Celebrated Canadian author, Rohinton Mistry, has cancelled
the second half of his US book tour because of racial profiling at US
airports. Mr Mistry – the Indian-born author short-listed for the Booker
Prize this year – was “extremely unhappy” about the treatment
he received, Canada's Globe and Mail reported.

“As a person of colour he was stopped repeatedly
and rudely at each airport along the way – to the point where the humiliation
of both he and his wife has become unbearable,” a memo from the writer's
US publisher Aflred A Knopf said. “I find it outrageous,” Betsy
Burton of The King's English bookstore in Salt Lake City said. “It
makes me feel ashamed of my country.”

The US introduced extra security measures – including
fingerprinting – for people born in 20 predominantly Arab and Muslim countries
following the 11 September attacks.

Last week Canada urged its citizens born in Middle Eastern
and Muslim countries to think carefully before going to the US because
of the new checks.