14 DAY TRIAL // A man of Indian descent believes that he has been the victim of racial profiling when going through JFK airport in New York.
Aditya Mukerjee is a data scientist working out of Boston who has been held for hours in the airport. He was preparing to fly to Los Angeles on a JetBlue plane.
According to the Daily Dot, Mukerjee was stopped at JFK during Ramadan. He claims that he has been dubbed a Muslim and questioned for that reason.
He was stopped by security agents on August 3 and he was accused of carrying explosives. He explained that pesticides in bug spray could have gotten on him. He had recently changed apartments.
"We’re not detaining you. You just can’t leave," he was told.
He details being held in the airport for hours without food or water.
"Either you’re detaining me, or I’m free to go. Which one is it?" he asked.
Upon passing the TSA's inspection, he was told that he would not be allowed to board the flight.
"However, based on the responses you’ve given to questions, we’re not going to permit you to fly today," an agent explained.
He was provided with a Hindi translator although he was never asked if he could speak English. He is proficient in the English language and cannot speak Hindi.
He was also asked about his religion and whether or not he would need to be accommodated for praying on the plane. He describes the staff being convinced about the fact that he was a Muslim.
"Think of all the people that go through this that haven't written something. [...] I'm very fortunate to be in a position where I can talk about it publicly.
"I happen to be moving, I happen to be Indian. If they're not able to educate themselves about basic things... It took them a while to figure out I was Hindu, instead of Muslim," Mukerjee says.