Avoidable embarrassment

The detention of actor Shah Rukh Khan at a US airport to be vetted for entry is a kind of seasonal replay that does not redound to the credit of that country’s immigration, homeland and border security systems. There is a due process to be followed for entry into all countries whose sovereign right over whom they wish to admit and who they keep out is not in question. Nor does one expect India’s VIP culture to spread around the world so that rich and famous Indians should not suffer the indignity or the occasional delay that all normal travellers go through at border barriers.

The point is the US could have saved itself the embarrassment of its racial and religious profiling practices being exposed like this in impediments being frequently placed in front of a well-known personality who is only an entertainer and is not involved in dark goings-on of any kind. These are difficult times in which the world is doing its best to stand up to terrorism by putting up its guard, which means the visa and entry processes are never going to be as simple as the good old days. Even so, it is a bit of a mystery why an eminent artiste like Amjad Ali Khan should be refused a visa to travel to the UK to perform on his sarod. Again, where the UK may be going wrong is in not being able to handle a delicate issue without it becoming a major embarrassment. Surely, a non-immigrant visiting performer and frequent traveller is no security threat to Britain even after Brexit.