Mr. Shahrukh Khan was interrogated at Airport in USA in a closed chamber for about an hour and a half, breaking news of all the news channels in India. A same thing appears in the next day news papers on front page. Independence Day celebration, Hon. Prime Minister’s speech is on page 2. The Badshah gives it a communal color by quoting: “ they detained me because of my name is Khan”. This I think is ridiculous and very impulsive reaction from a responsible individual who calls himself the king of bollywood. There were similar events in the past and people like Hon. Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam, Mr. George Fernandis, Mr. Neil Nitin Mukesh, Mr. Amir Khan and many more were questioned in USA. People having surname Patel do not get USA visa easily. But I do not remember any body in the above mentioned list has ever given such an impulsive reaction and made it a sensitive communal issue even if it is one. I do condemn the interrogation but on the other side we also need to understand that the irresponsible comments and blowing the issue out of proportion could make the matter worst and toxic for the secular fabric of our great nation. We already have it too many problems to solve.
We also can not forget that after 9/11 America did not even have a single incident of terror attack whereas we celebrate when do not have such major incident for 100 days. The difference is the security checks that are in place there and lapses in India. There no one is VIP and we have too many to handle. We need be more rational rather than just making it an emotional issue and branding everything communal. As a nation we must protest such act by USA or any other nation. No one has a right to insult our respected citizens but just associating these things with communalism should be stopped. We will only suffer from this.
Few days before Mr. Mahesh Bhat and Mr. Imran Hasmi had made allegation about an apartment in Mumbai and branded it as communal. Two days later, the members of the same apartment filed complaints about these two, after that no news from these celebrities and self proclaimed victims.
One needs to be very careful and responsible before making any public statements. We definitely have freedom of expression but while exercising these rights we also need to remember out duties and responsibilities. The news channels seem to be forgetting basics of journalism and after TRP’s and catching eyeballs. Controversies have become new mantra of publicity.
