Is the US unduly harsh to those with Muslim names? Or so it seems as days after the incident involving former Indian prez APJ Abdul Kalam being forced to a humiliating check while boarding a US airlines flight to Newark hit the headlines, yesterday it was the turn of Bollywood superstar Shahrukh Khan to face the heat of US security.

SRK’s was detained by the security forces at the Newark airport in US because his surname featured on the most common list - Khan! The actor, who was visiting the US to attend a South Asian event where he was the guest of honour was detained after his name flashed on the airport security check computers. Put through several questions about the purpose of his visit, his hand baggage was frisked, checked and rechecked.

During the gruelling grilling session Khan apart from being asked dreary questions was even denied access to his cell phone which he wanted to use to punch certain contact numbers to get him out of the difficult situation he found himself in. And while the actor was released after a two hour long ordeal, he later told Indian press that he was “disgusted and felt humiliated”. And he had enough reasons to be!

His friend Journalist turned politician Rajeev Shukla may have pulled strings here there to get his buddy out of the situation and the US Ambassador to India Timothy J Roemer may have issued a separate statement, saying “We are trying to ascertain the facts of the case — to understand what took place” while describing Shahrukh Khan as a “global icon” and adding that “he is a very welcome guest in the United States. Many Americans love his films”, there is a serious question thrown up from the incident: is the US crossing the “lakshman rekha”?

Most of us, including me would be on the Ayes side and would rile the US for its uncalled for security protocols post 9/11. Many feel that both these Indian dignitaries were put through questioning and extra security measures only because they had Muslim surnames! One can understand the tight security drill followed by the US after the 9/11 attacks, but most of us think that the US has been unduly harsh to those with Muslim names. Even Shukla, who came to the actor’s rescue condemned this act saying, “It is really not fair.

Just because he has a common surname does not mean that every Muslim can be taken as a suspect or considered to be a terrorist. The Amercian authorities should adopt a methodology so that well-known names like Shahrukh Khan and APJ Abdul Kalam are not harassed like this.

An angry and humiliated SRK added that he was really hassled at the American Airport because of my name being Khan...The couple of hours of interrogation wanting to know if I know anyone in America while all around people were vouching for me from India and Pakistan (sic), the Bollywood superstar said in a statement.

“The matter was taken up with the US Embassy,” External Affairs Ministry spokesman Vishnu Prakash said soon after the reports about detention of the actor reached here. He said the Embassy was ascertaining factual details of the incident. Consul General of India in New York was in touch with Khan, Prakash added. We just hope that USA is clearly and in no ambiguous terms told not to messa round with surnames and instead look at the security measures in a more saner way!