Karanveer Singh Pannu, an 18-year-old from New Jersey,USA .He has written a book on the bullying of Sikh American children.
Having to remove his turban, Pannu said, had left him feeling "utterly humiliated, shaken, distraught."
When Karanveer Singh Pannu was asked by a security agent in California, "Is there anything we need to be aware of before you remove your turban?," the Sikh teenager had a great answer to this "asinine question" -- "I politely answered that Security personnel in U.S. airports are notorious for harassing Sikhs about their turbans during security checks.
The irony of the situation is that Pannu, an 18-year-old from New
Jersey, has written a book on the bullying of Sikh American children, and he
was visiting California to speak at the annual Sikh Youth Symposium in
Bakersfield. Agents asked Pannu to remove his turban as part of a secondary
test after he had gone through a metal detector and done a self-pat down of his
turban and chemical swab test for explosive material, NBC News reported.
"I refused at first but when they threatened me that I could not fly, I
agreed, provided they gave me a mirror to retie my turban," he said.
Having to remove his turban, Pannu said, had left him feeling "utterly humiliated, shaken, distraught."
