the muslim names all being on high alert, frustrating but we all deal wit it daily. srk made it out alive so he can stop whining

WHAT THEY DID TO SHAH RUKH KHAN WAS MESSED UP. JUST CUS OF A LAST NAME WTFFF!!! I LOVE SHAHH RUKH KHAN EVERYONE STOP HATINGGGG

Kamini, please tone down the rhetoric. Your article makes absolutely no sense. As an Indian who has lived in the US for decades, I have a few questions for you. Why are you so offended exactly? Was SRK beaten? Was he strip searched? Was he told revolting things about his color, country, religion, looks? Was he taken to Guantanamo Bay? Was he waterboarded? Was he tortured? If I got the story right, a passenger who happens to act in films for a living in one of the over 100 countries from which people visit US every day, was 'questioned' by the immigration authorities. He was treated like other passengers - no more, no less. No special treatment was accorded to him. I hope you do realize that there are actors from different countries that visit the US every day. There are even more accomplished people, like Nobel laureates, Ambassadors, Federal ministers, Sports stars, Fortune 100 CEOs/Owners and other celebrities that pass through US airports every day! Do you expect the US immigration officers to recognize film stars and celebrities from India, Nepal, Poland, Congo, Cuba, Italy, Burkina Faso, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, France, Italy, Kenya, Ghana, Brazil, Nicaragua and Chile? And even if they do recognize them (which I can assure you they dont. Not one bollywood actor has any recognition in the US!), what exactly do you expect the US immigration to do? For your kind information, here in the US rules are meant to be obeyed and equally implemented. Which means, if you are the daughter of the current President of the US and you are caught by the Police for public drunkeness/driving under the influence, you are booked under the charges - as happened to President Bush's daughter when he was in office! As for the US airport security procedures, no exceptions are made. Now if you feel hurt because SRK had to wait 66 minutes, let me tell you about an incident where a US senator was STRIP SEARCHED in an airport in the US (in his own city actually) because the X ray machine kept beeping. They all knew him, and he kept telling them that he had had a hip replacement surgery and the metal inside may be causing the beeps to go off. But the aiport security told the senator, "We are sorry Sir, but we have to follow the rules. You, Sir, would have to strip." And he stripped. When the media later got whiff of this incident a few days later and asked his office for a reaction, what do you think the senator did? He complimented the airport security for their diligence and for making no exceptions because the nation had to be kept safe! Now how many MPs or Ministers in India would have allowed that to happen? And just so you know the Senator in question was NOT brown or black, was NOT muslim, was not female...Just so no one can use the Race, REligion or Gender card here. He was a White, Male, Christian Senator! On another ocassion, former Vice President Al Gore was frisked and given a thorough check, all because the airport security person at the gate felt the need to! And Al Gore complied...it was not earth shattering news...it made it to the late night comic talk shows and they lampooned Al Gore in a lighter vein. Why do we Indians have to see everything as a collective persecution of our national pride! Has it got something to do with a national inferiority complex? I have a question for you Kamini...Did you write an article when India's ex-President APJ Abdul Kalam was asked to remove his shoes in an aiport IN INDIA by US airline officials. I am guessing not. Actually if you had written then, you would have been on solid ground. Here is why... 1. That incident happened in India, where INdian laws and not US laws are applicable. 2. Indian laws exempt an ex-President from such checks. How come other Indian actors like Kamal Hassan, Mammootty, Neil Nitin Mukesh had to go through the same checks, but did not create such media hype. Every single one of them spoke clearly with the immigration officers and identified themselves and ASKED THEM TO CHECK THEIR WEBSITE and google them up. Rule number one with US immigration - the only way you can expedite the process is to co-operate with the officers and help them check your credentials by providing any information you can. Dont give vague answers, be clear. I remember reading the article about Mammootty's detention for questioning at New York's JFK airport this May. He conducted himself with such grace and told the immigration officers, "Listen I understand that you are doing you duty to keep US safe. I respect your time, and mine. I am a super star of a film industry in India, and have won the most number of National Awards in India for my contribution for Indian cinema. Here is my web site URL that you may like to look up. Please also google up my name, and all your questions about me would be likely answered. If you have more questions, I would be happy to comply." 