MY NAME IS KHAN
I read about Shahrukh Khan being detained by the US immigration last week on his way to address the student body of Yale. Apart from the image of Yale taking a nose dive in my estimation, a sense of déjà vu came over me.
Not so long ago Mr. Khan had made much hue and cry about the seemingly unjust and skewed behaviour of the US authorities towards him, in their detaining him long hours before allowing entry into the land of opportunity. At that time, the skeptics (like me) had attributed the events and the media frenzy about them to publicity stunts aimed at garnering momentum for Mr. Khan’s yet to be released film. A theory ever more believable by the fact that Shahrukh Khan movies thrive on extraneous elements rather than merit in any case.
However in the instant case, there is no movie to fend for. Unless you think he is trying to muster up a second wave of viewership interest for his recent debacle of a movie titled after an immigrant who sneaks into another country and kidnaps the wife of the king in that country. In such a situation, the inevitable question that springs to mind is….
What is the big deal?
What is the big deal that Mr. Khan was detained by the US immigration authorities for hours before being allowed to enter the country? Is it a big deal because he is an actor? Or is it a big deal because he is a muslim?
If you tend to favour the first explanation, then you have shot yourself in the foot, twice over. Firstly, because Shahrukh, whatever he may be, is not an actor by any stretch of the imagination. Secondly, because even if he is a celebrity, subscribing to the view that celebrities deserve special exemptions is contrary to all notions of democracy.
If you tend to favour the second explanation, then do read on, for therein lies the rub.
Isolating someone based on a particular characteristic and treating them in a discriminate fashion solely based on the preconceived notions attached to such characteristic is known as profiling. Where such characteristic is their religion or race, it is referred to as ‘racial profiling’.
At this point one would tend to inevitably delve into a debate as to whether racial profiling is acceptable or not, politically correct or not…whereas the fact is that racial profiling just is!!!
It exists all around us, and more importantly it exists within all of us. We do attach preconceived notions to people around us based on their race or religion. From something seemingly inane such as sardar jokes to being asked in a restaurant whether beef or pork would be ok, because one looks Indian.
On the other end of the spectrum is the profiling of Muslims by US immigration as likely terror suspects stemming from the fact that the organizations behind the majority (is not all) of the terror attacks on US targets have been of Muslim denomination. I would not defend any kind of racial profiling, but it would be obvious that anyone who does resort to such profiling is exercising their right to conduct themselves in a particular manner. If the person who is subjected to any consequence of such profiling does not like the same, they are as well entitled to remove themselves from such a situation. What the latter is not entitled to, in my opinion is to ask the former to change their methodology.
If US authorities choose to isolate persons of Muslim religion and subject them to stricter standards of scrutiny in the interest of national security, or for any other reason for that matter, it is the prerogative of that country. If you do not like it, you are well entitled to boycott such a bigot of a country and not visit them or transact with them. But if you do choose to subject yourself to their jurisdiction then you ought to be ready to be dealt with as they deem fit.
The other end of the spectrum is the total opposite of racial profiling, which is followed by our country’s impotent government…we do not detain or restrict entry of Muslims in our country from the neighbouring country despite having been subjected to terror attacks far exceeding those on the US soil. Terror attacks which have been admitted to have been originated from organizations existing in our neighbouring country, organizations that are harboured by the Government of said country.
On the contrary, we welcome the citizens and officials of said country with open arms. We seek to boost bilateral trade and extend concessions and measures of confidence. All this not long after the most devastating attack on our country’s soil, on 26th November 2008, far more annihilating, in my opinion than the 9/11 attack. The difference being that unlike the US, we have done nothing…absolutely NOTHING…since the said attacks to bring the wrong doers to justice or to redeem the deaths of those who have been sacrificed.
We went through the customary motions of media outcry, international lobbying and empty threats, and then sat back in our zone of comfort…choosing to expend energies on other less important issues such as airing dirty laundry in public with champions such as Anna Hazare. Instead we ought to have lobbied and coerced our Government to take action, we ought to have resisted the moves to re-open dialogue with such rogues, we ought to have sought global sanctions against the country that harbours such terrorists. We ought to have annihilated the camps of terror organizations wherever they are, akin to US wiping their arch nemesis literally by entering his home!!!
If you ask me, racial profiling exists and will continue so long as humans do. Least we can do is admit it rather than being hypocritical about it. I would rather have a government like that of US, which practices such profiling and has ensured there is not even a single terror attack on its soil since the last one more than a decade ago, than a government such as ours, which has negated profiling to such an extent so as to embrace the very culprits who have, and continue to, subject us to attacks and take away the lives of our country’s innocent citizens.
I hope the recent incident shall prompt Mr. Khan to become the brand ambassador of racial profiling and help our country’s government in deciphering their strategy to counter terror attacks in the country…