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The Old College Try!
Frank Paul
Tarney
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Agitated at the cutting of tresses of Jagmohan Singh Ahuja,
against his express wish at the Duval county jail in
Jacksonville, Florida, veteran Vietnam war Marine Corps member,
and Sikh American, Fatehpal Singh-Tarney writes an open letter
to President Bush imploring immediate intervention. He poses the
query, “Does my turban and beard lessen my love of country? It
does not. Insensitivity to my religious beliefs is something
else…” |
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 Dear
President Bush,
I refer to this
letter as ‘the old college try!’ I know that someone will read it
and I hope it will be a person of conscience who will, in turn, pass
it on to someone else, and that it will eventually find its way to
your desk.
I am a
decorated, combat-wounded, Vietnam War veteran. I have been a
registered Republican all my adult life. There have been times,
under both Republican and Democratic leadership, that I have had
reservations about certain policies and decisions of my government.
However, I have never been ashamed of my country until now.
About twenty
years ago, I converted to the Sikh religion, which originated in
northern
India about 500 years ago. We Sikhs respect all the world’s
religions and simply ask that our faith be respected in return.
Uncut hair is a central requirement of our faith. Uncut hair is
considered by us to be a very special and sacred gift from God.
The
history of the Sikhs is full of sacrifices which Sikhs made for
their uncut hair. These sacrifices included unspeakable
tortures and death. In order to keep our uncut hair clean and
tidy and to maintain its spiritual purity, a turban is required to
cover the hair. Sikhs consider the turban to be a crown.
For a devout Sikh to use a razor would be a great sin. The
hair gives us a special connection with God and was a symbol
enabling Sikhs to preserve their separate identity from the majority
populations of
India: Hindus
and Muslims. The flowing beard of a Sikh is a blessed symbol and is
considered a thing of beauty.
It is generally
accepted that Jesus Christ kept his hair uncut. The story of Samson
in the Old Testament, a man of great strength and courage, points to
the fact that human hair is a great source spirituality and power if
it is kept uncut. Mel Gibson’s movie, The Passion of the Christ,
graphically depicted the suffering and death of Jesus. How would
devout Christians have felt, if the Romans had also humiliated Jesus
by cutting off his long hair and beard? This is how Sikhs feel now.
Just because uncut hair is no longer significant in modern times as
it was in Biblical times for most Christians and Jews, does not mean
it is unimportant to people of other faiths.
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You have an opportunity toward the end of your presidency to
correct a terrible injustice and do something very humanitarian
that will impress both Americans of conscience and faith as well
as people around the world. An order that says something like,
‘Anyone incarcerated in
America will
have their religious rights safeguarded per the American
Constitution’ is required. Soon.
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Some time ago, a
Sikh man, Jagmohan Singh Ahuja, who is incarcerated in the Duval
County Jail in
Jacksonville,
Florida, had his religiously-mandated hair cut off. Hair does not
interfere with any routine activity, and poses no danger to the
person or anyone he may come in contact with.
Of course, there
are security concerns in a prison situation. Please note that no
one is questioning Jagmohan Singh’s incarceration. However,
imprisonment should not entail religious humiliation. The American
Constitution protects freedom of religious expression for everyone.
The Duval
County
authorities claim that the hair of prisoners is cut in the interest
of security. The idea that contraband can be hidden in the hair and
beard is an excuse – not an explanation. All body parts, internal
and external, are often probed for contraband in prisons, so why is
long hair an exception to standard procedures?
I am informed
that the hair of women inmates in
Duval County is
not cut. Surely, women prisoners are capable of concealing
contraband in their hair as well as men. It is not as though we are
referring to thousands of inmates. We are talking about a very
small number. Moreover, aren’t the chances of rehabilitation better
when authorities respect the religious principles of inmates? Most
people think so.
I contacted
Florida Governor Charlie Crist about this matter and was very
disappointed in his response. His office told me that the Duval
County Jail’s hair policy is a local matter outside of his purview.
Many elected officials have signs on their desks saying, ‘The buck
stops here.’ This is not a local matter; it is a violation of our
First Amendment right of freedom of religious expression. Of
course, certain First Amendment rights are lost when one is in
prison, but not freedom of religion. If inmates can litigate over
bad food; poor cell accommodations; inadequate law books in the
prison library, etc. they have not lost all their First Amendment
rights.
 The
Duval
County
authorities say that they are not violating the First Amendment
because they are ‘equal opportunity’ barbers. They will cut the
hair of Sikh men; devout Muslim men; Orthodox Jewish men, et al. In
other words, they claim that they are not discriminating against any
specific faith, but treating all faiths alike. Discrimination
against those faiths that require uncut hair is discrimination and a
clear-cut violation of our First Amendment rights. I strongly
suspect that the intransigence of Duval County on this religious
issue is part of a post-9-11 pattern, which does not help us either
at home or in the world at large.
You once said
that you and your administration ‘would sprint to the finish line.’
I admire you for having said that. Here is an opportunity to do
something consistent with that approach. You have an opportunity
toward the end of your presidency to correct a terrible injustice
and do something very humanitarian that will impress both Americans
of conscience and faith as well as people around the world. I do not
know the terminology or the process, but surely some kind of
executive order can be issued by you that says something like,
‘Anyone incarcerated in
America will
have their religious rights safeguarded per the American
Constitution.’
These are
troubled times for our country. Shouldn’t all Americans make special
efforts to convince the world that we respect all cultures and
religions including those from the East?
With great
respect, I implore you to correct this injustice.
Very sincerely
yours,
Frank Paul
Tarney
a.k.a Fatehpal Singh-Tarney
USMC Service # 203055
 Fatehpal
Singh Tarney is a retired preparatory school world history teacher
with 34 years teaching experience. Married to Polly, a Christian,
who visits the Gurdwara regularly with him, both lead a happy
retired life. While most Westerners were introduced to Sikhism
through the 3HO group, Frank Paul entered Sikhism via his admiration
for the courage and bravery of Gen. Jagjeet Singh Arora in the 1971
Indo-Pak battle in
East Pakistan.
Fatehpal Singh enjoys all kinds of Sewa, most of all –inter-faith
meetings. He enjoys writing fiction and non-fiction and is
presently working on a short novel set in Vancouver.
He may be contacted at filmbuff602000@yahoo.com
19 November
2008
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