yoda Posted August 17, 2009 Share Posted August 17, 2009 Also' date=' 66 minutes include the time he had to wait in the queue because there were people ahead of him.[/quote'] I doubt it. They don't time you when you start at the end of a queue. My guess is (as good as any), this was from the time when he got the counter and when they told him ok you can go. 66 mins in itself is no big deal, when I first came to the US on a work visa, some of my colleagues were detained/rather asked to wait for about an hour cause the immigration official they went to wasn't convinced that they were here to work for a legitimate company. Those guys felt pretty annoyed as well, but like some have posted above, it is their country, so they have to check, yada yada yada. Now, when they blanket stop you cause your name matches some terrorist, to me that is absurd cause it affects not just a few, but many. Future terrorists aren't necessarily going to share the names of past terrorists. Also by the now I wouldn't be surprised if AQ is getting passports ready for would be terrorists with non-islamic sounding names. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gs Posted August 17, 2009 Share Posted August 17, 2009 ....and they have to search for him in Edison' date=' NJ. :haha:[/quote'] :haha: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gambit Posted August 17, 2009 Share Posted August 17, 2009 Pathetic behaviour on part of the US Immigration. Frisking is one thing but detaining a well known Indian is another. This is not about VIP culture as some people mentioned. Is the US intelligence so shoddy that they don't know who SRK is? Such things strain diplomatic relations and most countries with good ties make sure such incidents are few and far between. I am sure who he is, why he's been in the US before would have come up on their system. The officer wasn't just doing his job. His self esteem had probably taken a hit recently and wanted to bolster it by bossing around a well known foreigner, which is precisely why he continued with this detention exercise despite other immigration officials vouching for SRK. The US authorities have realised the officiousness of this person which is why US ambassador to India very quickly issued statements praising SRK in order to placate the Indians. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lord Posted August 17, 2009 Share Posted August 17, 2009 International does not equal to india, pakistan, bangladesh and desi UK parts Bollywood is just being recognized worldwide for Slumdog millionaire especially in US....it will take years before Indian celebrities become global icons o really then how come SRK has a wax statue in Madame Tussauds in England? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nikred Posted August 17, 2009 Share Posted August 17, 2009 o really then how come SRK has a wax statue in Madame Tussauds in England? ......maybe that's the desi UK part tex is talking about. :dontknow: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Desi Cartman Posted August 17, 2009 Share Posted August 17, 2009 Pathetic behaviour on part of the US Immigration. Frisking is one thing but detaining a well known Indian is another. This is not about VIP culture as some people mentioned. Is the US intelligence so shoddy that they don't know who SRK is? Such things strain diplomatic relations and most countries with good ties make sure such incidents are few and far between. I am sure who he is, why he's been in the US before would have come up on their system. The officer wasn't just doing his job. His self esteem had probably taken a hit recently and wanted to bolster it by bossing around a well known foreigner, which is precisely why he continued with this detention exercise despite other immigration officials vouching for SRK. The US authorities have realised the officiousness of this person which is why US ambassador to India very quickly issued statements praising SRK in order to placate the Indians. So 66 mins delay is too much for SRK. :wall: BTW Saif ali khan comes to Aus often but I can assure you that 99% of aussies dont even know who he is. PS: famous != VIP. Sanjay dutt is also famous and he tried to import arms :dontknow: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Texy Posted August 17, 2009 Share Posted August 17, 2009 If US has to keep a list of celebrities from India..they would have to update every other day... pretty soon Mika Singh* will demand ...he had to wait for his luggage to arrive & Rakhi Sawant will demand Mika thought she is his luggage and tried to take her to his motel room *newly added celebrity of 'iss jungal se mujhe bachao' Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
