I’ve been reading about people being unhappy with the way Indians of Muslim ethnicity have been treated on arriving in the US. And what is a bigger outrage is that the three people, who have been treated such & whose cases have become high profile are all prominent people of high importance. Former President APJ Abdul Kalam, actors Mammooty & Shah Rukh Khan.

Recently there was uproar after Abdul Kalam, a former Indian president, was frisked by personnel of US carrier Continental Airlines in New Delhi before being allowed to board a US-bound flight. It seems that the airline has apologized to him at a later stage but that could be only because of the controversy that it generated. And Malayalam film superstar Mammootty was denied entry to America and was detained for a couple of hours when he reached JFK airport at New York last week.

Finally, the Indian Consulate in New York intervened and got him released from the custody of US homeland security who had interrogated him also. It was his name that caused the trouble, it is learnt. His name, as given in his passport is, Mohammad Kutty Ismail Paniparambil. Mohammad Ismail is a name that figures in the US homeland security watchlist, it is reported.

In all cases, it seems that a form of ‘Islamaphobia’s is to be blamed for this differential treatment of these famous people. Being Muslim and the wrong shade of colour was the reason.

Or in Khan’s case, maybe they saw his films & the bad overacting and wanted to put a stop to it! Damn it, they had him in their clutches and they let him get away.