Waris Ahluwalia is a familiar face to many in the West, with appearances in movies such as Inside Man, The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou, and The Grand Budapest Hotel – in addition to being the first Sikh to be The Gap’s first-ever Sikh model.
According to civil rights organization, The Sikh Coalition – Ahluwalia was profiled and barred from boarding an AeroMexico plane Monday morning, because he wears a turban.
The 41-year-old actor posted a photo of his boarding pass, which contains the acronym “SSSS” – which stands for “Secondary Security Screening Selectee.” Frequently, individuals who are targeted by this list are of Muslim or Sikh descent – and are selected because of their names and/or appearance.
Mexico City airport officials reportedly asked Ahluwalia to remove his turban – which is an article of faith in the Sikh religion. When the actor and designer refused to do so, he was barred from boarding the plane.
Ahluwalia is now demanding that the airline who denied him service apologize publicly for this obvious instance of profiling. Additionally, he along with the Sikh Coalition are asking for Sikh awareness training for airport security, as well as training on how to handle passengers with religious headwear.
Recently, a Sikh woman was profiled on an airplane due to the fact she was carrying a breast-pump for her newborn child. This also comes on the heels of multiple instances where Muslim passengers have been profiled and removed from flights based upon their appearance. In a recent incident, both Sikh and Muslim passengers were kicked off the same American Airlines flight, and are now suing the airline for discrimination.
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