Iqbal felt isolated and humiliated

Iqbal Khan

'For the first time I felt isolated and humiliated'

Now, Iqbal Khan wonders whether he will be able to go abroad for his honeymoon

Subhash K Jha

Actor Iqbal Khan suffered humiliation when his request for a US visa was turned down. The actor was applying for a visa to attend a celebrity event in the US and Canada between September 20 and October 2.

"Why me? I've been asking myself this continuously. There were fourteen of us from the television industry. A majority were women including Kanchi Kaul and Sakshi Tanwar. I was the first one to reach the embassy early in the morning. I was the only Muslim. I was the only one denied a visa – only because my name is Mohammed Iqbal Khan," says Iqbal.

Iqbal tries hard to suppress his emotions. "The lady at the Embassy said there're three people (suspected terrorists) with that name and that they'd have to put me through a fingerprint-scan in Washington. She then took my fingerprint test. My hands were stained like any suspected criminal," he says.

Iqbal says this was the first time that he felt discriminated against as a Muslim. "The money that I was going to get for this event was supposed to pay for the house that I am buying for my fiance and me before our marriage. Now, I will not be able to afford it. It's not as if I'm an unknown person. In fact, when the lady at the embassy asked me if I was a known face I was too embarrassed to reveal my identity. Some Indians in the room told her who I was. I still had to go through the finger print test, and was treated like a suspect," says Iqbal.

He says this is his second experience at visa discrimination in two months. "Earlier I was denied a visa to the UK. But I didn't connect it with the terrorism situation. Now I recall that there were two Muslims in that team to UK and we were both denied visas," says Iqbal.

These incidents have affected Iqbal. "We're living in troubled times where anything can happen. Earlier I used to hear it was difficult for Gujaratis to get visas to the US. Now I wonder when I'd be allowed out of the country! I'm getting married in January. I had big plans for my fiance and was planning our honeymoon abroad. Now, I wonder whether we will be allowed to go?" he says.

That's really sad ....just coz he's muslim...inshallah everything will be better for him in the coming future 😳 ...thanx suzi 👏

awww..poor iqbal 😭
people's attitude tpwards him is totally stereo-typical 😕 he shouldn't feel that way..i think its mainly because there r soo many things happening with muslim terrorists that he is gettin dragged in to as well..this is not fair re 😕
btw thnx 4 sharing..

Tina xx

ah.. thats really sad.. just becuz he's a muslim..
he looks smart anyway.. 😳

awwwwwwww omg happpened to ma dad today cuz he wanted to go pak and ma dad's name is Mohammed sarwer khan it sux i started swearin dad said chup kar i was leekan dad 😳

Thx Suzi 😳
That is so sad 😭..he got discriminated against for being muslim...feel so bad tht he was made to feel like a suspect on the basis of his name, which is a rocking name btw😳..inshallah hope things get better so he gets tht honeymoon he planned for.

Thanks for sharing.Discrimination should really stop.

Omg What Kinda People Are They.Just Because That He's name is Mohammed Iqbal Khan And They Thought That He Is A Criminal.They Should not have accused him like this.Shame Of those people .And Poor Iqbal 😭

And I agree Those discrimination should be stop..

Thanks

That's so sad. I feel so bad for him. Sometimes these people can be hurtful with the pretext of being careful. I've heard the Gujarati, you-can't-get-a-US-Visa-if-your-last-name-is-Patel-cuz-there -are-too-many-Patel's-in-American thing and that was one thing, but this is just very hurtful and humiliating!