SIKHS SHOULD NOT BE FORCED TO
REMOVE TURBANS AT AIRPORTS
Extensions of Remarks

HON. EDOLPHUS TOWNS
OF NEW YORK
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 18, 2007

Mr. TOWNS. Madam Speaker, recently a Sikh named Dr. Ranbir Singh Sandhu was stopped at the San Francisco airport as he tried to board a flight and forced by agents of the Transportation Security Administration to take off his turban. Dr. Sandhu, who is around 80, was on his way to a funeral in Vancouver. He refused to take off his turban and was barred from the flight, forcing him to make a 20-hour drive to get to the funeral.

This is unacceptable. I certainly understand and support wanding the turban for security reasons in this day and age, but forcing a Sikh to remove his turban is an insult to his religious identity. TSA does not make Jewish passengers take off their yarmulkes and that is right. They shouldn't. But they require Sikhs to take off their turbans. That is unfair, discriminatory, and wrong.

Airport security is important. We were just reminded of that again by the passing of another anniversary of the September 11 attacks. But we must not let that be used as an excuse to violate the religious liberties or the civil rights of anyone. We should stop asking Sikhs to remove their turbans.

The Council of Khalistan recently wrote to President Bush, Homeland Security Secretary Chertoff, and the TSA Administrator, Kip Hawley, asking that this policy be changed.

September 12, 2007.

Hon. MICHAEL CHERTOFF,

Secretary of Homeland Security,

Washington, DC.

DEAR SECRETARY CHERTOFF: I am writing to you today about the Transportation Safety Administration's practice of making Sikhs remove their turbans in order to travel. Recently, Dr. Ranbir Singh Sandhu of California, a retired engineering professor who is around 80 years old, was stopped at San Francisco International Airport on his way to Vancouver for a funeral. He was ordered by TSA security workers to remove his turban. When he refused he was not allowed to board his flight and he wound up having to drive 20 hours to Vancouver to get to the funeral.

Asking a Sikh to remove his turban in public is worse than asking someone to remove his pants in public. No one would even think of making such a request, yet the TSA thinks nothing of asking Sikhs to remove their turbans in public.

I salute TSA for not asking Jewish people to remove their yarmulkes in public. This is because they are religious symbols. Jewish people are required to wear them in public. By the same principle, Sikhs are required to wear their turbans. Wanding the turban should be enough and would be understandable in light of security concerns, but forcing a Sikh to remove his turban is unacceptable. It is a strike against his Sikh religion and his Sikh identity.

I respectfully but strongly urge you to take action to prevent what happened to Dr. Sandhu from happening to any other Sikh traveller. Please order the TSA workers to respect the religion and identity of Sikhs and not to force them to remove their turbans. Thank you for your attention to this matter.

Sincerely,

Dr. Gurmit Singh Aulakh,

President, Council of Khalistan.

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This material is circulated by the Council of Khalistan, which is registered with the Department of Justice (DOJ) in Washington, DC under the Foreign Agents Registration Act as an agent of the Council of Khalistan, Golden Temple, Amritsar, Punjab. The material is filed with the DOJ where the required registration is available for inspection. Registration does not indicate approval of the contents by the U.S. Government.