Sikh Comedian Forced to Remove Turban in California – NY Daily

A Sikh comedian says security agents at a San Francisco-area airport forced him to take off his turban — the second Sikh entertainer this month who endured a public airport encounter involving the religious headwear.

Jasmeet Singh, who’s known on the internet as “JusReign,” posted about the encounter on Twitter.

“So the [agents] made me take off my turban in extra screening or they said I wouldn’t be able to be let through to catch my flight,” he wrote.

Singh — an Indian-Canadian entertainer who wears a turban due to his Sikh faith — says he was taken to a private screening room.

Jasmeet Singh, known online as “JusReign,” says security agents at a San Francisco-area airport forced him to take off his turban.

Security didn’t find anything amiss, but forced Singh to walk to a restroom without his turban on, he said. Turbans are mandatory in public for Sikh men, and are worn to protect the hair, as well as to convey a sense of identity.

Some Sikhs have stopped donning the headwear due to airport security, Singh wrote — but he chooses to wear his turban “cuz I look swanky.”

Singh’s experience comes weeks after actor Waris Ahluwalia was banned from boarding a flight out of Mexico when he refused to remove his turban.

“I wasn’t trying to be a civil rights activist — but if something comes up right in front of me, I can’t walk away from it,” Ahluwalia said following his ordeal.

Ahluwalia later received an apology from Aeromexico, and the airline vowed to educate its staff on the Sikh religion.

VIA – http://m.nydailynews.com/news/national/sikh-comedian-airport-security-made-turban-article-1.2540164