Indian Political Party Seeks Apology From US

New Delhi, April 27, IRNA – India’s political party, Samajwadi Party (SP) Friday sought an apology from the US for the ˈinsultˈ caused by the questioning of Uttar Pradesh minister Azam Khan at the Logan International Airport in Boston. ˈWe demand an apology from the US on the issue as Indians cannot be insulted like this after being invited,ˈ senior SP leader Naresh Agarwal told reporters in Lucknow, pti reported. Khan, a senior leader of the ruling SP in Uttar Pradesh and also the Urban Development minister of the state, was detained for about 10 minutes at the Boston airport for ˈfurther questioningˈ after he landed in a scheduled British Airways flight from India. In protest, Khan, who was accompanying the UP Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav to deliver a lecture in Harvard University on the recently held Mahakumbh Mela at Allahabad, has decided to come back after a short stay. External Affairs Ministry spokesman Syed Akbaruddin said India has asked its Embassy in Washington to take up the matter appropriately with the US authorities. ˈWe have received reports from our Consulate General in New York on this incident. We have asked our embassy in Washington to take up the matter appropriately with the US authorities,ˈ Akbaruddin told reporters in Kazakhstan capital Almaty, pti reported. Meanwhile, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav, now in the US, Friday boycotted the Harvard lecture he was due to deliver in protest against his minister Azam Khanˈs detention at the Boston airport. The political members of the delegation from Uttar Pradesh are not attending any of Harvard events in protest. Reacting over the issue, Cleric Maulana Khalid Rashid Firangi Mahal said that the US, ˈwhich claimed to be the champion of civil behavior, had shown its true colorsˈ. ˈIt is unfortunate that a senior minister was subjected to such behavior, specially since he is a Muslim, a religion so widely followed in the world,ˈ he said. Earlier, former president A.P.J. Abdul Kalam and Bollywood actor Shah Rukh Khan were also treated in a similar way at airports in the US./end