Karnail Singh, a Sikh man from Wolverhampton has been allegedly racially targeted by a Royal Mail postman.
"Quick! Run! He has a bomb!" said the Royal Mail postman, to his colleague, as Mr Karnail Singh put his rucksack down, to grab his water bottle, reported UNITED SIKHS.
Sun Kaur who witnessed this incident sent a direct message to Royal Mail on twitter, describing the incident and how the behaviour of the postman mistaking Karnail Singh as a terrorist was unacceptable.
"My uncle is a Sikh who wears a turban. His rucksack contained his lunch, he is not a terrorist," she said in her tweet.
Subsequently receiving the tweet Royal Mail responded quickly and requested to send further details of the location and time of the incident.
Sun Kaur's Twitter exchange with Royal Mail. Source: Supplied
The Royal Mail sent Karnail Singh a letter of apology highlighting that the postman has been identified and while they are limited in what they can tell Mr Singh, the matter will be treated with the utmost seriousness it deserves.
The representative from the Royal Mail noted that "the Royal Mail is one of the largest employer of people in the UK and we have a long history of inclusiveness, acceptance and support for peoples of all races, sexualities and faiths and the statement made by the employee goes against the values we hold dear."
In his media statement, Karnail Singh mentioned that he is grateful to UNITED SIKHS who took this matter forward.
Copy of apology letter issued by Royal Mail (Supplied by UNITED SIKHS) Source: Supplied by United Sikhs
"Sikhs are continually being mistaken for terrorists. We must insure matters like this are handled quickly before harm is done," said Mr Singh.
"It is apparent from recent events that some of the Royal Mail employees have little or no knowledge of Sikhs and what they represent.
“Since the 9/11 attacks Sikhs have often been the target of racism, and xenophobia which is steadily growing.
“We will be taking this opportunity to offer guidance and if required basic training notes as part of employee training. We hope this will better equip employees with an understanding of Sikhs.
“The response from Royal Mail has been satisfying and we hope that such incidents do not occur again, for any individual no matter their background." Sun Kaur told UNITED SIKHS.
