Paris, September 10, 2005
Reuters
Two Sikh boys have fallen foul of France's ban on
religious clothing in state schools this year, with
one excluded because of his turban and another forced
to wear a small cloth instead, a Sikh activist said
on Friday.
Gurinder Singh, 17, was barred from class in a Paris
suburb because he refused to remove the keski, or
under-turban, that his school let him wear last year,
said Kudrat Singh of the United Sikhs pressure group.
Hardeep Singh, 13, was only allowed into class when
he agreed to wear a small cloth over the top-knot
of his uncut hair. Sikh men do not cut their hair
for religious reasons.
Three Sikh boys were expelled from school last year
for wearing their turbans, which officials said violated
a new ban on religious symbols in state schools aimed
mostly at stopping Muslim girls from attending in
headscarves
