Washington has ruled out any pattern or racial profiling in the detention of Bollywood star Shah Rukh Khan twice in the U.S. in the past three years.
“I wouldn’t necessarily look at this as some sort of pattern, but rather two separate incidents,” State Department spokesman Mark Toner said on Friday.
Mr. Khan was detained at a New York airport for over two hours by immigration officials after arriving from India in a private plane with Nita, wife of Reliance Industries Chairman Mukesh Ambani, to address students at Yale University.
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The State Department spokesman suggested that people wanting to avoid such situation should inform the U.S. Embassy in New Delhi about their stature and their travel plans.
“There is a programme whereby travellers can alert, identify their status before they depart via the embassy. And that’s one approach or avenue to take,” he said.
Mr. Toner ruled out it being a case of racial profiling. “I think we all know that that’s clearly not the case.
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You know, the fact of the matter is tens of thousands of Muslims travel to and from the U.S. every day and are not detained or delayed,” Mr. Toner said.
“He was travelling to an event at Yale University. We have obviously the utmost respect for Mr. Khan and his work, both as an artist and a humanitarian, and we offer our apologies for any discomfort or inconvenience he may have suffered as a result of this incident,” Mr. Toner said.
India’s Deputy Ambassador to the U.S. Arun K Singh conveyed India’s sentiment on the issue to Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia Robert Blake. This was followed by a note verbatim on the issue.