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Sikh Actor Waris Ahluwalia Keeps His Turban On, Returns To NYC
By
Scott Heins
Published Feb 10, 2016
Modified Feb 10, 2016
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By
Scott Heins
Published Feb 10, 2016
Modified Feb 10, 2016
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Two days after he was barred from a flight In Mexico City for not removing his turban at airport security, actor Waris Ahluwalia reached an understanding with Aeroméxico Wednesday morning and boarded a plane to New York. Ahluwalia, who has become a favorite in director Wes Anderson's films and is a practicing Sikh, posted a photo to Instagram of himself on the plane, and thanked the airline "for understanding the importance of religious and cultural tolerance."
Ahluwalia had been at an art fair in Mexico City and had hoped to fly back to his Manhattan home on Monday. At the airport, the actor and jewelry designer was marked for secondary security screening and received a pat-down, during which he refused to remove his traditional turban. "I happen to get it quite often, which leads me to believe that maybe it's not so random" Ahluwalia told CNN during an interview Tuesday.
For demanding that his turban stay on, Ahluwalia was ultimately barred from his flight. "It's a symbol of my faith," told the Times. "It is something that I wear whenever I am in public."
"No traveler should be subjected to what I was today," he wrote in a separate post Monday. In a statement apologizing to the Indian-American actor, Aeroméxico wrote Tuesday: "This incident inspires us to make sure that our safety personnel strengthens its customer service protocols, with full respect for the cultural and religious values of our customers.” The Times also reports that the airline plans to better train its staff on how to accommodate passengers' religious head coverings.
"That's all I wanted, and here it is in a few lines — it's right there in black and white," Ahluwalia told ABC News. "I'm getting goosebumps right now that if this makes a difference for anyone traveling into the country or leaving the country, then it was all worth it."
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Scott Heins
Scott Heins is a freelance photo and video journalist based in New York City, and a frequent contributor to Gothamist + WNYC. His work often centers around labor rights, housing, and policing. In 2018-2019 he traveled to four states while covering a wave of public school teachers strikes, with work featured in The New York Times, The Intercept, Getty Images, Splinter, and Bloomberg Photos. Scott is a dues-paying member of the National Writers Union's Freelance Solidarity Project.
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