[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 147 (2001), Part 16]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 22792]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]


[[Page 22792]]

           TURBAN IS RELIGIOUS SYMBOL; IT MUST NOT BE REMOVED

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. EDOLPHUS TOWNS

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                      Thursday, November 15, 2001

  Mr. TOWNS. Mr. Speaker, I was distressed to find out that another 
Sikh was forced to remove his turban at LaGuardia Airport in New York. 
I am from New York, as you know, and it particularly distresses me to 
learn that this occurred in my home city.
  According to the website Rediff.com, Surjit Babra, president of a 
$100 million company called SkyLink, ``was forced to remove his 
turban'' at LaGuardia airport in New York, allegedly as part of a 
security inspection. Mr. Babra is a Canadian Sikh who was trying to 
board a flight back to Toronto. Previously, a sitting judge who is Sikh 
was forced to remove his turban at the same airport. We must clean up 
the security procedures at this airport.
  Security guards asked Mr. Babra to remove his turban. Mr. Babra 
suggested that the guard use a hand-held scanner to scan his turban. 
The security guard wouldn't accept that and made him remove his turban 
immediately.
  Mr. Speaker, the turban is a religious symbol. It is required by the 
Sikh religion. It is one of the five symbols every Sikh is required to 
carry on his person. Removing a Sikh's turban is an insult to him and 
to the Sikh faith.
  Dr. Gurmit Singh Aulakh, President of the Council of Khalistan, who 
visits my office often, sports a bright saffron turban. It looks very 
impressive. He is a committed, practicing Sikh and he will not remove 
his turban in public under any circumstances. I am sure other Sikhs 
feel the same way. They should not be harassed by asking them to remove 
their turbans at routine security checks at the airport.
  I agree with Gurbax Singh Malhi, a Sikh member of the Canadian 
Parliament, who said that ``while understanding and sharing the 
terrible circumstances that have led to this point'', the United States 
should ``train and educate security personnel so that they will respect 
the right of people of the Sikh religion to wear turbans and not 
subject them to this undignified and unnecessary procedure''.
  I urge Transportation Secretary Mineta to order the FAA to stop the 
harassment of Sikhs and order that their turbans not be removed unless 
other security means show an absolute necessity to do so.
  America is a land of freedom. Sikhs come here to escape from the 
repression they suffer in India. They have contributed to every aspect 
of American life. We even had one Sikh, Dalip Singh Saund, who served 
in this House in the early 60s. America must respect the religious 
freedom of Sikhs just as it respects the religious freedom of other 
faiths.
  Mr. Speaker, I would like to place the Rediff.com article on the 
Babra case in the Record for the information of my colleagues.

                    [From Rediff.com, Nov. 10, 2001]

           Canadian Sikh Forced To Remove Turban at LaGuardia

                             (By Ajit Jain)

       Surjit Babra, president of the $100 million portfolio 
     SkyLink, ``was forced to remove his turban'' at LaGuardia 
     airport in New York, allegedly as part of a security 
     inspection.
       In a press release, Indo-Canadian Member of Parliament 
     Gurbax Malhi, himself a turbaned Sikh, said that ``while 
     understanding and sharing the terrible circumstances that 
     have led to this point'', the United States should ``train 
     and educate security personnel so that they will respect the 
     right of people of the Sikh religion to wear turbans and not 
     subject them to this undignified and unnecessary procedure''.
       Rediff.com tried to reach Babra several times, but he 
     wouldn't respond to telephone calls.
       Businessman Garry Singh, a close friend of Babra, recounted 
     that it was on Wednesday evening, when he was going through 
     security before boarding his flight to Toronto at LaGuardia, 
     that the incident took place.
       Babra was asked to remove his turban by the security guard. 
     The Sikh businessman suggested that the guard use a hand-held 
     scanner to scan his turban. If he were still not satisfied, 
     he would then remove his turban.
       The security guard wouldn't accept that and made him remove 
     his turban immediately.
       Malhi said, ``In Canada we have learned to respect 
     religious symbols.'' The Royal Canadian Mounted Police has 
     changed its rules to allow Sikhs to wear turbans on duty.
       Barbra's SkyLink moves U.N. peacekeeping personnel and 
     equipment to various countries in the world.