Zayn Malik opens up about security checks at airports

The musician reveals that unlike other band members, he had to undergo extra security checks at airports in the early days of One Direction. It was related to Malik’s Pakistani and Muslim background.

Zayn Malik had to undergo three security checks at airports to get on the plane at the age of 17 when he wasn’t famous yet and One Direction band wasn’t so popular. Security staff told him his name was flagged on their system.

The musician said in an interview with the Evening Standard that he had been detained in the US and questioned for three hours, though his bandmates weren’t stopped for additional security checks.

“I was 17, my first time in America, jet-lagged off the plane, confused. The same thing happened the next time too,” Malik says.

The singer was born in the UK and raised as a Muslim by his Pakistani father. His mother is English, but she converted to Islam upon marriage. “I’m not currently practising but I was raised in the Islamic faith, so it will always be with me, and I identify a lot with the culture. But I’m just me. I don’t want to be defined by my religion or my cultural background,” the musician explains.

Zayn Malik says many young British Muslims face the same problems. He understands the situation and notes it’s something that comes with the climate. Speaking about the radicalisation, the musician notes that he doesn’t understand why people do it. “I just wish people had more love and care and compassion for other human beings,” the singer says.