Sikh, Pakistani arrested in US on terror charges for speaking in Arabic

In yet another case of racial profiling, a Sikh man of Indian origin and a Pakistani-American man got arrested at gunpoint for discussing a bomb threat in Arabic in the US. Both of them were detained for 30 hours, according to reports.

Daljeet Singh, who has been granted a parole to live and work in America, struck a conversation with fellow passenger Mohammed Chotri after the latter approached him while they were travelling on a Greyhond bus from Arizona to Indiana on February 20.

The situation turned ugly when a white woman who was travelling on the same bus questioned both of them and accused them of 'acting strange'. Further, the fellow passengers didn't let the duo move till the police reached the spot.

Both of them were released from immigration detention centres after a thorough investigation by the FBI and were relieved of all charges.

The incident came to light earlier this month when a Sikh organisation filed a complaint against the white woman who accused the duo of speaking in Arabic.

In his defence, Singh tweeted, “I still cannot believe that this happened to me in America.”

Read: US programme ‘The Daily Show’ raises the issue of Sikhs’ harassment

This is not the first time Sikhs’ have faced the brunt of racial discrimination or have been mistaken for being Muslims in the US. The Daily Show, an American late-night talk and news satire television programme with Trevor Noah, recently aired a segment called ‘Confused Islamophobes Target American Sikhs’, featuring a humorous interview with New York-based Indian-American designer and actor Waris Ahluwalia while raising a sensitive issue of the lack of awareness in the American population as to who Sikhs are and briefly educating the audience on Sikh history and values.

The show opens with a commentary by anchor Hasan Minhaj, saying: “Islamophobia, in case you have a no risk, it still is a big problem in America. What about those people who look Muslim but are Sikh American like Waris Ahluwalia. A turban, which as a Sikh he wears everywhere, but for some reason it makes people uncomfortable.”

Ahluwalia, who is familiar with this type of prejudice, told The Daily Show that he was kept from boarding a plane because he refused to take off his turban, a symbol of his faith.

He said it did not happen to him for the first time. “Almost every time I fly back to the U.S., I get a secondary screening. And it is not just a problem at an airport; it’s not just a problem for me on the streets.”