Following is a news story published in one of the Indian Newspaper today:
US refuses entry to British woman who said her parents were Indian
Friday April 9 2004 17:22 IST
IANS
LONDON: A British woman of Indian origin has alleged that she was treated unfairly by the US immigration authorities because she was Asian.
Artist Sabinder Bual, 28, reportedly spent hours shackled by US immigration officers after she was taken into custody in New York when she fell foul of an immigration offence committed eight years ago.
Bual told the media she believed she was singled out for ill treatment because she is Asian.
Her ordeal began on Monday when she flew into New York's John F Kennedy airport as part of a group of three filmmakers recording a documentary for schools.
But when she presented her passport she was told she would not be allowed entry into the US because she overran her authorised stay by four days more than eight years ago.
The refusal came despite her being allowed into the US without question six years ago, and without having needed a special visa to film a documentary.
The officer studying her UK passport asked her: "Where are your parents from?"
When she said they were Indian, she was taken to a separate office for questioning, Bual claimed.
After being refused entry and told that she would be flown back to Britain on the next available plane, she was led away by an immigration officer who said: "Wave goodbye to your friends, you won't be seeing them for a while."
Bual said: "I felt embarrassed and humiliated. My director and my sound recordist both said they were appalled at how rude and uncompassionate the immigration officers were being."
She was taken to a holding centre in the airport, where it seemed almost all the 20 detainees were Asian, and put in leg shackles.
"It was clear from my records that I had no criminal history. Keeping me in shackles seemed completely unnecessary and insulting."
She recounted: "A man from El Salvador was told that he would have to return home. A guard went to shackle him but another officer interjected, saying, 'No, he's okay.'
"It made me think, 'What the hell do they think I'm going to do?'."
Bual added: "It frightens me how an Asian face has become a template for a terrorist suspect."
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Location: Ottawa (Now in Bangalore)
Posted on: 09-04-04 14:08:44
Sanjeev sahab..when you have British citizens (and then..of Pakistani origin)....and when you have..a Canadian citizen (..again..of Pakistani descent)...being arrested.. I think they (the US immigration authorities) have every right to be paranoid of each and every individual.
I think India these days..spell fear in the heart of Yanks..not cos of Terrorism but cos of "...cheap overseas job markets ( Lou Dobbs money line ! 
) "
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"Aur Vaise Bhi, Sharafat ki jab kapde utarti hai, sabse zyaada mazaa shareefon ko hi aati hai"....(From The Dirty Picture)
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Please visit
http://www.cmje.org/religious-texts/quran/verses/009-qmt.php for some interesting Information ! (Especially 009.005 )
Jokes apart, this is very appalling. Ths is not the only incident that I have heard, where people from "BrownTown" are being mistreated by US Immigration Punks. The way things are going, US will become a Pro KKK, White Supermacist Police state, a few years from now. I'm glad I'll be getting out of this ticking time bomb soon.
DT
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Microsoft - Which end of the stick do you want today?
Location: Ottawa (Now in Bangalore)
Posted on: 10-04-04 00:45:08
Desitiger this was not intended as a joke... Contrast the situations... I would happily fingerprint myself, if the USA can feel safe.. They have EVERY right to do so. I hope with the introduction of the biometric passports, everything will be set right.
Now why did they consider her a "terrorist" ? Before I answer that let me ask you a question ? Is she a sikh by any chance ? If thats the case then, the only plausible explanation would be as follows :
The US govt has placed nearly all the Khalistani groups here in North America and all over the world as "Other terrorist organizations". Maybe her last name could have triggered some sort of alert.
As for the USA becomining a white supremist KKK domain, dont worry Canada is also not far behind.. If the USA follows, Canada also might follow ! (esp . Alberta.. the province with the most # of bigots)
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"Aur Vaise Bhi, Sharafat ki jab kapde utarti hai, sabse zyaada mazaa shareefon ko hi aati hai"....(From The Dirty Picture)
Warning !! SCAM ALERT !!
http://www.canadiandesi.ca/read.php?TID=4169 & http://www.canadiandesi.ca/read.php?TID=1379
This is a Useful Health related Tip
http://www.canadiandesi.ca/read.php?TID=3865
Please visit
http://www.cmje.org/religious-texts/quran/verses/009-qmt.php for some interesting Information ! (Especially 009.005 )
Sure. What will be next? Full BG security checks on all people who appear to be of Middle eastern Decent while they are put in shackels in some Immigration Ghetto in an airport, for days or months together? We have to draw a line between sensible security and paranoia (the latter is what the US Govt. thrives on). I don't hear about people from non white countries being treated as "suspected terrorists" in Canadian Airports. Canada has never been and never will be as agressive against people of color as the United Schmucks of America
Thx
DT
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Microsoft - Which end of the stick do you want today?
