ECB is about differentiating Sikhs
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A Sikh man was verbally abused by two racist thugs and had his turban torn off while up to 40 onlookers stood by and did nothing.
The attack on Rattandeep Singh Ahluwalia in Oxford city centre comes a day after 19-year-old student Tom Grant was stabbed to death on a train after going to somone's aid.
Mr Ahluwalia was waiting at a bus stop outside HSBC bank in Queen Street at midnight on Sunday when a man started swearing and shouting racist insults at him.
The stranger grabbed hold of the 26-year-old's turban a traditional head-dress worn as a sign of devotion to God and threw it on the pavement.
As Mr Ahluwalia struggled to defend himself, another man waved his fists in his face and also shouted racist abuse.
The former student, who was heading home to Whitson Place, Cowley, after a day of praying in London, was shocked none of the people around him tried to help.
He said: "I was really scared. No-one showed any sympathy. There were at least 30 to 40 people and no-one did anything.
"He could have stabbed me."
He was not seriously injured but has been left traumatised and shaken by the attack.
He added: "A turban is part of a Sikh's religion, our costume. What that man did was the biggest sign of disrespect and the most embarrassing thing that has ever happened to me in my life."
'I always thought this was the best city I have ever been to in my life'
Rattandeep Singh Ahluwalia
Mr Ahluwalia, who moved to the city to study for a Masters at Oxford Brookes University, has also criticised the police for not understanding the significance of what happened to him.
He said when the officers arrived, he was standing against the wall petrified to be seen in public with his hair exposed, but was forced to run over the road to meet them.
Mr Ahluwalia said: "I always thought this was the best city I have ever been to in my life. Now I will not go out late at night on my own."
This is the first time Mr Ahluwalia has been physically attacked.
Oxford police spokesman Kate Smith said officers attended the racially-aggravated common assault on Sunday at 12.12am but no arrests hade been made.
She added: "We take all racist incidents extremely seriously and a thorough investigation is under way."
The attack has been condemned by members of the Sikh community, including Gurdip Singh Saini, vice-chairman of the Asian Cultural Centre in East Oxford. He said: "It is very shocking. These sorts of incidents are increasing day by day in the UK and it is getting worse. It is all the more wrong that no-one came to his rescue."
Anyone with information should call Pc Chris Miles via 08458 505505 or Crimestoppers on 0800 555111.
This Indian enclave in west London is drenched in silver and gilt, the carpet's loud 'n' lairy, signs for Punjabi towns adorn the wall alongside scenes of rural idyll and it generally looks as if an elephant in the room has peppered a standard English boozer with Indian nick-nacks. It's also the only pub in Britain that accepts Indian rupees. About 320 rupees (£4) will get you a pint of Kingfisher, Cobra or one of several lacklustre lagers. There's sweet or salted lassi too but disappointment awaits those wanting a hoppy India pale ale, because there isn't any ale at all. As well as a serious-looking pool room, a giant plasma screen (gilded, naturally) was blaring out a fairly absurd Indian interpretation of 'Pump up the Jam' and Bollywood-style music videos. There's a roaring fireplace too should you consider that entertaining. Bar talk? Two Asian lads from Leicester pondered the current number of rupees to the pound (78), the ban on cycle rickshaws from Chandni Chowk in Delhi (while London's West End has been introducing them), and the phrase 'going for a glassy' - Indian shorthand for a 'cheeky pint', while noting that while beer measures are still imperial in the UK, in India they are metric. Amid plenty of scintillating sizzle and smells, the kitchen serves up terrific no-frills karahi-cooked dishes, chicken tikka, dhal, and other subcontinental culinary classics. The regulars are both urban and turban. Elders pop in from Europe's biggest Sikh gurdwara (place of worship) opposite, while the Southall 'yoof' (all hair-gel, bling and pimp-rolls) hang out in the pool room. Ben McFarland. Photography Allyce Hibbert
It's an intriguing dilemma in a multicultural society: where do the rights of an individual begin and the laws of society end? The latest dilemma revolves around a Sikh man named Baljinder Badesha. He was charged in 2005 for not wearing a motorcycle helmet as he tooled around his Brampton home.
