Diplomat pat down: Punjab minister urges PM to act

CHANDIGARH - Almost two weeks after senior Sikh diplomat Hardeep Puri was asked to remove his turban at a US airport for a security check, a Punjab minister Saturday urged Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to take up the issue with US President Barack Obama.

Punjabs Industries and Commerce Minister Manoranjan Kalia said the US security authorities were unnecessarily targeting Sikhs and other Indians in the name of security checks at US airports.

Kalia appealed to the prime minister to take up the issue with Obama.

“Otherwise, India should respond in the same way (with US nationals),” Kalia, who belongs to the Bharatiya Janata Party, said here.

“David Coleman Headley, who is involved in the 26/11 attack on Mumbai, the commercial capital of India, is an American national. But does this mean we too should bring all Americans under the scanner,” he asked.

India’s Permanent Representative to United Nations Hardeep Puri was earlier this month patted-down by Texas airport security officials and asked to remove his turban for security checking.