Shah Rukh Khan should have returned from US, says Shiv Sena

It was Khan's third detention at a US airport in seven years

Superstar Shah Rukh Khan, who was detained at an American airport, should have displayed his patriotic credentials and returned to India after suffering another "insult" in the US, which would have been a "slap on the face of America," Shiv Sena said on Saturday.

Reacting to Khan's detention at a US airport, for the third time in seven years, Sena said despite this "common occurrence," the "tolerant actor" goes to the US repeatedly.

"This has been a common occurrence with Shah Rukh at most big US airports. Still, this tolerant actor goes to the US repeatedly, only to get insulted," an editorial in Sena mouthpiece Saamana said.

 

"He should have returned, displaying patriotic credentials, and telling the US that 'I won't step into your country if you are going to insult me in this manner,' the Sena said.

"Had he done so, it would have been a slap on the face of America. The US views every Muslim as a terrorist," the Sena said.

The Bollywood actor was detained briefly at the Los Angeles International Airport on Friday, after which he expressed disappointment on social media.

"I fully understand & respect security with the way the world is, but to be detained at US immigration every damn time really really sucks," (sic) the actor tweeted.

In April 2012, he was detained at the White Plains airport near New York for overtwo hours and, in 2009, at the Newark Airport in New Jersey for nearly two hours.

US Ambassador to India Richard Verma has apologised to Shah Rukh Khan for his detention at Los Angeles airport and said the US was working to ensure that it does not happen again.

The Sena also suggested that the Khans, a reference to other Bollywood bigs with that surname, should give direction to the 'misguided" youth of Kashmir who are on rampage.

"The Khans of Bollywood should take to Twitter to 'show direction' to misguided youth in Kashmir who are on a rampage," the Sena said.

The editorial also referred to last November's incident when Bollywood actor Aamir Khan said that his wife Kiran Rao wondered whether they should move out of India, as she feared for the safety of their children in a climate of "insecurity".

That was the time when the issue of "rising intolerance" in India was being hotly debated, and when several artists and authors returned government awards to protest "intolerance".