Flying While Brown: Hindu Man Denied Flight on JetBlue During Ramadan

jetblueIn what appears to be another case of flying while brown, Aditya Mukerjee (@chimeracoder) reported on his Tumblr yesterday that he was kicked off a JetBlue flight during the Muslim holiday of Ramadan while attempting to meet his family in Los Angeles. After being detained for four hours, Mukerjee was told by a representative of the airline that he could not take his flight from New York. According to his account, the restriction was placed by a JetBlue representative despite the fact that he was cleared to fly by TSA. He writes:

As they patted me down for the fourth time, a female TSA agent asked me for my baggage claim ticket. I handed it to her, and she told me that a woman from JetBlue corporate security needed to ask me some questions as well. I was a bit surprised, but agreed. After the pat-down, the JetBlue representative walked in and cooly [sic] introduced herself by name.

She explained, “We have some questions for you to determine whether or not you’re permitted to fly today. Have you flown on JetBlue before?”

“Yes”

“How often?”

“Maybe about ten times,” I guessed.

“Ten what? Per month?”

“No, ten times total.”

She paused, then asked,

“Will you have any trouble following the instructions of the crew and flight attendants on board the flight?”

“No.” I had no idea why this would even be in doubt.

“We have some female flight attendants. Would you be able to follow their instructions?”

I was almost insulted by the question, but I answered calmly, “Yes, I can do that.”

“Okay,” she continued, “and will you need any special treatment during your flight? Do you need a special place to pray on board the aircraft?”

Only here did it hit me.

“No,” I said with a light-hearted chuckle, trying to conceal any sign of how offensive her questions were. “Thank you for asking, but I don’t need any special treatment.”

She left the room, again, leaving me alone for another ten minutes or so. When she finally returned, she told me that I had passed the TSA’s inspection. “However, based on the responses you’ve given to questions, we’re not going to permit you to fly today.”

JetBlue is no stranger to controversy when it comes to allowing passengers to board their planes. Three years ago, they denied a man wearing a t-shirt with the words “We Will Not Be Silent” in English and Arabic the right to fly.

In response to tweets from Mukerjee’s supporters, @JetBlue, the brand’s official account tweeted Mukerjee:

Understandably, Twitter was unamused.

Mukerjee joins a long list of others who have been prevented from flying in the years since 9/11. They include Atif Irfan, PoopStrong founder Arijit Guha and Shoshana Hebsi.

Disturbed by Mukerjee’s story? You can contact JetBlue on Twitter @JetBlue or send them an email

Kishwer Vikaas is a co-founder and editor of The Aerogram. Find her on Twitter at @Phillygrrl or email her at editors@theaerogram.com. Follow The Aerogram on Twitter @theaerogram.

17 thoughts on “Flying While Brown: Hindu Man Denied Flight on JetBlue During Ramadan”

  1. I think he’s owed a full public apology, a free flight at his convenience, and a full refund. As for myself, I won’t fly Jet Blue again. BDS.

  2. What happened to Aditya Mukerjee was wrong on all counts. But not because he is Hindu. It would be just as wrong as if he were Muslim, Black, or a woman. I think it is highly problematic for this to be spun as discrimination against a Hindu person, because it serves to attempt a separation against one minority as somehow being more offensive than if it had occurred to someone else on a discriminatory basis. The last time I checked, South Asian does not equal Hindu.

  3. How interesting that Mukerjee’s Twitter comments say nothing about his religious background but the title of this article does…

    • You are more ignorant than Jet Blue. Let me explain and then you can go hopping off on one foot.
      Jet Blue assumed Aditya Mukherjee(CLEARLY a Hindu by the name but an ignoramus like you would not know neither did Jet Blue) was a Muslim and refused to let him aboard as Muslims have to pray 5 times a day at a certain time. search for “muslim praying on taxi in new york” and you will see that muslim just parks his taxi and then climb on top of it and prays as he is supposed to pray no matter what at the particular time during Ramadan.
      So maybe Jet blue wanted to avoid a Muslim demanding a place to pray in the middle of the flight which can even be dangerous if the plane hits turbulence.

      The ignorant part about this incident is they assumed Aditya was a Muslim based on his skin color and looks. That is the only ignorant part, they did not even bother to ask him if he was a muslim. I personally feel instead of chuckling and saying no if he had told the lady to listen to him for 2 minutes and explained to her he is not a muslim and he is a hindu. Maybe this would not have happened.

