Dear Editor,

Through your esteemed daily, I would like to share an incident which horrified me and presented a stark reality that even in the 21st century there is racial discrimination. I was horrified to witness the reality of racial profiling at Frankfurt Airport. The sheer contempt that people of different colored skin are subjected to under the pretext of ‘security’ was something I had never experienced or witnessed until a few days ago. It’s a wake-up call that this abuse of power and outright discrimination against race still exists, which should be ended.

People deserve to be treated with respect, regardless of the color of their skin or their background. A true transformation in mindsets of people is the need of the hour. I traveled from India to Slovenia with Mohanji, a world-respected humanitarian who has charitable activities across five continents, and the purpose of our trip was to visit his family in Slovenia besides attending his daughter’s 10th birthday.

When we arrived at Frankfurt airport in transit to Ljubljana (Slovenia), after passing through immigration, Mohanji proceeded to the security check via the business class line, and I went via the economy line. I passed through security without any issue, and when I looked to see where Mohanji was, I witnessed that several security guards and police officers with weapons had circled him to stop his movement.

As I got closer, I saw Mohanji in utter bewilderment as a security guard was completely ransacking his bag. The police officers had circled Mohanji to stop his movement while the security guard took out every item. The policemen were then re-inspecting his personal items with additional interrogation about their origin, purpose, and why they were being carried. As I have traveled enough internationally, it was not difficult for me to recognize that it was not a standard check. No other passengers coming through the business class line were subjected to this.

What was even more embarrassing and infuriating was the sheer contempt and disregard for Mohanji as a human. It was the complete abuse and purposeful humiliation that shocked me the most. Until then, I hadn’t witnessed an event like this, and instinctively, my blood began to boil at the outright injustice on display. Mohanji always carried a wallet in his bag that contained many important and sentimental items, pictures of his wife, family, and masters like Sai Baba. These were being tossed one by one like playing cards into nearby trays as if they were trash, right in front of his eyes. This was all under the pretext of searching for ‘explosives’. Not once did they ask him who he was or the purpose of his trip.

Mohanji had already emptied his hand baggage of all electronic items, putting his laptop and chargers, including the jacket he was wearing, hard drives, and connection cables on separate trays. Yet, he was left humiliated as the security guards and police officers mishandled his belongings, drawing the attention of all the other passengers at the nearby security lines. A large scene had been created for no reason, visible to all people passing through the security area. The whole event lasted approximately 45 minutes, and Mohanji was left bewildered after just landing in Frankfurt following a 9-hour overnight flight.

As a final display of contempt, the security guard took Mohanji’s empty stainless steel water bottle, which he prefers to use instead of purchasing plastic bottles. Though the bottle was empty, the security guard insisted there was water inside. Mohanji asked him to check the bottle, but the security guard refused to give it back. Ignoring Mohanji completely, he passed the water bottle to another guard to be thrown into the bin. Even the other guard looked confused and visibly uncomfortable, as there was clearly nothing in the bottle. After failing to find any “explosives,” the trays with Mohanji’s items were thrown back to us without any apology, acknowledgment, or recognition of the ordeal.

I can only classify this as outright racial profiling. Nobody else was subject to this treatment, and not once did they ask Mohanji who he was. It took us 20-30 minutes to repack the bag and ensure no important items were missing. Unfortunately, I have since understood that this is a common experience for people of color traveling through Frankfurt Airport. Numerous horrific incidents of racial profiling exist on the internet, and it’s deeply worrying that if this can happen to a public figure like Mohanji, I dread to think what might happen to someone less known. Ridiculing this incident is cowardice. Not addressing it is escapism, and marginalizing it as a one-off incident shows a lack of responsibility. Everyone, regardless of their skin color, deserves to be treated with respect.

Christopher Greenwood
Editor, State Times