A recent detainment at John F. Kennedy National Airport in New York City left one Bradford doctor asking questions.

Dr. M. Javed Akhtar, an otolaryngologist with offices in Bradford and Olean, N.Y., was dumbfounded when he was pulled aside by security officials.

On Sunday, Akhtar was returning home after an international meeting of the Chicago, Ill.-based Association of Physicians of Pakistani Descent of North America (APPNA). The meeting was held in Croatia and Bosnia, and he had taken flights from Croatia to Frankfurt, Germany, then from Frankfurt to New York City.

APPNA is a national group that engages in social programs such as relief work, medical clinics and other community service projects.

There were around 120 to 130 people in the APPNA group that made the trip.

Akhtar travels frequently, volunteering his time and skills as a physician at the sites of disasters such as earthquakes and floods in other countries.

Akhtar said he used to hear “welcome home” when he returned; this time, instead of feeling welcomed, he was “treated like a criminal” and had no clue what was going on.

He explained that his wife, Shahnaz, was cleared, but was made to wait in the baggage claim with no knowledge of what was happening to her husband. Meanwhile, Akhtar was taken to a detention center. He was not allowed to make a phone call or notify his wife.

“They wouldn’t let me tell her I’m ok,” he said.

He called the experience “very, very demeaning” and “emotionally very disturbing,” noting that his wife was crying in the baggage claim. “She had no idea where I was.”

At one point, he needed to use the restroom, a request which was initially denied. He was allowed to go when he insisted, but an officer had to go with him.

During his detainment, officials were “extremely rude there. They treat you as if you are someone bad.”

He was detained for about two hours then released. The couple almost missed their flight to Buffalo, N.Y.

Akhtar is not opposed to officials looking at who is entering the U.S. for safety reasons, but, as a longtime U.S. resident who was very well vetted prior to his flight, he is afraid there is “no rhyme or reason” to who is being detained.

“They have the right to check the background (of people entering the country), make sure they’re coming in with good intentions,” he said, explaining that he knows there are “bad apples.” However, “somebody like me they know has been here 40-plus years?”

Akhtar came to the United States in 1972 right after medical school, first doing an internship in New York State. He was 22 years old. He’s called Bradford home for about 35 years. His children were born here, and his medical practice is here.

In Bradford, he is a member of the Rotary Club, and his family sponsors a Ramadan meal every year at the Friendship Table. In 2012, he was among a group of local medical professionals who opened the Bradford Community Health Center, a free health clinic that had been housed at the High Rise apartment building.

He noted that he is a “model citizen” who pays taxes and performs community service.

“This is our community,” said Akhtar. “We love this community. We are part of it. We are assimilated.”

Before the trip, Akhtar was a little worried after hearing reports of people being detained, but thought, “We had already gone through the whole system.”

He had been vetted several times — more than most people — due to his son’s employment

Akhtar had applied and was granted approval for Global Entry, a clearances program of the U.S. Customs and Border Protection. With his identification, “My whole life story should come up,” he explained.

The agency’s website states that the program “allows expedited clearance for pre-approved, low-risk travelers upon arrival in the United States.”

According to the website, “All applicants undergo a rigorous background check and in-person interview before enrollment.”

The program does not, however, guarantee applicants won’t be examined further upon entering the U.S.

He noted that he followed the rules of the system that is in place, and security officials had access to his background because of his documentation.

“We don’t deserve this,” he said, explaining that he has already been through a whole application process and been cleared. “I don’t see any reason for it.”

Akhtar said, “We know what’s going on in the world,” but added, “You cannot assume that everybody is a criminal. There are good people and bad.

“That really is bad. That means there is something wrong with our system, or our culture,” he said.

He suggested that it could be a policy change, new profiles or perhaps just a coincidence that prompted security officials to take Akhtar aside on Sunday — but he has no idea. Whatever the reason, “They won’t tell me.”

He’d like some explanation.

“I don’t know what they were looking for, what they were checking for.”

In the meantime, Akhtar is uncomfortable with the thought of traveling again. He was planning on going on another relief trip with his daughter, Henna, a pediatrician, but he doesn’t want to come home to the same experience.

Akhtar wanted the public to know how people are being treated — and of the “changing face of America.” He encouraged his fellow Bradfordians to contact federal representatives to say, “please draw the line somewhere” or to ask them to look into what is happening.

Akhtar has reached out to political representatives, but hasn’t received answers yet.

A spokeswoman for U.S. Rep. Glenn Thompson, R-Pa., said his office is looking into the matter.

“I can’t comment on the situation at this time. We have filed inquiries with the appropriate agencies to obtain more information,”  stated Thompson’s communications director, Renee Gamela.

U.S. Sen. Bob Casey’s office did not return a query for comment by press time Tuesday.