Many of you must have read this across the Indian papers and Indian news websites about SRK’s unfortunate ordeal at the Newark airport in the US. I am still not sure whether to call it unfortunate or fortunate. The kind of media attention this is receiving is because of the star himself which is understandable but for the wrong reasons. The UPA government is over reacting to the incident and leaders like Shashi Tharoor terming it as an offensive move by the US is quite ridiculous. There are yet others who would like to have a ‘tit-for-tat’ security checks done on foreigners arriving from the US. Our VIP’s just cannot come out of the comfort cocoon they enjoy the most. Is this the way how a government should react? There are numerous rules and regulations that are bent to suit the Indian VIP’s. It is no wonder our security systems are mocked the world over. Indian VIP’s are not VIP’s all over the world. They are just another person like you and I. I could write another blog on how Indians want to know every damn thing about US/UK and how ignorant they are about us. That’s the reality.
The US security system just did their job as they would do to any traveller. Now that traveller was SRK, so what? The only reason this has got so much of attention is because it happened to SRK. I don’t remember our government reacting this strong when many Indians were humiliated post 9/11. This is also raised as a case of racial profiling by the US. Have we looked at our own back yard? Muslims find it very difficult to find a house in Delhi or Mumbai. The owner has all the right to do a background check of his tenants rather than govern by prejudice. When this is evident within our country we are cribbing about racial profiling by the US.
SRK has the right to feel hurt about his experience. It would be the same for any of us, had we gone through his kind of plight. But SRK should know that they haven't seen his movies and that he is not famous in the US as he is in (at least the personnel's who frisked and interrogated him). America or any other country can only increase security measures to deal with the current situation the world is in. His wish to frisk Angelina Jolie & Megan Fox when they are visiting India is ludicrous.
The security systems should be applicable to one and all be it a politician, a star, from a certain section of a community or just another commoner. The rules should not be subverted for any section of our community be it a VIP. We Indians have to learn to obey rules and regulations even if his or her status symbol is high up the ladder of popularity. There are so many other important things our government should address rather than have this one blown out of proportion. Let us not over react to something that is very evident within our own country.
