I came to Canada on 19th April 2012 midnight.
This incident took place on 18th April 2012 at around 6:30 pm at Shah Jalal International Airport.
Before I passed the check in at Dhaka Airport I encountered a shocking incident that hurt me tremendously.
One staff who was in the check in (I didnt see his name) saw my passport & said that my Canadian student visa was fake. I showed him all the papers from the university & then he went upstairs to get it verified. He told me it would take 5 minutes but I was kept standing over there for around 30-45 minutes. Then he came back & told me that my visa is ok. I just said to him that yes the visa is fine but it was very embarrasing to stand here for this long as all the people were staring at me. He then proceeds to say that You (Me) have no idea what would the consequences be. Then he pushed away my luggage & said you cant go today & told me that my attitude was wrong. I asked him what was the wrong thing I did & he yelled at me saying '' Look man you got piecings in your ears, you have long hairs in the back of the head & you have fancy beards doest make you smart or something '' . This things that he said was way too much personal & I think there was no need for him to say all these things about my personal choices. Then my father tried to make him understand that it was a misunderstanding but he behaved badly with my father as well. Later on he said to my father '' Your son havent yet reached Canada & he is behaving like a Canadian '' . Then my father cooled him down (for no reason ) & then he proceeded to allow me to get passed the check in.
I want to seek attention of the reader that this whole incident effected my whole long journey as it was a mental pressure that I went through thinking that I would miss my flight. I just want this kind of incident not to happen to anybody as it is everyone's personal choice as what they should wear or what they should have in their body (piercing, hairstyle, beard ) & I guess everyone has the freedom to mind their own business. I want you to take action on this thing that happened.
Yours sincerely,
Ishtiaque Mahmud Arnob
Kamloops, British Columbia
Canada
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