Europe Sikhs Protested Against Turban Ban

Paris, Jan 31, 2004

More than 2500 Sikhs, the men all in turbans, marched from the Place de la Republique, the starting point for Paris street protests for the last century. They came from all over Europe, with a big contingent from the UK.

The turban is a religious obligation we could not abandon at all.

Europe Sikhs protested against an imminent ban on religious insignia in state schools, saying that wearing their winding head coverings is an "indispensable religious obligation"."We are asking (French) President Chirac to give us a choice," Chain Singh, president of a temple in Bobigny

France's Sikh community of about 6,000 is outraged that they were not consulted when the law was drawn up. The turban worn by all Sikh males would be barred by the law, which is due to be introduced in parliament next week. We understand the secularism and what the French Government is talking about and we want to show them that they should understand our situation, that this is our religious right, our religious symbol," he said.

Dispersed in many areas of France, the Sikhs are densely living in Paris, and where their children stick to wearing the turban.
Sikhs complain that there were ignored by the Stasi commission. Sikh boys wear the turban covering their long, unshorn hair. While girls also don't cut their tresses: Some go bareheaded, others wear veils, and some also wear turbans.

Singh said that Sikhs around the world are acting in solidarity in this respect, citing a demonstration in San Francisco staged by American Sikh community along with Muslims and Christians against the French law.

Britain's 420,000 Sikhs are also working in a signature campaign against the ban as a violation of religious freedoms. The United Sikhs, an international umbrella group, are rallying community members across the world to act in support to the cause with an online petition that it hopes would be presented to French Ambassadors.

They are more than 20 million Sikhs in the world.A proposal from Education Minister Luke Ferry that Sikh schoolboys wear a transparent hair net is not taken seriously. Talks are underway between the Sikh community and the French Government to find a way out of the impasse, but it is hard to see what form a compromise would take.