But he wasn't being lazy, defiant or forgetful. Instead, Badesha claimed his faith mandates that he wear only a turban and the helmet wouldn't allow him to do that. So he's taken his case to court to fight the fine.
The Ontario Human Rights Commission is supporting the 39-year-old biker, agreeing that the father of four is being discriminated against. But at a Friday hearing into the controversial case, the Crown is insisting the fine remain in place.
There have been similar instances in B.C. and Manitoba, where exceptions to the rule have already been made. And the commission claims losing the case wouldn't be a disaster for prosecutors, because future exceptions would still have to be decided on a case-by-case basis.
The dispute has raised new concerns about the need for safety vs. the freedom of religion. Many believe the latter should come first and that it's in the public interest that the law mandate people protect themselves while indulging in activities that could leave them facing severe injury.
But others contend that the man in question is an adult and he should be able to make his own decision in the name of his faith. Human Rights Commissioner Barbara Hall agrees.
"Rights like freedom of religion are not absolute, but there is a requirement if people request accommodation to explore whether or not it makes sense," she explains. "And it means going through ... scientific tests ... [to determine] what happens to a turban at high speed, to determine where is the risk, and is it an acceptable level of risk? ... There are a number of situations where people in Ontario currently have exemptions from the Highway Traffic Act."
But callers to Citytv's CityOnline disagree, calling it a foolish precedent. "I think this is a totally ridiculous thing," criticizes a woman named Andrea. "It's safety first. It's nothing to do with religious aspects. If you have to wear a helmet, this is Canada. It's in Ontario. It's in the Highway Act. What happens if he gets hit by a car? Is his turban going to protect his head more than a helmet would?"
Kris Reyes will have much more on this divisive dispute on CityNews at Five and Six.
JATINDER BIR SINGH'S parents mortgaged their home and land to pay for him to study at Global College, but he had brave hopes that he could earn it back and pay for his siblings to study in Australia too.
The Punjab student had chosen to study commercial cookery because it was a skills shortage area so it would give him a better chance of obtaining permanent residency.
But when he arrived in Australia he was dismayed to discover that he could not study commercial cookery as planned but was locked into hairdressing - the worst possible course, because Mr Singh is a Sikh.
Not only is he forbidden to cut his own hair, but the religion bans him from cutting anybody else's, on pain of being expelled from his community.
Mr Singh said the college had promised him in India that if he agreed to accept a place in hairdressing he would be given a spot in commercial cookery once he arrived on Australian soil. Now they were telling him he was stuck in hairdressing.
"When I said, 'This is against my religion. I want a refund', they said no," Mr Singh said.
Mr Singh's story is repeated by Shantinder Jit Kaur, who says she hocked her jewellery to afford the airfare and $22,000 course fee, only to be told by Global College on arrival that she could not switch to commercial cookery and must study business.
"I sold my jewellery. You can't imagine," Ms Kaur said.
"I took a bank loan. In all the statements I put 'commercial cookery'."
The college's operations manager, Omar Hong, said the students were all told that their switch to a place in commercial cookery was contingent on space becoming available.
"We've never tried to mislead students," Mr Hong said.
"It's hard to believe what students say. We've had a few difficult students."
They would only be entitled to a refund if they cancelled more than 28 days before the course started, he said.
Amit Baijal, the director of the education agency Visna Info, has lent several students money to apply to different colleges because he felt sorry for them.
If the students had known there would be no space in commercial cookery at Global College they would have enrolled in many of the other hundreds of colleges around the country, he said.
Peterborough Interfaith group pictured outside St Mary’s Church in New Road before heading off to visit the new Sikh temple in Bedford. (8PF0210206) Picture: PAUL FRANKS
A NEW multi-million pound Sikh Temple was the latest port of call for members of the city's Interfaith group.
Members met outside St Mary's Church, New Road, before setting off to the Gurdwara (Sikh temple) in Bedford.
This marks the third of a series of visits to different places of worship the group are undertaking as part of their 30th anniversary celebrations.
