There’s a distinct sense of déjà vu with the latest case involving airport security and their treatment of passengers wearing religious headwear.
Mere weeks after model and actor Waris Ahluwalia was denied security clearance in Mexico when he refused to remove his turban, another popular Sikh entertainer reported a similar experience at a San Francisco area airport.
Comedian Jasmeet Singh, better known by his YouTube handle, JusReign, tweeted yesterday that TSA agents asked him to take off his turban for “extra screening.” If he refused, he said, he would not be allowed to board his flight. He further reported that when he declined, a manager intervened and insisted that he had to comply.
Singh was led to a private screening room, where he was patted down and made to remove his turban. His turban was then put through an X-ray machine.
Singh continued on Twitter,
“After finding absolutely nothing wrong because a turban is just cloth and the whole thing is stupid, I ask for a mirror to tie it back again.”
He was told there were no mirrors available in screening rooms and that he would have to walk through the terminal to the nearest restroom to find one.
Turbans are mandatory in public for men of the Sikh faith and considered to be both spiritually significant and an integral part of the Sikh identity. Singh added that the point of taking him to a private room for extra screening was completely nullified when he was forced to walk in public, sans turban, in order to re-tie it.
Ahluwalia both refused to remove his turban in public and staged a one-man protest, refusing to fly home unless Aeromexico issued an apology and promised to educate its staff better. Both requests were fulfilled a day and a half later, and he flew back home to New York the next morning, thanking the airline for their cooperation on Instagram.
Singh's tweets rallied support from his 188,000 followers. Many Twitter users tweeted their disappointment and exasperation in reply to a TSA tweet about Black History Month. The TSA has yet to respond or make a public statement regarding the matter.
In this writer’s opinion, Singh's incident once again highlights the lack of cultural sensitivity training and the unfair racial profiling of people who are simply practicing their religious and cultural identities.
Weigh in with your thoughts or similar experiences in the comments below.
Article sources: JusReign official Twitter Page, New York Daily News
Main Image Photo Credit: JusReign Official Facebook Page
Dilshad Burman
Author
Dilshad Burman is an award winning TV host and Canadian media personality. Born in Mumbai, India, she was surrounded by its creative energy and grew up with a passion for music, film and television. While completing her Bachelor of Arts in English literature from The University of Mumbai, she i...
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