Indian-origin siblings forced off plane over ISIS claims

Three Indian-origin Muslim siblings, including two hijab-clad girls, have claimed that they were hauled off a plane at an airport here and questioned on the tarmac by British policemen after a passenger accused them of being ISIS supporters.

Sakina Dharas, 24, Maryam Dharas, 19, and Ali Dharas, 21, had boarded the easyJet flight from Stansted to the Italian city of Naples last week when they were approached by a cabin crew member and asked to accompany her off the aircraft without explanation, media reports said.

The trio from northwest London were hauled off the plane and grilled for an hour by officers, who first asked them, “Do you speak English ”, according to Sakina, who narrated the ordeal writing in the Independent and in a Facebook post.

They were asked by one of the officers, “A passenger on your flight has claimed that you three are members of ISIS,” Sakina said.

“They saw you with Arabic or praise be to Allah on your phone,” the officer was quoted as saying by Sakina.

In their reply, the siblings said, “Firstly, that’s part of the Quran, our religious text, so even if we did have it, it wouldn’t signify that we’re a part of ISIS at all.”

“Regardless, we’ve had nothing on our phone remotely Arabic related... we’re Indian by ethnicity, so we wouldn’t even have Arabic in conversation with anyone,” they told the officers.

During their one-hour interrogation on the tarmac, Sakina was asked to explain the details of various entry stamps on her passport.