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Sikhs launch campaign to get
right to serve in US Army
WSN Network
 WASHINGTON:
The Sikh Coalition has started a campaign to gather support for the
Sikhs' right to serve in the US armed forces after the community was
told that turbaned Sikhs cannot serve in the army.
The Sikhs have
argued that it was President Harry Truman who had on July 26, 1948,
officially desegregated the United States Armed Forces and had
promised equality of treatment and opportunity for everyone who
chooses to serve.
"Today, 61 years
later, his promise is broken," the Sikhs have said.
The Sikh
Coalition launched the campaign after two Sikh army recruits –
Captain Kamaljeet Singh Kalsi and Second Lieutenant Tejdeep Singh
Rattan – were forced to choose between their religion and their
service.
Captain Kalsi, a
doctor, and Second Lieutenant Rattan, a dentist, were part of an
Army program that pays for medical education in return for military
service. Both were recruited to join the army within the last 8
years. At the time of their enrollment, military recruiters assured
both men that their turbans, unshorn hair and beards – mandatory
articles of their Sikh faith - “would not be a problem.”
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The Amarinder-Badal or Sonia-Advani high decibel verbal duels
have shadowed out of discussion any substantive issues facing
the electorate. Congress is dismissive of its rivals. BJP seeks
to outdo the Congress in terms of promises but has brought on
board its core Hindutva agenda. |
Captain Kalsi
and Second Lieutenant Rattan maintained their turbans throughout
graduate school, during specialized Army training, at Army
ceremonies, and in Army medical facilities. Four years later, just
months before the men are due to begin active duty, the Army has
told the two Sikhs that they will have to forsake their religious
practices to serve.
“I was shocked
to learn that the Army would go back on its promise, and expect me
to choose between my faith or my service to my country,” said
Captain Kalsi. “There is nothing about my religion that stops me
from doing my job. I know I can serve well without compromising my
faith.”
Sikhs have long
served in the United States Armed Forces. On July 22, 1918, Bhagat
Singh Thind was recruited by the US Army to fight in World War I.
Months later, Bhagat Singh, a turban wearing Sikh, was promoted to
the rank of an Acting Sergeant.
Many more Sikhs
fought alongside the
United States
and other armies in World War II. Sikhs and other soldiers of faith
were expressly granted the right to serve with their religious
headwear intact by an Executive Order signed by President
Eisenhower.
In 1981, the
U.S. Army banned “conspicuous” religious articles of faith for its
service members. However, Sikhs and other soldiers of faith who were
part of the army before the 1981 rule change were allowed to stay.
As a result, Colonel Arjinderpal Singh Sekhon, a doctor, and Colonel
G.B. Singh, a dentist, have continued to serve in the U.S. Army with
their Sikh identity intact for the past twenty-five years. Both men
retired within the last two years. Captain Kalsi and Second
Lieutenant Rattan are now being prohibited from taking up the very
same positions in the Army today.
Sikhs currently
serve in armies throughout the world – from Pakistan to Sweden to
France, Britain and Canada. Here in the United States, the Armed
Forces are forcing Sikhs to choose between their religion and their
service. The choice is both unfair and inefficient. The U.S. Army’s
soldiers should reflect the rich diversity of this country.
22
April 2009
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