Magsaysay winner Pandey questioned on arrival in US

India's Magsaysay award winner, Sandeep Pandey, was interrogated by United States immigration and security officials for about two hours on ...

India’s Magsaysay award winner, Sandeep Pandey, was interrogated by United States immigration and security officials for about two hours on arrival at San Francisco on October 3.

US authorities had apparently received complaints that named Pandey a naxalite and a terrorist. Pandey, for his part, said he was a victim of a slander campaign by a marginal section of Indians in the US “I must say that I went through some anxious moments and it appeared at some points that the immigration and security officials may not allow me entry into the country,” Pandey told The Indian Express.

During his interrogation, Pandey said he had to provide details of his social activities, give reasons for his frequent visits to Pakistan and answer charges that he supported naxalite or terrorist organisations

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Pandey was also made to account for a statement he had once made calling the US “the biggest terrorist state”.

“I must commend the understanding behavior of the US security personnel who gave me a patient hearing and appreciated my position against their country,” Pandey said. “The officer asked why I had said such a thing. I told him that if I could protest against India’s nuclear weapons, then why should not I do the same against the US, which possesses the biggest stockpile of nuclear weapons.

“To my pleasant surprise, the officer said he could appreciate my position and thanked me for my cooperation in the interrogation.”

Pandey’s trip to the US has an itinerary of over 20 places, where he is due to speak over the next three weeks.