People Acting Stupid: Oops! Sikh asked to remove turban was a Canadian gov't official

CBC /SCREEN CAPTURE

Navdeep Bains, Canada's Minister of Innovation, Science and Edonomic Development

AN OVERZEALOUS U.S. airport employee asked Navdeep Bains, a Sikh, to remove his turban before boarding his flight home to Canada.

Bains, Canada's Minister of Innovation, Science and Economic Development, was at the Detroit airport about to board his flight back to Toronto when he was asked to return to security where he was asked to remove his turban.

Bains told Canadian newspaper La Presse on that late last year, Transportation Security Administration agents at the Detroit Metropolitan Airport repeatedly asked him to remove his turban, even after he reached his boarding gate. He said he was finally allowed to fly after he showed agents his diplomatic passport.

“I was very frustrated and disappointed that this occurred, but ultimately I was allowed to fly,” Bains told The Associated Press. “But it was because of who I was, and that should not be the case. It doesn’t matter what your status is and what your position is.”

Sikh men wear a turban as a sign of devotion to their faith. Because the men also often wear beards and are often mistaken as Muslim.

Bains passed through the Detroit airport's X-ray screening and even cooperated in giving agents a swab test. He was at the gate area about to board his flight when an agent asked him to return to the screening area. It was there that the agent insisted that Bains remove his turban.

It was then that Bains showed him his passport indicating his diplomatic status. He was allowed to board his flight.

Canada has more Sikh ministers than any other country in the world. In the 2015 election, 20 Sikhs were elected members of parliament and four – Bains, Harjit Sajjan, Amarjeet Sohi and Bardish Chagger – were appointed as federal ministers.

Canada’s foreign minister complained about the Bains incident to officials at the U.S. Homeland Security and Transportation departments, reported CBC. Bains said he accepted those officials’ apologies.

TSA spokesman Mike England told Huffpost that the department reviewed closed-circuit video of the incient and found the screening agent did not follow proper procedures. The officer has been given additional training.

However,vEngland said in an e-mail that all travelers wearing head coverings may be subjected to additional security screenings to ensure that prohibited items are not concealed beneath the clothing. He said passengers who are unwilling to remove headwear for religious, medical or other reasons should expect to undergo additional screenings, which may include officer-conducted or self-conducted pat-downs.

In 2007 the TSA updated its protocols to allow passengers to keep turbans on during security screenings.

A spokesperson from the Sikh Coalition, an advocacy group, that according to current TSA rules and regulations, Sikh passengers may pat down their own turbans or refuse to remove their turbans in public.

“The kind of discrimination Canadian Minister Navdeep Bains experienced in a Detroit airport is completely unacceptable,” the coalition’s legal director, Amrith Kaur, told HuffPost. “Profiling not only stigmatizes communities, but it also makes our nation less safe because it redirects resources away from detecting and preventing actual criminal behavior.”

"As a Sikh, wearing the turban is considered one of the most dutiful acts for a person of the faith and I am proud to represent my community. Unfortunately these types of incidents do occur from time to time to minorities in particular. But it should never become the norm,” Bains said in a statement. “I will continue to promote diversity and inclusion across the country as our government has done since we took office. It is exactly why I ran for office.”
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