New Delhi, Dec 1: A Sikh pilot and a crew member of a Jet Airways flight were asked to take off their turbans during a security check at Milan airport before the plane could leave for Delhi, despite the Italian government's promise against continuation of such practice.
Sources claimed the commander and the cabin crew member had to take off their headgear after Italian authorities insisted on removal of the turbans for the security check. The incident occurred on Tuesday at the Italian airport when the Jet flight was to be commandeered by the Sikh pilot to fly to Delhi, the airline sources said.
“The pilot was operating a flight back to Delhi from Milan, when he was asked to take off my turban for the security check. He tried to reason with the security staff that he had been screened through the metal detector but the officials did not listen to him,” a source said.
After an uproar over the incident involving golfer Jeev Milkha Singh's coach Amritinder Singh, who was made to take off his turban at the same airport in March this year, Italy had announced in June that Sikhs travelling to the country will no longer have to remove their turbans at the airports during security screening.
Meanwhile, Shiromani Akali Dal has condemned the incident and slammed the UPA government for failing to resolve the turban issue The party urged the UPA to get the issue resolved at the international level “as sikhs were repeatedly being humiliated in different countries”.
Protesting against the incident, BJP workers today staged a demonstration outside Italian Embassy here.
The protesters also submitted a memorandum to the Italian Ambassador Giyakomo Sunfelice De Montfort and apprised him about the sentiments of Sikhs.