10 minutes later, the officers returned with a large smile and complimented Mammootty on his achievements. They also regretted any inconvenience caused to him by their official process. Mammootty told them there was nothing to apologize for, and in turn complimented them for their thorough professionalism. As a courtesy he also invited them to Kerala and asked them to be his guests. So impressed were the officers, that 3 security officers actually accompanied him to his car! Now Mammootty (actual name - Mohammed Kutty) is a muslim as well, but as soon as he met throngs of anxious fans outside JFK airport, and media members who wanted to know if he was a victim of racial/religious profileing, he explained the reason for his delay and said to them, "Please do not blow this incident out of proportion. These US immigration officers were extremely courteous with me and very professional. I only have the highest regards for them. No wonder that they have managed to keep their Nation safe. I hope we emulate their efficiency and professionalism in India, and we would also prevent terrorist attacks." Being to the point, and forthcoming with US immigration officers at a port of entry helps them do their job quicker. Vague and evasive answers work to the contrary... (Where are you from? "South Asia". Where are you going to? "To Attend a South Asian festival". These are vague answers. Instead..."I am an Indian. I am a celebrated Film Star of Bollywood. You could google my name up, and here is my website. The Indian Association of USA/New York New Jersey chapter have invited me." This is better than saying I am attending a South Asian event. Media reports say that when grilled further SRK said that he was attending a Pakistani independence day parade. Nothing wrong with that, only that if he started off saying South Asian festival, and then on further questioning says Pakistani independence parade, it could appear as being evasive, especially for an Indian celebrity. They may think that something doesnt add up..Again that doesnt mean they will imprison him, it just means they may like to question him further. There is no rocket science as to why an immigration officer may let one person go, but ask another with the exact same profile to come in for more questioning. This is routine stuff which thousands go through each day. My parents once were detained for extra questioning for 2 hours even though they have visited several times previously. This stuff happens to people of all races - white, black, blue, green, yellow, brown, and orange. Believe me, on some official visits, I have been bewildered to see some of my white colleagues pulled aside and made to go through extensive checks and frisking, while I was not. Some times the reverse is true. That is the reality of life post 9/11. NO wonder the US has kept itself free of an attack post 9/11, while we in India get annual gifts from Pakistan every few months. It has been embarassing to see the entire Indian nation get into synchronized breast beating because of this 'national humiliation'. Every one for Ambika Soni, to news channels, to regular joes on the streets of India have taken offense to SRK being questioned by US immmigration, and are talking of 'reataliation'! Why doesnt I&B minister Ambika Soni make a list of all Bollywood actors, actresses, dancers, singers/musicians (Lata Mangeshkar and AR Rahman), Item girls, Mujrawalis and send it to US immigration so their photographs can be hung on each US immigration counter. (Then Bangladesh, MOnaco, Spain, Bolivia, Ghana, Uganda and other countries may demand the same...and those pics can also be added to US immigration counters). Next the list and pics of all our beloved MPs and Ministers can be sent, so they are not quesioned. (Just please dont let Ambika Soni include the murders/rapes/rioting that the honorable MPs have been chargesheeted for). And please dont forget the list of Cricketers, our other set of Gods, (God forbid US immigration question Sachin, because some ill-informed US immigration officer may pretend not to know Sachin as well as Tiger Woods or Kobe Bryant. You know how these US people are, they may deliberately question our cricketers just to ignore the fact that India is also a 'Superpower'!) Well, people will be people, and our collective fragile egoes as Indians will keep getting hurt at such non-events...even as we ignore the mutilation of our soldiers by Pakistan (Remember Lt Saurabh Kalia and his 10 soldiers who had every organ of their body dismembered and sent back most of them ante-mortem...or the Border Security Force soldiers whose bodies were smashed flat as pancakes or postage stamps, and sent back by Bangla Desh Rifles, and we chose to keep mum as a nation :). Imagine if that had happened to US Soldiers ...Well we all know how a real 'Superpower' would have behaved when its self respect is 'truly' questioned. And we all saw how India reacted...As the wimps that we have proven to the world to be. We kept quiet and told the relatives of those soldiers to suck it up, for the sake of 'Peace'! LOL...such a bunch of losers we are!! But for SRK and his petulant acts, our devotion is never found wanting. Thanks to millions of adoring fans like you! Keep up the good work. - Setu Madhavan (floridabronze@yahoo.com)

Kamini, you make many references in your post that just don't make sense. One of the biggest problems with India is the sense of entitlement that people with money feel that they are owed. That's what makes this country a better place than most to live. If a star runs over homeless people while drunk (ala Salman) they go to jail. If a star houses arms that are used in (Bombay) bombings like Sanjay Dutt they are tried for treason and are in jail for life, not allowed to continue making moview. I am glad that he got stopped for an hour (new reports state that it was an hour, not two), it shows that no matter who you are, you are not above the law. Whether you are SRK or anyone else. Also, when was the last time an American bombed a place overseas? What point are you trying to make with a comparison with Jolie and Pitt? Unfortunately the US is still reeling from the 9/11 attacks that were perpetrated by Muslims. So if that means that randomly people are stopped and questioned, so be it. When I got stopped in China I didn't throw a fit, it comes with global travel. Let's not make an issue out of nothing. It's nice to see Bollywood stars treated like average people for a change. Also, remember when the train bombings in Mumbai happened 1.5 yrs ago, no one made a fuss. Only when it happened at a place (Taj/Oberoi) where stars go did they care and protest.

hoo dun whut?