Indian-American family subjected to racist tirade from fellow passenger on United flight
‘I just hope we find her and let her know that this isn’t okay,’ Pervez Taufiq said of the incident
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.An Indian-American family was the target of a racist tirade from a fellow United Airlines passenger, which was captured on video.
Wedding photographer Pervez Taufiq had just flown from Cancun to Los Angeles with his family last week when a woman spewed racist comments at family members, including his two young sons, on an airport shuttle bus.
“Your family is from India. You have no respect, you have no rules, you think you can push everyone, push, push, push,” the woman told Taufiq and his family, according to a video the artist shared on Instagram on November 24. “That’s what you think you are. You guys are f****** crazy.”
The incident began before the bus ride on the flight itself, during which Taufiq’s 11-year-old son sat in the same row as the woman.
“She was making comments to him on the flight,” Taufiq told The Independent. “She was saying, ‘Are you Indian?’ He’s 11, so he was like, ‘Yeah, I’m Indian.’”
“And she’s like, ‘Are you from New Delhi?’ And he said, ‘No, my family’s from Bombay,’ and so that’s where this whole thing kicked off,” Taufiq added. “Then she said, ‘Oh, I gotta talk to your parents.’”
Taufiq described his 11-year-old son as respectful and quiet throughout the flight, noting the flight attendant even praised how well-behaved the boy was.
He’s “so quiet and literally just playing on his iPad ... he's really well behaved, to be honest,” Taufiq said.
When Taufiq’s family ran into the woman again after they deplaned, and boarded the shuttle bus on the tarmac, Taufiq said the woman told his other son, who is four years old, to “shut up.”
“She turns to our youngest son, who was talking about the plane outside and says, ‘Shut up,’” Taufiq told The Independent.
“I think I went into fight-or-flight a little bit, I said, ‘Don’t you ever f****** talk to my son that way,” Taufiq added. “‘You don’t have a right to do that,’” he added. “And that’s when her husband got up and literally got into my face, as if he’s going to hit me,” said Taufiq.
The video, which has gone viral on Instagram, starts soon afterward. Footage reveals the woman flashing her middle fingers to Taufiq, before taking out her phone to film him.
“I’m going to record your f****** tandoori a**,” she said in the video, referring to an Indian cooking method.
United Airlines officials later intervened, the video shows. Taufiq said they removed the woman from the bus and will be placing her on a no-fly list.
“She was incredibly, incredibly abusive,” Taufiq said in the video. “Her husband got in my face … United handled [it] like a champ and basically is going to put her on the no-fly list.”
When contacted about the incident and asked to confirm whether the woman has been placed on a no-fly list, a spokesperson for United Airlines told The Independent they do not have “any additional information to share.” The Independent has also contacted the Los Angeles Airport Police for comment.
Taufiq said just one person – who is seen in the video telling United officials that the woman was being disruptive — stood up for his family during the incident.
“What was disturbing to me and even to the kids was nobody stood up for us, nobody, just that one guy, and even he was kind of late to the punch,” Taufiq told The Independent.
“When she was removed from the bus, that’s when people started to pat me on the back,” he continued.
Taufiq and his family are okay, he said, but shaken from the incident.
“We’re very appreciative of all the support … seeing our community pull together,” Taufiq said. “It’s nice to see people saying that would have stood up for us. I would love to believe that.”
He added: “I just hope we find her and let her know that this isn’t okay, you can’t do these types of things. That’s all I care about.”
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments