The detention of Bollywood star Shah Rukh Khan at an American airport continued to spark outrage in the country on Sunday with the Government saying the action was "offensive" and unacceptable and that it will "strongly" take up the issue with the US.
"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," Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel Patel told reporters in Bikaner.
Tweeting in the social networking site 'Twitter', Minister of State for External Affairs Shashi Tharoor said, "we all found it offensive". Mr. Tharoor however said SRK himself spoke about the matter with "great dignity."
"This also happens to hundreds of innocent Muslims daily who don't have one billion people to stand up for them and raises real questions about the US procedure."
But cricketer Harbhajan Singh had a different take. He said he cannot understand the fuss about Shah Rukh's grilling which he described as a 'routine' affair.
Harbhajan said he has undergone numerous checking and screening procedure and never found anything wrong with it.
"I don't know what exactly happened there. But I just heard that he was detained for two hours which I think is a routine procedure. You people have made it a big news," the off-spinner told reporters after laying the foundation for a cancer research institute in Baruipur in West Bengal.
"They check everybody. Even I was checked and screened a number of times. It's a routine procedure," he said, before adding "however, SRK is a public figure and he should be respected."
