Shahrukh Khan was detained for two hours at Newark International Airport in US. The 43 year old actor was detained by immigration officials because his name was part of a common checklist prepared since the 9/11 attacks.
The officials wanted to know why Khan was visiting the U.S. and posed other such questions, after his name popped up on the computer screen at the counter.
He was let off at the intervention of Indian Consulate officials here. "I was really hassled at the American airport because of my name being Khan... It was absolutely uncalled for... I felt angry and humiliated," said Shahrukh Khan, who was heading to Chicago to take part in an Independence Day celebration.
"It is a Muslim name and I think the name is common on their checklist," he said.
The Indian Government said that it intends to strongly raise the incident related to Bollywood actor Shahrukh Khan's detention with the United States. Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel, reacting to the incident, said that such incidents were unacceptable.
"We will take the issue with the United States government strongly. Such incidents involving Indians due to their religion or nationality should not happen. We will not accept it," said Praful Patel.
Describing the incident, Khan said: "I was taken aback...I was taken to a room where there were several others waiting for secondary immigration checks. Obviously most of them were Asians. I was waiting for my bags...I thought it was nice of them to take me to another room... but that was apparently a second check."
Khan said he kept telling the authorities that he was an actor and requested them to allow him to speak to his contacts in the US, but was not allowed to make calls initially.
"I told them I am a movie star and had recently visited the country for the shooting for a film," maintained Khan, adding the particular immigration officer refused to oblige saying he was just doing his duty.
Khan has been frequenting the US to shoot for his film, the latest being 'My Name is Khan'.
The actor, who will return to India on August 20, declined to term the incident as "racial profiling", but said it had to do with his Muslim name.
"I am always reluctant to come down here (US). They always do it and it's odd travelling alone. My guard wasn't given visa from India and I was feeling disturbed. They kept on asking silly and irrelevant questions like phone numbers and hotel number," Khan said.