King Tendulkar Posted August 17, 2009 Share Posted August 17, 2009 You can fault the USA datebase for not having having info on bollywood stars but no more. Apart from that they did their job which is to prevent terrorists, with No 1 on their watch list being jihadi islamic terrorists. Even more so to watch muslims on covert missions who seem to have assimilated to western culture but really are formenting a plot. SRK fits the profile that the border agencies are most watching out for:--D Clearly need a list on bollywood celebs to stop offence to people :cantstop: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Texy Posted August 17, 2009 Share Posted August 17, 2009 may be John Buchanan called up his buddies at the airport and pulled a fast one on SRK Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
King Tendulkar Posted August 17, 2009 Share Posted August 17, 2009 may be John Buchanan called up his buddies at the airport and pulled a fast one on SRK :hysterical::hysterical: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
King Tendulkar Posted August 17, 2009 Share Posted August 17, 2009 may be John Buchanan called up his buddies at the airport and pulled a fast one on SRK Or Gavaskar or even the greatest Khan of them all...Salman Khan. As Salman has spoken openly that its no big deal what happened to to the lesser Khan:--D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gambit Posted August 17, 2009 Share Posted August 17, 2009 So 66 mins delay is too much for SRK. :wall: You are missing the forest for the trees. It's not about how much time was taken, it's about why detention took place in the first place. The very fact that the US ambassador jumped in to mitigate the outcry shows that he/the US govt think they made an error. BTW Saif ali khan comes to Aus often but I can assure you that 99% of aussies dont even know who he is. Doesn't matter how many know him. That's hardly a factor. 99% of Indians wouldn't recognise Masood Azhar either. It's the authorities' whose job it is to refer to their little screens which tell them who this person is and for what purpose has he been visiting their country. And also, if their own colleagues keep telling them that they know who this is, they should listen. PS: famous != VIP. Sanjay dutt is also famous and he tried to import arms :dontknow: And? Where did I say famous=VIP? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
King Tendulkar Posted August 17, 2009 Share Posted August 17, 2009 PS: famous != VIP. Sanjay dutt is also famous and he tried to import arms :dontknow: This is true. Even VIPs can be criminals:--D I mean the great Khan may not be a terrorist and the authorities will know 100% this. But could have had drugs on him, a gun or any manner of things. Just cos your a celeb does not mean you can't be up to dodgy things. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gambit Posted August 17, 2009 Share Posted August 17, 2009 Gambit Ji' date=' the ambassador jumped in to pre-empt the media and public frenzy this could potentially cause. I doubt he admitted that security officials were in the error?[/quote'] Yaar,if Bush and co never admitted being wrong on multiple issues , I doubt a US Amby would state such a thing so explicitly. But the haste with which he acted to downplay this shows to me these guys realise that they made a mistake. A mistake not so much in as acting out of policy but in not showing discretion when it came to a famous Indian. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
King Tendulkar Posted August 17, 2009 Share Posted August 17, 2009 Yaar' date='if Bush and co never admitted being wrong on multiple issues , I doubt a US Amby would state such a thing so explicitly. But the haste with which he acted to downplay this shows to me these guys realise that they made a mistake. A mistake not so much in as acting out of policy but in not showing discretion when it came to a famous Indian.[/quote'] Why should they show discretion when it comes to a famous indian? Should they apply this discretion to the famous indian Sanjay Dutt? They are not wrong cos SRK was not a terrorist and not carrying anything illegal! If that means that they are wrong then they are wrong millions of times. They are only wrong if a terrorist/drug smuggler/illegal activity gets through Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coffee_rules Posted August 17, 2009 Share Posted August 17, 2009 SRK himself admitted that they were following an unfortunate procedure. But he goes on stage and melodramatically said he doesn't feel like stepping on US soil, but for his fans. He wants to milk the issue for his movie. WTF do they do in "USA" celebrating "Indian" Independence day. So ****ing ironic... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ViruRulez Posted August 17, 2009 Share Posted August 17, 2009 If it is based on religion or ethnicity then its wrong.. I doubt if local white Americans are treated in the same manner at airport. I have never been to US because I believe in being King in my own country than going or living in a foreign country as a second class citizen. But I have heard a lot from my friends that not only Muslims but Asians are not treated as well as localites in the US. They treat the so called "black and brown people" not very well as most people know. But in India whites are treated by many people as superior and our policy itself is "atithi deva bhava" where we respect people from other countries and treat them very well. I am quite sure that US treats people differently especially in respect to colour, religion and ethnicity. And I have heard it from most of my friends. There is difference for sure. Security is important but there should be no partiality or difference between people. Regarding celebrities, I can assure you that big Indian celebrities have a lot lesser criminal records compared to US celebrities who are famous for all their brushes with law and make news for the bad reasons every other day. But I am sure that US celebrities or other white celebrities do not face the same treatment as seen on SRK. At the same time, SRK is taking it too far though I do not mind the way India is putting pressure on US for the same. I dont like the "I am the boss" attitude of US to the rest of the world. US may be a bit more developed than most other countries but they should respect each and every country of the world and their citizens too. I am not so much worried about this case but the worst act was to make A P J Abdul Kalam to remove his shoes when boarding Continental airlines flight to Newark. Kalam is one of the most respected and revered figures ever in India and one of the best scientists ever produced in the world. He is an ex-president and it cannot be possible that nobody knows him. There is a protocol and they should have followed it. The airlines was not even ready to apologise initially which shown their fecking attitude. If Bill Clinton would have been frisked by Air India in US when boarding a flight to India then hell would have broken lose for sure and I have no doubt about it. So, that is surely a difference. And frankly speaking in terms of talent or character Bill Clinton is not even a tiny droplet compared to former President Kalam. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gambit Posted August 17, 2009 Share Posted August 17, 2009 Not a mistake if you look at this whole non-issue from the PoV of those officials on the ground. Why do you think they didn't exercise discretion when they questioned (not detained' date=' as falsely reported by Indian media) him just for a little over an hour? You might want to contrast this with how they dealt with senator Edward Kennedy at Washington DC airport - he wasn't even allowed to board the flight.[/quote'] I remember the Ted Kennedy incident. IIRC it was the ticketing agent and not immigration that stopped him. That was a case of complete ineptness as his name had erroneously been entered into their potential 'terror' suspects database, which was later rectified. Here one officer went on some weird power trip despite his own colleagues vouching for a person of foreign origin who has a history of visiting the country in question and is a very very well known public figure. Unless he had input from the intelligence about some nefarious activities by the detainee, IMO he should not have done this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seedhi Posted August 17, 2009 Share Posted August 17, 2009 I remember the Ted Kennedy incident. IIRC it was the ticketing agent and not immigration that stopped him. That was a case of complete ineptness as his name had erroneously been entered into their potential 'terror' suspects database, which was later rectified. Here one officer went on some weird power trip despite his own colleagues vouching for a person of foreign origin who has a history of visiting the country in question and is a very very well known public figure. Unless he had input from the intelligence about some nefarious activities by the detainee, IMO he should not have done this.There is a procedure to be followed, vouching and stuff is not part of the procedure. The simple fact is that SRK's name set off an alert and the US immigration officers had to follow the procedure. And I dont see why the US immigration system needs to maintain a list of celebrities. Apart from high ranking members of the government, no one should be given a preference. I find it amazing that people are suggesting that bollywood celebrities get special treatment. Moreover, the system functioned pretty well - SRK was out in 66 minutes which is a reasonable amount of time. It is worthwhile to contrast the behavior of SRK with APJ Kalam. The latter, an ex-President of India, was frisked on Indian soil and never made a big deal out of it, even though it was against protocol. Here SRK is thoroughly milking his 66 minute wait, which is part of the normal procedure in US. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gs Posted August 17, 2009 Share Posted August 17, 2009 Maybe the system flagged him for the number of Pakis he had in his KKR team? Heck, it could have been easily called Karachi Knight Riders :giggle: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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