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Updated: Dec 17, 2015 14:12 IST

Social media went into a frenzy after a video of an elderly Sikh man with the caption ‘flying with Bin Laden’ surfaced on YouTube.

The video was allegedly shot by a passenger on a Jet Blue flight which was flying from New York to California. The passenger, who was seated next to a Sikh man, posted a video on YouTube titled ‘Would you feel safe?’ and the caption ‘flying with Bin Laden’.

The video has garnered over 80,000 views since December 9. Over 1,000 users have disliked the video which has caused an uproar for blatant ‘discrimination’.

“I feel unsafe sitting next to ignorant white people who are prejudiced,” commented one of the users Japa Khalsa.

Others chimed in and requested “Everyone watching this video REPORT it for ‘hateful and abusive content’ the guy is triggering everyone to watch it so he can make money off of the advertisements!?”

The incident prompted the Sikh man’s daughter to flag the video on YouTube and report it to the non-governmental organisation United Sikhs.

“Incidents like this are shocking... These types of incidents only weaken the fabric of our nation.” said Jaspreet Kaur, staff attorney of United Sikhs.

The elderly Sikh man, who is seen sleeping in the video, was not aware of the video until it was widely circulated online, the NGO said.

On the same day, a Gurdwara was vandalised in Los Angeles suburbs with hateful graffiti addressed towards Islamic State, reports said.

In another incident, a photo making the rounds on Facebook earlier this month showed the former Trinity University basketball player -- the first turbaned Sikh to play in the NCAA -- with the caption: “Nobody wants to guard Muhammad, he’s too explosive.” A friend came to his defence, saying, “Do the world a favor and educate yourself” - which got tens of thousands of likes.

Although Sikhs have been a target of “hate crimes” in the United States, community leaders fear it is a repercussion of the recent California shooting and the Paris terror attacks.

Read | US Sikhs feel vulnerable, join with Muslims to combat backlash

(With inputs from agencies)