Another Indian envoy subjected to `pat-down`, India protests

New York/New Delhi, Dec 13 (PTI) One of India's top
most diplomats, Hardeep Puri, Ambassador to the United
Nations, was asked to remove his turban during an airport
'pat-down' search in the US in yet another incident of Indian
envoys subjected to humiliating process.
India has lodged a strong protest following the
incident.
Close on the heels of Indian Ambassador to the US
Meera Shankar being subjected to a 'pat-down' search earlier
this month, Puri, the country's Permanent Representative to
the UN, was asked by airport officials to remove his turban
during a security check at Houston Airport two weeks back,
sources said.
When Puri refused to remove his turban, the officials
made him wait for over half-an-hour in a 'holding room'. The
matter was resolved only after a Transportation Security
Administration (TSA) official, accompanying Puri, intervened.
India has lodged an official protest with US
authorities through its Consulate General in Houston, sources
said in New Delhi.
"I have taken it up with the US authorities and the
matter is at that stage. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton
has also give an indication to the fact that they have to
revisit some of these procedures, particularly with reference
to diplomatic cover of other countries," External Affairs
Minister S M Krishna said in New Delhi when asked about these
searches.
On December 4, Shankar was pulled out from an airport
security line and patted down by an American security agent in
Mississippi despite informing them of her diplomatic status.
Shankar was subjected to an enhanced security pat-down
at the Jackson-Evers International Airport in Mississippi,
ostensibly because she was dressed in a sari.
In the past, many prominent Indians, including
ministers, have faced some uncomfortable moments at US
airports.
In September, visiting Civil Aviation Minister Praful
Patel was quizzed by US immigration authorities at the O'Hare
airport in Chicago after his name and date of birth matched
with that of another Praful Patel, who is on America's
watch-list.
In August 2009, Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan was
detained and questioned at the Newark Liberty International
Airport. Khan was headed to Chicago for a parade to celebrate
India's Independence Day, when he was pulled aside by airport
authorities for interrogation.
Former Defence Minister George Fernandes had claimed
that he was strip-searched twice at Dulles Airport in the US
Capital area, when he was on an official visit to Washington
in early 2002 and another time while en route to Brazil in mid
2003. PTI