America’s prestigious Yale University, which had invited Bollywood actor Shahrukh Khan, today said that his detention was “unfortunate” but things were sorted out in the end.

“As SRK himself would tell you, what is most important in his movies is how they end rather than how they begin. And yesterday, things began in an unfortunate manner, but ended in a way that left everyone happy,” Yale’s Assistant Secretary of International Affairs, Mr George Joseph, told PTI in an e-mailed statement.

Mr Khan was detained for over two hours at the White Plains airport in New York by immigration authorities yesterday. He was travelling in a private plane and was accompanied by Ms Nita Ambani, wife of Reliance Industries Chairman, Mr Mukesh Ambani.

The episode had caused some tense moments for the university and Mr Khan’s team as Yale officials contacted the Department of Homeland Security and the Immigration and Customs Department in Washington before Mr Khan was cleared by the immigration.

Mr Khan had come to the US to visit Connecticut-based Yale University, which had named him the Chubb fellow.

Mr Khan, who was in the US just for the day, interacted with the media before his 90-minute lecture and question and answer session with over 1,600 Yale students, faculty and members of the Indian-American community.

Mr Joseph said Yale has always been welcoming of visitors from every part of the world and it prides itself on its institution’s hospitality and openness.

“We are grateful to Khan for the memories that he has created that will last a lifetime for so many people who were able to experience his visit yesterday,” he said.

US rules out any pattern in SRK's detention

Meanwhile, the US has ruled out any pattern or racial profiling in the detention of Mr Khan twice in the US in the past three years.

“I wouldn’t necessarily look at this as some sort of pattern, but rather two separate incidents,” State Department spokesman, Mr Mark Toner said yesterday, as the treatment meted out to the star sparked widespread condemnation in India.

This is the second such incident happening with the popular Bollywood superstar in the US. Mr Khan was also detained in 2009 at the Newark Airport in New Jersey.

The State Department spokesman suggested that people wanting to avoid such situations should inform the US Embassy in New Delhi about their stature and their travel plans.

“There is a programme whereby travellers can alert, identify their status before they depart via the embassy. And that’s one approach or avenue to take,” he said.

Mr Toner ruled out it being a case of racial profiling. “I think we all know that that’s clearly not the case. You know, the fact of the matter is tens of thousands of Muslims travel to and from the US every day and are not detained or delayed,” Mr Toner said.

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