Chairman of the council, which aims to forge closer links between worshippers of the city's numerous faiths, Jaspal Singh said: "We took a full coach to the Gurdwara, 53 people, with four major faiths represented on the trip, those of Sikh, Hindu, Christian and Judaism."
The group attended the service and were also invited to join in a four-course meal.
They were then given a tour around the temple and joined in a question and answer session.
Mr Singh said: "The committee at the Gurdwara were really helpful and welcoming. We took a real cross section of ages, the youngest attendee was one and a half with the oldest more than 70. Everybody had a great time."
The new Guru Nanak Gurdwara in Bedford which will become the centre of the Sikh community in that area was built to replicate the appearance of Indian Gurdwaras using specific stone and also stone masons brought over from India.
The full article contains 228 words and appears in Peterborough ET newspaper.
A 14-year-old Sikh girl cannot wear a religious wrist bangle to school pending a full legal battle over her cultural and religious rights, the High Court ruled today.
Sarika Watkins-Singh was excluded after she refused to remove the Kara bangle and is now due to fight in the courts to establish a permanent right to continue wearing it in class.
Backed by her mother, Sanita, 38, she says it is an important symbol of her culture and Sikh faith.
She wants to return to Aberdare Girls School in south Wales and continue her education pending the hearing.
The school governors say the bangle cannot be worn because of its "no jewellery" policy.
Today her lawyers came to London's High Court, suggesting that she should be allowed to wear it on her right wrist under a long-sleeved jumper until there was a final ruling in her application for judicial review, which could take several months.
Helen Mountfield, appearing for Sarika, argued that she was unfairly being made to choose between her education and her faith.
But Mr Justice Harrison accepted the argument of the school governors that, to allow Sarika to be made an exception to school uniform policy even for a short period would cause disruption among the 600 girls at the school.
Jonathan Auburn, for the school, said there would be the risk of pupils "turning up at the school displaying jewellery saying that it was allowed".
The judge ruled: "Whilst I accept there will be detriment to the claimant if she is not able to wear the Kara in the interim, it does not seem to me that is anything like as significant as the detriment to the school if she were allowed to wear it."
The Punjabi Welsh girl from Cwmbach, near Aberdare, said the small, plain steel bangle was "a constant reminder to do good".
Ms Mountfield had told the judge that Sarika was allowed to wear it for about two years before a PE teacher asked her to take it off in April last year.
"She is 14, now approaching the age at which she is required to choose her GCSE subjects.
"She cares about her education and is a child with aspirations to have a professional career.
"She will suffer harm if she cannot attend school in a way that is consistent with her culture and religion, and is forced to choose between something which is central to her ethnic and religious identity and her education."
Ms Mountfield added that Sarika could not hide the Kara in a bag, which the school was suggesting as a compromise.
The point of the Kara was that it was a symbol of a faith with a history of martyrdom that required its adherents to visibly stand up for what they believed, she told the judge.
Recently the school head, Jane Rosser, said that wearing the Kara was against regulations because it was a piece of jewellery.
Sarika's family contend it was not jewellery as it was worn for religious reasons and not for decoration.
The only two forms of jewellery that girls are allowed to wear in school are a wrist watch and one pair of plain metal stud earrings.
In the forthcoming High Court hearing, Sarika's lawyers will argue that the school's stance violates race relations laws, the 2006 Equality Act and the 1998 Human Rights Act.
Her mother says she has the support of several local politicians and the Sikh Federation UK.
The teenager would remove the bangle for gym classes, or wood and metalwork, for safety reasons.
The mother said recently: "We feel very strongly that Sarika has a right to manifest her religion. She is not asking for anything big and flashy, she is not making a big fuss, she just wants a reminder of her religion."
Her daughter's interest in the Sikh faith intensified after the family visited India, including the Golden Temple in Amritsar, two years ago.
"I don't believe in putting pressure on children to follow a certain religion, but Sarika decided for herself that she wanted to be a practising Sikh," Mrs Singh, a mother-of-two, added.
Sarika said: "I am a Sikh and it is very important for me to wear the Kara because it is a symbol of my faith and a constant reminder that I should only do good work, and never do anything bad, with my hands.
