Pakistan

Sikh men barred from entering NFL game in US for 'wearing turbans'

Men were eventually allowed inside the stadium only to face further embarrassment as they left the venue

Web Desk December 14, 2015

PHOTO: FACEBOOK

Three Sikh Americans were harassed by security staff and denied entry to an NFL game in San Diego, California last week because they were wearing turbans.

The security at Qualcomm Stadium barred the men from entering the stadium till they took off their turbans despite one of the men repeatedly explaining that he and his friends could not take it off as their religion prohibited it.

Raising voices: Sikhs protest against alleged desecration of holy book in India

However, according to Daily Mail, the four friends were eventually allowed to enter the stadium with their turbans on only to face more embarrassment later.

As the men left the venue, their car was put under search by a bomb-sniffing dog as a member of the public phoned police because they saw the men 'suspiciously' putting a bag inside the trunk.

Speaking to ABC News, one of the men, Verinder Malhi, said, "Everybody is kind of confusing us with the turbans, because what you see on TV is mostly the terrorists, they wear turbans."

"But our turbans are different, our faith is different, our beliefs are different," he added. Sikhism is a religion predominately practiced in India's Punjab region and is linked to Hinduism but has no relation to Islam.

"It's bad, I mean, this is embarrassing for me,' Malhi said. "We are Americans at the end of the day. And we are not supposed to be afraid of fellow Americans."

Torn pages of Holy Quran thrown at door of US mosque

Tracing back to the event, Malhi explained they had driven seven hours from Fresno to San Diego for the game. Despite being allowed to enter the game eventually, they were told by the security guard that if they ever returned, they would not be allowed inside.

The incident comes days after Republican front-runner Donald Trump called for the banning of Muslims from entering the United States, in wake of the San Bernardino terror attacks which claimed the lives of 14 people.

Severed pig’s head thrown at US mosque door

A week earlier, a Sikh temple in California was vandalised and sprayed with anti-Islam messages which police believed to be a hate crime carried out in response to the San Bernardino attacks carried out by a radicalised Pakistani-American and his wife.

Many took to Twitter, disappointed and shocked over the incident.

https://twitter.com/Jon_Star/status/675750926897016833

https://twitter.com/DinahLord/status/676126118471012352

Football-Loving Americans Harassed For Wearing Turbans To NFL Game (Hint: Sikhs aren't even Muslim. Ugh) https://t.co/FsdBhLL68k
— Michelle Martini (@PowerfulHER) December 13, 2015

https://twitter.com/GenevieveChase/status/676192051231346688

In 2015 people still don't know the difference b/w Sikhs & Muslims? Even if they were Muslim, why the discrimination https://t.co/DDNBOyojex
— Talia Whyte (@taliawhyte) December 14, 2015

American Sikhs: invisible victims of Islamophobia. https://t.co/JYz6gdyl1q
— AMLA USA (@AMLAUSA) December 13, 2015

This article originally appeared on Mail Online.

COMMENTS (9)

Hassan | 8 years ago | Reply Can we jus ban Indians trolling over Pkaistani sites.

Azi | 8 years ago | Reply @Farhan: Haven't you heard? Blaming someone else especially an arch enemy for own problems is the best way to go. Using their logic I can say similarly (now this is true stuff), thanks to Indians for their cheat and cheap personality, people look at ANY brown person in a university as a potential cheater and the job sector as one with fake/ forged qualifications. Thanks to their cheap tricks to gain H1s that now employers hate it.

VIEW MORE COMMENTS

Farhan | 8 years ago | Reply @ An Indian: Errr...how many Pakistanis have you seen going around in turbans?

Raj - USA | 8 years ago | Reply Sikhs may say that Americans are confusing them with Muslims and don't understand that their religion is different, their turbans are different an that their religion is linked to Hinduism and not Islam. Americans know it very well that Sikhs are different from Muslims and they are not confusing Sikhs with Muslims. However, many link Sikhs to Muslims because a small group of them is still living in th 1980's and holding demonstrations demanding Khalistan. Today the world is not supporting any demand for separation on the sole reason of religion. Pakistanis supporting Kashmir and demonstrating for Kashmir only make it difficult for Muslims in USA. Same way, a small groups of Sikhs demonstrating for Khalistan make it difficult for the remaining 99.999% Sikhs who were never for Khalistan even in the 80's or have changed their stance after bombing of Air India plane. Americans and others think that those who are demanding separation from India for the only reason of religion will do he same to America also and equate them to traitors and terrorists. Sikhs should oppose and protest against the Khalistan supporters for their own good. Indian Muslims should do the same for the Pakistani muslims who are supporting separation of Kashmir from India.

An Indian | 8 years ago | Reply Thank you Pakistanis for making life of all South Asians miserable all over the world.

Kolsat | 8 years ago | Reply Barring these Sikh men from entering the stadium is an outrage. However these Sikh men could have removed their turbans and satisfied the security personnel. It is wrong to say that removing the turban is against Sikh religion because at the end of the day Sikhs do remove their turban before going to bed. Secondly Americans are generally very ignorant people who do not know and cre to know about any country and religion other than their own. After 9/11 many Hindu men and women were attacked because they were considered as Muslim. The US should educated their people better in order to avoid such incidents in future.

Azi | 8 years ago | Reply @Ashish: "You see Hindus are one of the most tolerant communities of this world" Please stop being so full of your self. Your RSS buddies beg to differ, proudly. There is NO such thing as a "tolerant community" but individual tolerance. Indulging in labeling whole community with a bad or good sign, you are not very different than the daily accusers as well. Going by that logic one could say Norway is one of the most intolerant nations because of Anders Breivik who ironically now is never heard of besides gaining admission into a university and complaining of no PlayStation in his "cell". The moment you try to spin the wheel to your convenience even when there are almost daily (reported - who knows how many go unreported) attacks on Muslims, Christians by your insecure hindus and yet you call yourself "one of the most tolerant" you lose all, if there is even any, credibility. So save us your two faced comment show.

Shetty | 8 years ago | Reply @Ashish- Very well said.Some may find it harsh..But thats fact.

Ashish | 8 years ago | Reply What happened to tolerant america. Obama and co. along with american left wing media were lecturing India on tolerance a few months back lol. You see Hindus are one of the most tolerant communities of this world. Pluralism is in the nature of Hinduism. Just few terrorist attacks with small percentage of muslim population in their countries have shaken the foundations of so called tolerance of the western societies. Imagine, the hindus showing tolerance to muslim community for 1000's of years despite their temples being attacked and invaders being celebrated as heroes by the muslim community, the forced conversion to islam and what all nonsense the Hindu community has tolerated for so many centuries..Waiting for the day when the %age of muslim community rises as that of in India and then we will see how much tolerenace these western societies show towards their minorities.

Replying to X