Sikh Religious Musicians Settle with US Airways After Wrongful Removal From Flight

Sacramento, Ca: Three internationally renowned Sikh religious musicians have reached a settlement with US Airways one year after they were removed from a flight at the Sacramento International Airport in an incident of racial profiling and discrimination. After the removal, the trio filed a formal complaint with the Department of Transportation. The musicians, Davinder Singh, Gulbag Singh and Iqbal Singh, are classical religious performers who perform in Sikh Gurdwaras (houses of worship) around the world.
Sikhs wearing turbans, as the musicians do, have increasingly been subject to harassment and discrimination after September 11, particularly at airports, as have many other ethnic and religious groups.
Despite federal law prohibiting airlines from targeting and removing passengers based on their religious or ethnic appearance, the trio was subjected to biased treatment from US Airways after passengers expressed baseless concerns about the musicians’ appearance.
“Airlines must do everything they can to ensure their passengers’ rights to be free from discrimination. Flying with a turban is not a security threat,” said Jaspreet Singh, Staff Attorney for UNITED SIKHS, which represented the musicians. UNITED SIKHS is a United Nations-affiliated international organization based in New York.
On November 15, 2008, the three Sikh musicians were preparing to travel from Sacramento to Salt Lake City, via Phoenix, for a performance. Shortly after passing through TSA screening without incident and peacefully boarding a US Airways flight, the men were ordered to leave the plane. They complied with the removal. However, airline employees did not provide any explanation as to why they were being removed, but they were told, through a Panjabi interpreter, that the pilot would not fly with them on board. After suffering humiliation in front of other passengers, the musicians were each handed a $5 meal voucher and forced to delay their travel until the next day. They experienced no problems boarding the Delta flight on which they were rebooked.
To date, the airline has failed to provide any legitimate security concerns justifying the removal. The removal was apparently sparked by passengers’ and crew-members’ fears of the musicians’ based on their ethnic and religious appearance.
14/12/09 K Kaur/Global Sikh News

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Categories: Airports Dec 2009, Safety Dec 2009