"It is a comfort to me and a confidence booster when I am doing my exams. The reason I am fighting for my right to wear the Kara is because I want to stand up for the right of all the other Sikh pupils across the country to wear their Karas in school."
TEENAGE girl led a racist attack by a group of youths against a Sikh man on a bus in Edinburgh.
The 22-year-old man was verbally abused on the Number 26 Lothian bus to Corstorphine at around 10.30pm on Saturday.
The man, who was wearing a turban, boarded the bus at Haymarket with a friend. Shortly after, a group of teenagers got on near the Murrayfield Ice Rink and racially abused the victim, partly due to his traditional clothing.
The female main suspect got off the bus at the top of Drum Brae Drive, near to the Fox Covert housing estate.
She is described as white, 16 to 20, 5ft 8ins, slim, with blonde hair, which was tied up in a ponytail. She was wearing a white jacket and grey jeans.
A police spokesman said: "The victim was left extremely upset as a result of this incident, which shows a lack of respect for the victim's faith.
"We want anyone who witnessed the incident, or who knows the identity of any of the youths involved, to get in touch."
It was last November when the case for Sarika Singh came into the spotlight & again raised the ever contentious debate around issues of religious symbolism in Britain.
‘Having spoken on the airways recently to Sarika Singh’s Mother It dawned on me that the debate around the Kara or ‘Religious Sikh bangle’ has far wider Implications than just on religious expression and basic freedoms.’ Said Satinder Singh from Ethnic Confusion Britain.
‘Questions like what is the significance of a Kara or Turban to Sikhs and what is the significance of a skullcap to a Jew need to be addressed within the schools National curriculum.’
This unprecedented case highlights a need for government & Legislators to reassess the inclusion of further information on issues of identity and religious symbolism within Great Britain’s Schools national curriculum.
‘It was only very recently that I myself researched Rastafarianism; I soon discovered the significance of ‘the Lion of Judah’
being an emblem of Ras Tafari, otherwise known as the former Ethiopian emperor Haile Selassie. Only through education do we dispel myths and misconceptions about others thus education and understanding will be part of the gel that hold society together in years to come.’ He added
Sarika’s case is not the first time in the history of modern day Britain that religious symbols have been under the scrutiny of the judiciary & government, In accordance with the motor-cycle crash helmets Act 1976 passed by the British Government in 1976 section 2A “exempts any follower of the Sikh religion while he is wearing a turban from having to wear a crash helmet."
The case echoes controversy in France, where politicians voted for a ban on religious symbols in schools, including the hijab, the headscarf worn by Muslim girls and women.
Sarika Singh, 14, has not attended Aberdare Girls' School, Cynon Valley, since 5 November 2007 and a legal challenge has been filed at the High Court.
An application for judicial review of Sarika's exclusion is awaiting adjudication at the High Court.
The US Public Broadcasting System (PBS) has produced a documentary on American Sikhs to create awareness about the community traumatized by post 9/11 racial attacks.
Called 'Sikhs in America', the half-hour documentary captures their culture, spiritual beliefs, social ceremonies, martial arts, the game of kabbadi and the Yuba City Sikh Parade.
Releasing it here, channel president David Hosley said 'Sikhs in America' would teach mainstream Americans about the community.
Although Sikhs have been in the US for over 100 years, few Americans know anything about them, he lamented.
Jasbir Singh Kang, founder member of Yuba City Punjabi American Heritage Society that mooted and partly funded the documentary, recalled how they persuaded the PBS to do the documentary to raise awareness about American Sikhs.
'We needed a mainstream network to project us. Since PBS is a respected national network, I made a presentation to Hosley four years ago. He agreed to do this documentary on the basis of that presentation.'
Marissa Aroy of Berkeley-based Media Factory, which produced the documentary, told IANS: 'Before my partner Niall McKay and I started filming it, we saw all programmes on American Sikhs. All related to hate crimes after 9/11.
'We didn't want to add one more to them. Instead, we decided to present their (Sikhs) contemporary picture to Americans.'
