American Sikh community leaders have complained US legislators that they were experiencing racial profiling, mostly during travel, after 9/11 and the trend has increased of late.
“It’s not fair. It’s not safe,” complained Amarjeet Singh, programme director of advocacy group Sikh Coalition, in his testimony before the House Judiciary Sub-committee on the Constitution, Civil Rights, and Civil Liberties.
Asking them to intervene to end their ordeal, the Sikh leaders have urged the US legislators to take immediate steps to end this profiling.
The sub-committee held rare Congressional hearing on racial profiling amid increasing complaints of incessant and increasing marking in the US of minorities and coloured people, particularly at airports.
Mr Singh, himself, narrated before the sub-committee a recent incident where he and his son were subject to undue harassment at a US airport.
“My son and my community are being effectively collectively punished and there is no actual law enforcement benefit in exchange for this collective punishment. We are profiling Sikhs and we are losing as a result,” Mr Singh said.
Congresswoman Judy Chu from California introduced a written testimony on behalf of United Sikhs, another advocacy group, which addressed the concerns of racial profiling of Sikhs at the United States airports.