A Muslim doctor is demanding an official apology from a U.S. airline after he was asked to abandon a flight in the U.S. this week, CBC reported.
Ahmed Farooq, a Winnipeg doctor, who was escorted off an airplane in Denver on Tuesday, condemned the incident as "institutionalized discrimination."
Dr. Farooq said that reciting his evening prayers was interpreted by one passenger, whom he said was apparently drunk and had previously threatened him during the trip, as an activity that was suspicious.
"The whole situation is just really frustrating," Dr. Farooq said.
"It makes you uneasy, because you realize you have to essentially watch every single thing you say and do, and it's worse for people who are of color, who are identifiable as a minority."
Even Transportation Security Administration officials realized the flight crew had overreacted, but the 27-year-old radiology resident and two colleagues — a man and a woman, were already taken off their flight and asked to stay in Denver for the night and catch a flight the next day at their own expense.
"There's no recourse," Farooq said. "There's no way to really be able to talk to anybody to really be able to reason it out. The police officers who talked to me afterwards and subsequent officials within the first three to five minutes, they were like, 'You know what? The crew made a mistake. We apologize that they took you off. They overreacted.'"
Winnipeg MP Pat Martin urged the federal Public Safety Minister Stockwell Day to address the case with his American counterparts.
•Discrimination
About 4.5 million Arab Americans live in the United States, nearly 2% of the American population. The number of Muslims in the States is expected to grow to each about 6 million by the year 2010, surpassing the Jewish population in the U.S.
•Polls
Recent polls and surveys showed rising Islamophobia among Americans.
A Washington Post-ABC News poll carried out last March found that more than half of Americans believe there are more "violent extremists" within Islam than in any other religion and that the Islamic faith encourages violence against non-Muslims.
Analysts also say that negative feelings towards Muslims have become much more pronounced than in the immediate aftermath of September 11 attacks on the Unite States, thanks to the biased media approach towards Muslims and the Islamic faith linking them to terror and terror attacks worldwide.
Ahmed Farooq, a Winnipeg doctor, who was escorted off an airplane in Denver on Tuesday, condemned the incident as "institutionalized discrimination."
Dr. Farooq said that reciting his evening prayers was interpreted by one passenger, whom he said was apparently drunk and had previously threatened him during the trip, as an activity that was suspicious.
"The whole situation is just really frustrating," Dr. Farooq said.
"It makes you uneasy, because you realize you have to essentially watch every single thing you say and do, and it's worse for people who are of color, who are identifiable as a minority."
Even Transportation Security Administration officials realized the flight crew had overreacted, but the 27-year-old radiology resident and two colleagues — a man and a woman, were already taken off their flight and asked to stay in Denver for the night and catch a flight the next day at their own expense.
"There's no recourse," Farooq said. "There's no way to really be able to talk to anybody to really be able to reason it out. The police officers who talked to me afterwards and subsequent officials within the first three to five minutes, they were like, 'You know what? The crew made a mistake. We apologize that they took you off. They overreacted.'"
Winnipeg MP Pat Martin urged the federal Public Safety Minister Stockwell Day to address the case with his American counterparts.
•Discrimination
About 4.5 million Arab Americans live in the United States, nearly 2% of the American population. The number of Muslims in the States is expected to grow to each about 6 million by the year 2010, surpassing the Jewish population in the U.S.
•Polls
Recent polls and surveys showed rising Islamophobia among Americans.
A Washington Post-ABC News poll carried out last March found that more than half of Americans believe there are more "violent extremists" within Islam than in any other religion and that the Islamic faith encourages violence against non-Muslims.
Analysts also say that negative feelings towards Muslims have become much more pronounced than in the immediate aftermath of September 11 attacks on the Unite States, thanks to the biased media approach towards Muslims and the Islamic faith linking them to terror and terror attacks worldwide.
