17 August,2009 08:30 AM IST | | Michelle Wilfred
...That's what four of five Bangalorean achievers said yesterday after news broke that the movie star had been detained at a US airport
Kingu00a0Khan being detained by US immigration officials has kicked up a storm and the media has not let this issue die down. The Bollywood Badshah was detained at the US airport for two hours on 15th August because his name popped up on a common checklist maintained by the US immigration officials since the 9/11 attacks. Most people reacted to this saying it is devastating and humiliating as SRK is an International figure, but couldn't it be that the officials are not taking their chances? MID DAY finds out what Bangalore thinks...
I feel what the immigration officers of Newark did was right in principle. They were probably just following orders.
Shahrukh Khan may be a famous person in India but an average American guy working at the airport might not know who Shahrukh Khan is as he is probably just another passenger for them.
One cannot expect the US airport officials to be up to date on the list of all the top celebrities in the world. We cannot blame them for doing their job; it is always good to be sure and not take chances.
Sadly, in India, rules might be bent when some celebrity like Tom Cruise visits the country. It is alright if they bend the rules for the ministers of that particular country, as they are well known figures there, but otherwise when it comes to security issues no one should be spared.
u00a0
No one is to be blamed here, it is not SRK's fault that his name was in the checklist, neither is it the fault of the airport officials who were just doing their job.u00a0
The officials were just doing their duty. So what if SRK is a celebrity?u00a0 If he was not recognized, it isn't anybody's fault; even Kamal Hassan was detained at an airport once. If his name appeared on the checklist, then it was right to check him.
The American immigration officers treated SRK like any other passenger. We must remember that the American officials are tough and are not flexible like Indian officials. If his name appeared on the checklist then it is fair that they check him. There is no point in making this a big issue.
I think what the airport officials did was wrong. SRK is an international celebrity and the officials should not have detained him for two hours. They could have easily identified him. Simply googling SRK's would have thrown so many images of him for reference. Part of the blame is on the event managers, who should have taken more precaution. Officials not taking chances since the 9/11 attacks is something good,u00a0 but zeroing down on Muslim names is not fair. This is not done!
