Lucknow/New York, Apr 26: An angry UP minister Azam Khan today said, he would cut short his US visit and return to India to protest against the insulting treatment meted out to him at Bosotn's Logan airport.
Azam Khan said, despite holding a diplomatic passport, he was subjected to humiliation by the US Customs and Border Protection Wing of the Department of Homeland Security at the airport, only because his surname was Khan.
Azam Khan had accompanied UP chief minister Akhilesh Yadav to deliver a lecture on the world famous Maha Kumbh Mela that was successfully organized early this year at Allahabad.
Azam Khan said, he would deliver the lecture at the symposium on South Asia at Harvad University in Cambridge, Massachusetts, but would cancel his remaining programmes and return home.
Azam Khan said, the insult to him was deliberate only because his surname was Khan, and he would not tolerate such humiliation on US soil.
There was no confirmation of the itinerary of UP chief minister Akhilesh Yadav after this embarassing incident
According to sources familiar with the incident, Khan was detained for about 10 minutes for "further questioning" at Boston Logan International Airport yesterday after he landed in a scheduled British Airways flight from India.
The Urban Development Minister is in the US along with Yadav to attend a symposium on South Asia at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts, where they presented a study on the world famous "Kumbh Mela" held at Allahabad. Khan was minister-in-charge of Kumbh Mela preparations.
The sources said that when the visiting team landed at the airport, the Immigration and Border Protection officials accorded due courtesy and respect at the arrival point and even helped them in filling the arrival forms for entry into the US.
They were received and escorted by the officials of the Consulate General of India in New York and after they were cleared for entry, a woman officer of the US Customs and Border Protection wing of the Homeland Security took Khan to an adjacent room "for further questioning."
The extended interview lasted for ten minutes and the Minister was then cleared.
