction over the SRK incident in Newark, US airport. When Dr. Kalam was strip searched in Delhi airport by the Continental Airlines staff there was no public outcry nor extended media coverage. It was a small news item in daily newspapers and couple of days of MPs from the entire Indian political spectrum talking about it in the Parliament. That’s all. No protest by public, no threat from a cabinet minister, no US flag burning, etc. It really puzzles me; for the media and the Indian public, an actor is more important than an ex-president of India who made India a superpower!! Unlike SRK, Dr. Kalam did not make any issue out of it. George Fernandes had gone through a similar situation in US when he was India’s Defense Minister and he did not make a big deal out of it either. But for SRK and his new movie My Name is Khan, it is a great publicity and he is using it very well and the media is helping him!! Shame on him ....

In US airports, this is routine. There is nothing inhuman about it. Whenever a passenger name pops up from their watch-list the passenger have to go through a secondary screening, in some cases, questioning by US immigration officers. This is nothing to do with having a muslim name. I have couple of my colleagues who have gone through the same secondary screening and they are neither muslims nor they are foreigners to US. They are both born in US and downright christians!!

SRK enjoys all the benefits of being a bollywood star in India but he can’t expect the same everywhere he goes. These kind of things happen and the immigration officers are simply doing their job!

Finally, something to keep in mind; in US airports there is no VIP list, only a Watch-List!!

,

Hi all,

I can't agree with this, because US treating all Muslims as terrorist.But mean time all muslim countries giving a respect to other caste people, there is no caste bar.Don't divide people based on their religion. We all are human beings,colour of our blood is same.so a muslim name is not a base on the security checking.They insulted our great Abdulkalam also.Its not a good thing

@sonya4mdelhi. I appreciate your response. But I don't think SRK is a victim here. In fact he is a beneficiary!! I bet this is not a problem for the billion + people in India including our former President! It is only for people like Mr. Khan who think they are so special.

Dear athandri,

The entire Universe is shocked at the statement of SRK that he will not set foot in USA again. Hope President Obama arranges a BEER meeting with SRK and immigration official
to appease the Bollywood icon and his fans.
Gopalan

Gopalan sir well said

Beauty is they refer SRK as "Global Icon" not just "Bollywood icon"

Why are these people this crazy...

yes it is an insult ..but to an individual not to any gandhi or so-called legend right?!??!