Dubya Speaks:
"If this were a dictatorship, it'd be a heck of a lot easier...just as long as I'm the dictator..."
--Washington, DC, Dec 18, 2000, during his first trip to Washington as President-Elect
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Seems like it's going to be that way in near future 
DT
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Microsoft - Which end of the stick do you want today?
This is a Fact & Canada is not behind - Read below the incident with Film Actor Kamal Hassan.
I WAS GRILLED LIKE A TERRORIST: KAMAL HASSAN
Mumbai, 30 april, 2002
Noted Indian actor Kamal Hassan was prevented from boarding a flight at the Toronto airport in Canada because his name sounded like a Muslim one. \\\"You can't have a name like Kamal Hassan, which sounds very Islamic, and hope to be left in peace in the American subcontinent,\\\" Hassan said after his return to India. He was in Toronto to shoot for his latest Tamil comedy, Panchathanthiram, and recalls the incident when he was taking a flight from Toronto to Los Angeles as a harrowing and humiliating episode. \\\"It started quite comically actually. The Customs authorities asked me what I was doing in that part of the world. I told them I am shooting for a film. They then asked me who my producer was. I told them my producer's name. \\\"Then they asked me why I was flying to Los Angeles. I told them I was going for prosthetic makeup. They evidently didn't know what that was. I explained I needed to assume a particular look for the character I'll be playing in my next film. \\\"They then wanted to know who was paying my air travel bills. I pleaded ignorance about the nitty-gritty of my travel expenses. They said I must have all these important details handy for Customs purposes. \\\"I assured them my papers were in order. But one of the officers led me inside almost as though I was one of bad guys in Rambo,\\\" said a sarcastic Hassan. Reliving the incredible hours in the alien airport, Kamal smilingly says, \\\"I requested them to let me make a call to my producer who incidentally was supposed to fly out from Toronto the same night back to India. \\\"The Customs authorities refused point blank saying cell phones weren't allowed. They made me wait for half an hour and then interrogated me again. This time I was grilled like a terrorist.\\\" \\\"'Are you going for shooting to LA?' they asked me. I said I was going to finalise my makeup. 'Then why did you tell us you were going for shooting?' they shot back. I told them I never said that, and what I said was I had finished shooting in Toronto and was now going to LA (California) for makeup. \\\"'You mean to say you do makeup in LA and shoot in India?' they shot back. I explained that the special makeup was being designed for a film. 'So you work in the US. Do you have a work permit?' they asked me. \\\"They then wanted to know why I was in Las Vegas before Toronto. I patiently explained that I was there for a convention of National Association of Broadcasters.\\\" \\\"Then they suddenly said I could leave. When I looked at my ticket it said 'refused.' I asked them if this meant I couldn't board my flight to LA, and they said, 'No, you can't.'\\\" Stranded in Toronto on a Sunday, a non-working day, Hassan woke up all his friends in the American embassy. \\\"When the customs guys were asked about the way they treated me they said I wasn't polite. That's a pure lie. I didn't once throw my weight around or try to impress upon them who I am. I didn't even roll my eyes or express my exasperation in any way. \\\"I didn't lose my dignity. I'm a great fan of Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi. If the immigration authorities expected me to grovel, I would rather not travel. No, I wasn't impolite. They were impolite. \\\"September 11 was impolite. So the customs authorities in Toronto were impolite to me. I didn't know what hit me. I was upset because people were waiting for me in Los Angeles. My Tamil fans and friends in Toronto are very upset. But it wasn't as humiliating as Gandhiji being thrown out of a train in South Africa.\\\" Hassan isn't the first Indian showbiz icon to be harassed in this way. Earlier this month Aamir Khan was interrogated for an hour and even strip-searched at the airport in Chicago. \\\"His name is Aamir Khan and mine is Kamal Hassan. We can't get away with Islamic names like these after what Osama Bin Laden did. As a matter of fact when I landed in Los Angeles earlier this month, I was given a completely cold treatment. \\\"In spite of all the security they've been properly had by Bin Laden. What better way to take revenge than to harass the entire brown-skinned population of the world? If you have an Islamic sounding name then it's even easier for them. And if there's a beard to go with the name like mine, nothing like it. \\\" IANS
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