      But glad he did not do it as Ignorance of Jet Blue employees were exposed. They should atleast get educated in names or just ask the person if he is muslim and explain why they are doing this

  4. This reminds me of the Sikh temple shooting that occurred on August 2012 in Oak Creek, WI, when the media was saying “Now just to be clear, Sikhs are NOT Muslim, so we don’t know why exactly the shooter went to the temple.” Implying that if the shooter DID go to a Mosque (muslim place of worship) then it would be justified and understandable. This is tragic regardless if the victims are Sikh, Muslim, Christian, Jew, Buddha, OR ANY HUMAN LIFE!

    • What the reporter probably meant was that the shooter himself may have wanted to target a mosque and mistaken the Gurdwara (Sikh Temple) for one. Stop extrapolating for your own ideological ends.

  5. To foster human understanding, you can’t always assert rights wherever you may be entitled to assert them. You have to show some empathy. Obviously, if I were stopped from flying, or were questioned in this manner, I’d be hopping mad. But I would also have said, “I’m not a Muslim”; or, if I were a Muslim, I would have said, “I’m not one of those Muslims who thinks he is above the law, above rules and regulations, and who treats women like dogs.”
    From the tenor of the questions, I’m guessing that JetBlue has had problems with aggressive Muslim men who have confronted female flight attendants demanding all sorts of things, including places to pray, while refusing to follow instructions from the female flight crew. Now put yourself in the shoes of one of these women. They already have a difficult job that has been made much worse, and more dangerous.
    We all have to work together to identify the underlying problems and to solve these problems, to deal with obstreperous individuals who refuse to live in a civilized manner, and so forth. Breaking up into racial groups, and asserting rights back and forth, is a sure way to collapsing civilization altogether.

  6. If you read the full account of his interaction with security, you will notice that a swab of his clothes was triggering off the explosive residue alarm during pat-down (which he himself consented to by not going through the x-ray machine). Considering that there was a heightened state of alert recently about explosives being carried within the body, you can understand the extra scrutiny he got. And when I read his full conversation with TSA/police/Jetblue staff, there were times when he was trying to be smart-alecky with his answers which is a no-no at airline security and they decided that letting him onto the flight wasn’t worth the risk (remember that the airline is the final arbiter on who flies and can deny boarding to anyone they feel would endanger the flight). Much as the author likes to think that he is the only one flying that day, the truth is that there are thousands upon thousands of people they have to process in the same manner and helping them understand why residue on his clothes was triggering of the alarm (he himself admits that it could have been due to a bug-spray he may have used on his bed at home) and answered in a co-operative rather than combative manner would probably have helped his case. The religious aspect has very little to do with it.

    • Wonder if they were using the same crap they use on hands at the airports – you know, the stuff that can not distinguish between glycerine in explosives and glycerine in common [and I mean really common] everyday products and substances.

      If so, and only if then, I personally don’t hold the TSA in any better light.

  7. Ramadhan is not a Muslim holiday, it never was. It was a full month of Ramadhan. Why he need to mention Ramadhan anyway, it has got nothing to do with it.,

    • Did you even read the entire article. They asked him if he needed a special place to pray..which means they assumed he was a Muslim. They refused to let him fly as they assumed being a muslim he might need to pray. As on Ramadhan a Muslim has to pray 5 times a day, you should know that!

  8. Many did not get the gist of what happened and some ppl are even trying to crucify the writer for bringing in religion or Ramadan. So let me explain.
    During Ramadan a Muslim needs to pray 5 times a day not matter what. So basically Jet Blue was trying to avoid a scene on the flight and not allowing Muslims to fly. A muslims asking for a place to pray on the flight(there are youtube video of a muslim praying on top of his taxi as they have to pray at a certain time and they just do it anywhere) I am not supporting Jet Blue stance on this.
    What is ignorant here is that Jet Blue Assumed Aditya Mukherjee is a Muslim based on his Skin color and maybe his looks.
    They had not idea that his name itself is clearly Hindu(If anyone knew about names. Like the last name Rodriguez or Matthew are obviously christian names unless they are athiests or muslims converts who never changed their name)
    And its wrong to assume he is a muslim and you can see the entire conversation they just never bothered to ask him if he was.
    They just assumed and that is why they asked him if he would ask them for a special place to pray, Even though he said no they maybe decided not take a chance.

    If I was there maybe I would don’t more than chuckle and tell them no, Instead I would tell them to not be so ignorant and point out that I am not a muslim.
    But then maybe this would not come out in the open. So its good Jet Blue should be ashamed of themselves. They should hire some Indians, Arabs and other ethnicity people to educate them.
    I can understand that they would not want a scene being created by a muslim asking for a special place to pray on a flight. But you don’t assume every brown man is a muslim

Comments are closed.

The Aerogram