In late September 2001, the front page of the Daily Telegraph was smothered with the photo of a man being taken into custody by FBI agents. The man had an olive complexion and was wearing a blue turban. The headline blared out “FIRST ARREST”.

Olive-skinned man. Turban. Islamist terrorist? You’d think so. I didn’t. From the design of the man’s turban, I could tell he was a Sikh!

It got worse. The first FBI photo of suspects released included two turbaned passengers, both Sikhs. The first hate-crime in reprisal of the attacks was also against a Sikh. Balbir Singh Sodhi, was gunned down while planting flowers at his family-owned petrol station in Arizona. His killer later admitted he shot the young man thinking he was a Muslim.

Sikhs weren’t the only group subjected to ethnic profiling. One American medical student was also accused of involvement in the attacks. Mohammed Salman Hamdani worked for the NY Police Department as a cadet and was also a part time ambulance paramedic. He had gained admission to study medicine at university. He was a Star Wars fan, and his license plate number read “Young Jedi.” He played American football for his high school team.

Salman was also a devout Muslim. He regularly performed his ritual prayers five times a day. As he grew older, Salman became increasingly proud of his Pakistani and Muslim heritage — although he never found time to learn to read and write in his native language, Urdu.

On the morning of 11 September, 2001, Salman left home and headed to his usual place of work as a researcher at the Rockefeller University. After catching the train, he disappeared. Within hours, his family were being questioned by the FBI; and within days, political leaders and media commentators were accusing the young Mr Hamdani of being a terrorist.

Salman’s mother was facing a media barrage at a time when she was more worried about her missing son. Some seven months later, FBI officials telephoned to advise her that Salman’s remains had been found. It turned out Salman had heard about the attacks on the radio on the way to work. He rushed to the scene and volunteered his paramedic services. Salman was killed when the towers collapsed.

Salman was laid to rest in April 2002. The funeral service at a New York mosque was attended by New York’s Police Commissioner, NY Mayor Michael Bloomberg, and the NYPD’s first Muslim police chaplain, Imam Pasha, together with over 1000 police cadets. Finally the Hamdani family could reach closure.

Mrs Hamdani now serves on the Steering Committee of Peaceful Tomorrows, an organisation founded by survivors of September 11 victims.

I’m not aware of any terrorist who’s been able to manufacture a bomb that discriminates on the basis of race or religion. So, even the terrorists don’t discriminate. Why on earth some politicians and commentators do, beats me.