Iqbal Khan:: 'This nonsense can't go on'

By Subhash K Jha

The American embassy had promised to get back to Iqbal Khan on his visa issue. So far they haven't done so.

Says Iqbal, "I'm worried about the future. They had promised to call me as soon as my finger prints were matched with those that they have on their records in Washington belonging to suspected terrorists.

I must say in their defence that the American embassy had warned me it could take anything from one to six month, sometimes even more. Maybe I'll never be allowed into the US. Maybe my face resembles Osama's…"

The actor has begun to see the lighter side of the American embargo on his movement into their country. "I haven't given up hope. One day they'll probably give me my visa. Until then I can always visit Iran, Iraq, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Afghanistan, Maldives, Kuwait, Brunei, Pakistan, Bangladesh and all the other Muslim countries…I'm of course joking.

But this is a serious matter and it can't go on forever. I know one day very soon innocent god-fearing law-abiding citizens like me will be free to go again to any part of the world, just as it used to be. This nonsense can't go on forever."