Detention in United States: Shah Rukh Khan joins Kalam, George, others

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Shah Rukh Khan isn’t the only well-known Indian who has had to face detention or a search for a second time when arriving at an airport in the US post 9/11.

Former defence minister George Fernandes too had to bear the brunt of being strip-searched upon arrival in the US.

According to what has been narrated by former deputy secretary of state Strobe Talbott, Fernandes was strip-searched twice at Washington’s Dulles International Airport in 2002 and 2003.

Former President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam too has had to face the rough end of the stick from the Americans. He was frisked at the Delhi airport by an American airline employees in 2009 when he was headed for the US.

The former President, possibly because of his Muslim name, was frisked twice on the same day at a New York airport last year. Security officials even took away his coat and shoes to check for explosives.

While the US may justify these detentions and frisking as a necessity in the wake of the 26/11 terror attack, travellers from across the world are facing increasing problems when arriving in the US.

What might help reduce the frequency of such incidents at least where India and the US are concerned is a common list of VIPs who will be exempt from pre-embarkation frisking.

The two countries are working to prepare such a list but the process has been time-consuming considering that India has a very long list of VIPs it wants exempted from pre-embarkation frisking. This list may be pruned but no final decision has been taken as yet. It’s learnt that the Americans have suggested that the list be shortened considerably.

Among others who have had to face this racial profiling at US airports is former Indian ambassador to the US Meera Shankar.

She was, in fact, then ambassador in the US when she was subjected to a pat-down search at Mississippi airport in December 2010, though she was carrying a diplomatic passport. What had raised the suspicions of the security staff at the airport was the fact that she was wearing a sari.