"don't tell me the rules"

ThinkProgress

Airport security agents in Austin pulled [India's UN envoy] Singh aside into an enclosed glass holding room for questioning after he refused a request to remove his turban or allow inspectors to touch it, an Indian official who witnessed the incident told Turtle Bay. “He said no, you cannot check my turban,” according to the Indian official, who spoke on condition of anonymity. “I won’t allow you to touch my turban.”

The Indian official said Singh offered to touch the turban himself and to allow the security agents to run a check of his hands for traces of explosives, but he said that one security official refused. Singh insisted that the security official had no right to check his turban, citing TSA regulations for searches of foreign diplomats. “Obviously you don’t know your own rules. Please check your rules,” he told the security agent, according to the Indian official. “The person insisted that he had to do it. He said, ‘Don’t tell me the rules.’”

The Indian official said that the security officials finally checked the security regulations and issued an apology to the Indian ambassador. He said he was unaware of whether his government had filed an official complaint with the United States over the issue.

I guess when the TSA decides to ignore their own rules, it helps to have diplomatic status. And a support staff with lots of junior diplomats to witness the incident. Of course, if you're not able to travel with a team of lawyers, you're probably screwed.

And of course, Sikhs aren't Muslims. In related news, last month the Indian ambassador to the US was also subject to additional 'random' screening for wearing a sari. And of course, Hindus aren't Muslims either. Racial profiling is bad enough. But when racists can't even keep their own bigotries straight, well, that's just shoddy.