The aggravated detention of India's greatest superstar is proof that America under Obama has not yet turned a page on the paranoia of Bush's war on terror, writes Aijaz Zaka Syed* Man is born free but everywhere he is in chains, lamented French philosopher Jean- Jacques Rousseau. Inspired by Rousseau and other French philosophers, America's founding fathers made liberty, equality and justice the cornerstones of their new constitution. Thomas Jefferson, the first secretary of state who went on to lead the country as its third president and is largely responsible for the incredibly powerful and immensely inspiring US Declaration of Independence, borrowed from Rousseau to argue: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness." Watching the circus of Shah Rukh Khan's reception in the US unfold this week, I couldn't help wonder how America's founding fathers would have reacted to a guest being treated how he was -- and someone with the popularity and following India's biggest superstar enjoys worldwide. Celebrated as the global brand ambassador of his country, the Bollywood big gun was rated last year as the planet's biggest superstar by Time magazine, ahead of Will Smith and Tom Cruise. In a delicious quirk of irony, the actor only recently finished shooting for his much-awaited movie, My Name is Khan, set in the US. The movie, being distributed worldwide by Rupert Murdoch's 20th Century Fox and Star, is supposed to chronicle the journey of self-discovery of an Indian Muslim in the US who gets caught in the madness of the 11 September attacks and their aftermath. This is no defence of Shah Rukh or a protest at his treatment at Newark's rather absurdly named Liberty International Airport, although I can't deny my weakness for his onscreen shenanigans. What really fascinates me is how -- even as our world shrinks to become smaller and more networked thanks to technology -- we come up with more inventive ways of dividing and separating each from the other. Instead of using our amazing scientific progress to build more bridges between people, we are building more and more walls. What the superstar had to go through at Newark airport -- detained and grilled like a common thug for nearly three hours without being allowed to make a phone call to his hosts because of his suspicious last name -- is shocking. But it happens all the time with thousands of Arabs, Muslims and even non-Muslim Asians. Only it doesn't get reported or is often taken in stride by helpless travellers who have to go about their lives. The Newark episode has outraged a billion strong nation, and many around the world, because it involves a popular icon like Shah Rukh Khan, who frequently visits the US and other nations in Western hemisphere. But what about the tens of millions of others who routinely and silently suffer this harassment at airports, railway stations and other entry points to the public domain on a daily basis? Who cares about them? No one, apparently. According to a recent report of the Asian Law Caucus, Muslim Americans are being increasingly targeted for unwarranted house searches and interrogation, especially after trips abroad. Soon after 9/11, eminent Indian Canadian writer Rohinton Mistry called off his tour when he was stopped at almost every single airport in the US. His unusual last name and beard apparently triggered alarm bells in a jittery America. (Even poor Sikhs, sitting ducks with their beards and turbans, came under attack in the wake of 9/11). But Shah Rukh Khan is no Rohinton Mistry -- an engaging writer but otherwise lost in the obscurity of a North American winter. His is easily the most popular and recognised face of India and an epitome of the country's religious and cultural diversity. He has ruled the world's biggest movie industry for nearly two decades and launched a million brands. No wonder he has a billion people around the world rooting for him, including senior ministers of the Indian government. What about the thousands of others whose last names happen to be Khan, Sheikh or Mohamed? Who intervenes and speaks on their behalf? Some of them might just disappear. Like Maher Arar did who was sent to be tortured in Syria as a "terror suspect" after he was picked up at JFK Airport in transit following a family holiday in Tunisia in 2002. A false tipoff here, a case of mistaken identity there. Thousands of lives like that of Maher Arar wrecked. How did Jefferson and Lincoln's America end up here? And it is affecting the whole world. No one trusts anyone anymore. Osama bin Laden has got the West, and the whole of civilised world, where he wanted it: without peace and afraid, very afraid, and paranoid of its own shadow, just as he promised. It's not just fear of flying. We are afraid of everything now. We are afraid of each other. A 100 ml bottle of liquid is a weapon of mass destruction, we are told. This is what the terrorists wanted: our civil liberties suspended, our rights undermined and just about everyone going bonkers. Eight years of America's terror war and the end is still nowhere in sight. More than a million innocent lives have been lost in Iraq and Afghanistan, not to mention America's own nearly 5,000 brave men and women, and hundreds of others from its allies. For what? No one knows what this war is about anymore and why the world is fighting it. Not even the Americans seem to have the faintest idea. In his historic inaugural address, President Barack Hussein Obama promised a "new way forward", especially with Muslims. It is time to show America has moved on, Mr President! * The writer is opinion editor of Khaleej Times.