Although her crew were given only five days to complete the shooting, they took 25 to delve deeper and know the community better, she said. 'It is a portrait of what it means to be a Sikh in the US today,' she said.
Although shot in Sacramento, Freemont, and Livingston in northern California, the documentary mostly centres on Yuba City, which is known as a Punjabi village in America.
The camera follows Sikh families through daily life - how they share a meal and pray together at home, how they participate in Sunday prayers at gurdwaras, how they celebrate Yuba City Sikh Parade, how they keep their martial arts alive and how a young Sikh wears his uncut hair and ties his turban.
'It features a Sikh wedding and a game of kabbadi to show their cultural and athletic side,' Aroy said.
On the negative side, she added, it shows how they still practice the caste system despite religious injunctions against it.
The documentary was telecast Wednesday in northern California by PBS's local affiliate known as KVIE. Soon it will be telecast across America by other PBS affiliates.
''Sikhs in America' is a great educational tool. I hope it will create awareness and stop mistaken hate crimes against Sikhs,' said Kang, whom the channel had honoured as an unsung hero in 2006 for his community work.
NORTH INDIA'S Sikh leaders are fretting about turbans. Despite India's line-up of turban-clad celebrities like the offspin bowler Harbhajan Singh and the Prime Minster, Manmohan Singh, there are fears that young Sikhs are spurning the traditional headgear in growing numbers.
Even in the Sikh heartland city of Amritsar, home of the magnificent Golden Temple, turbans are being abandoned.
Sikh elders there are so alarmed they have set up a free turban clinic.
Customers can learn to tie a good turban and get advice on what style and colours suit them best. Facial structure, complexion, height and even occupation are taken into account. Specially designed software called Smart Turban 1.0 is used to help with the task. Another program, called Turban Tutor 2.0, is available to those wanting to improve their tying techniques.
Jaswinder Singh, an Amritsar lawyer who helped establish the clinic, is deeply worried about the slump in turban tying, especially in Punjab, the Indian state with the greatest concentration of Sikhs.
"We need to encourage our young men to tie a good turban," he said.
It was becoming increasingly difficult for Sikh fathers to convince their sons to adopt the turban, with many young men considering traditional styles favoured by older Sikhs to be "archaic and conservative".
Jaswinder Singh believes education in contemporary turban techniques is essential to stem the decline. "It can be difficult to know which style of turban suits your face," he said.
The main aim of the clinic is to encourage young men to refrain from cutting their hair - one of the key tenets of the Sikh religion. "This is one of the most serious problems confronting Sikhism today," he said.
The clinic has the backing of a leading Sikh religious group called the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee. But there are many turban clinics around Amritsar.
One of them is run by Inderapal Singh at his family's turban store, close to the Golden Temple complex, one of Sikhism holiest shrines. With almost 40 turban styles for his clients to choose from, his vision is to "show the
new generation how to be
a true Sikh".
Inderapal Singh, 21, said it can take anywhere between five minutes and two hours to put on a turban, depending on the style. Most turbans are made up of five to nine metres of fabric.
He sports a magnificent burnt orange turban, which he said takes 20 minutes to put on every morning.
"The turban is very important to my identity," he said. "It shows the world you are a Sikh."
His 14-year-old brother, Amandeep Singh, who helps in the turban store after school, wears the simple black head covering favoured by sportsmen like Harbhajan Singh. He is considering what style of turban he will adopt when he gets a little older.
Dalbir Singh, an information officer at the Golden Temple, says three colours of turban are favoured by the many Sikhs who visited the famous shrine: black signifying the struggle over sin, saffron signifying sacrifice, and blue signifying service.
However, the turban salesmen clustered around the busy streets near the temple have a huge array of colours on offer. Inderapal Singh said a top priority for most customers was to find turban colours that matched their suits, shirts or ties.
A negative reaction to religious head coverings following the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, in the US has been blamed for accelerating the decline of turban-wearing.
Jaswinder Singh also points the finger at Bollywood films. "Those wearing turbans are often used to provide comic relief," he said. "They are shown as provincial, uneducated and amusing. This has bruised the feelings of the community."
