[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 134 (Friday, October 11, 2002)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1859]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


  TWO SIKH MEN DETAINED AFTER FLIGHT--RACIAL PROFILING MUST BE STOPPED

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                        HON. CYNTHIA A. McKINNEY

                               of georgia

                    in the house of representatives

                        Friday, October 11, 2002

  Mrs. McKINNEY Mr. Speaker, I was disturbed to read that two Sikh men 
were detained after a flight simply for using the bathroom. This is 
ethnic profiling of the worst kind and it must be stopped.
  Apparently, what happened was that the two men, Gurdeep Wander and 
Harinder Pal Singh, were flying to Las Vegas for a convention and they 
missed their connection. They were a bit late the next morning so they 
ran onto the plane. Apparently, this made the flight crew suspicious.
  Then Mr. Singh, Mr. Wander, and another man, who was Hispanic, used 
the same bathroom on the plane. When Mr. Singh, the last of the three, 
went to use it, the flight attendant tried to convince him that it was 
locked and unavailable. She claimed that she had read that people could 
make bombs in the bathrooms by bringing the parts on separately. I 
wonder if three white people using the bathroom in quick succession 
would have made her think the same thing.
  After the plane made an emergency landing, the two Sikh men and an 
Egyptian man were detained on the plane while police dogs surrounded it 
and sniffed for weapons. Then the Sikh men were arrested for 
interfering with a flight crew.
  Mr. Speaker, the Secretary of Transportation must take appropriate 
action against this airline and its discriminatory employees. This kind 
of racial profiling cannot be allowed. I call on the Secretary of 
Transportation to take appropriate steps to end this racist practice 
and to make sure that the victims of this incident are fully 
compensated. We must make it clear that we will not tolerate racial 
profiling.
  Mr. Speaker, the Council of Khalistan has written a letter to 
Secretary Mineta asking him to take appropriate action in response to 
this incident. I would like to place that letter into the Record now.

                                         Council of Khalistan,

                                  Washington, DC, October 8, 2002.
     Hon. Norman Mineta
     Secretary of Transportation,
     Washington, DC.
       Dear Secretary Mineta: I am writing to you to protest an 
     incident of racial profiling against Sikhs that occurred on a 
     Northwest Airlines flight on September 11. Gurdeep Wander and 
     Haninder Pal Singh, two men of Sikh descent, were headed to a 
     convention in Las Vegas on a Northwest Airlines flight after 
     missing a previous connecting flight in Minneapolis.
       Mr. Wander and Mr. Singh chose to fly on September 10 to 
     avoid flying on the anniversary of the September 11 attacks. 
     However, they missed their connecting flight so they had to 
     stay overnight in Minneapolis. They were then placed on a 
     flight on the morning of the September 11. Mr. Wander and Mr. 
     Singh were late for their flight. They rushed on board the 
     plane, which the flight attendant apparently regarded as 
     suspicious. All that the two Sikh men carried was the shaving 
     kits that they had been given by the airline. Their luggage 
     had already been forwarded to Las Vegas. Would the flight 
     attendants regard white men rushing onto the flight as 
     suspicious? I don't think so.
       The flight attendants' suspicion was apparently further 
     aroused when right after Mr. Singh and Mr. Wander, a Hispanic 
     man named Carlos Nieves rushed onto the plane.
       Shortly before departure, Mr. Wander got out of his seat 
     and got the shaving kit the airline had given him. He took it 
     with him to the bathroom. When Mr. Wander had been in the 
     bathroom a few minutes, a flight attendant asked him to sit 
     down. He asked for a minute to finish up what he was doing. 
     When Mr. Wander came out, Mr. Nieves went to use the 
     bathroom. Mr. Singh was next to use it. The flight attendant 
     tried to prevent Mr. Singh from using the restroom, claiming 
     that it was locked. She later claimed that she had read that 
     explosive devices could be assembled on the flight if 
     separate individuals carried the components.
       After the plane made an emergency landing in Fort Smith, 
     Arkansas, Mr. Singh, Mr. Wander, and a Muslim from Egypt 
     named Alaaeldin Abdelsalam were detained. The plane was 
     surrounded by bomb-sniffing dogs and all the luggage was 
     taken out of the plane.
       Secretary Mineta, this is clearly racial profiling and it 
     must not be allowed. I urge you to take appropriate 
     corrective action to correct the abuse of Mr. Singh, Mr. 
     Wander, Mr. Abdelsalam, and Mr. Nieves. I also respectfully 
     request that vou issue an urgent directive banning racial 
     profiling on any U.S. flight. Since these airlines are 
     regulated by your department and your department controls 
     airport security, you must act to ensure that every passenger 
     is treated equally and fairly. Please take appropriate action 
     to correct this situation today. Thank you in advance for 
     your help.
           Sincerely,
                                              Gurmit Singh Aulakh,
                                                        President.

     

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