|
Turban Turf War
is on
| |
Today it is only France but the fear
psychosis is gripping the Western world and Sikhs are likely to
be sidelined in other parts as well. Once the Sikhs accept the
French ban, then turban anywhere will become a symbol of hate.
We must guard against that scenario
|
|
 The
number of Sikh children fighting the right to cover their hair with
the Turban is very small. But numbers do not matter. What matters is
that the fundamental right has been infringed by an oversensitive
state. While the problems of multi-culturalism in a post-9/11
environment are understandable, still there should be no paranoia
over the issue. Sikh thinkers and legal experts have recognized the
French situation with respect to the Christian versus Protestant
issues, the needs of the Jews and the demands of radical Islam.
However, the Sikh situation is different.
While it sounds
a trifle odd to make comparisons, the Sikh turban is not a
fundamentalist move of some elements in the community, but as basic
as wearing a normal attire to be acceptable in society. Today it is
only
France but the fear psychosis is gripping the Western world and
Sikhs are likely to be sidelined in other parts as well.
I t
is disturbing to note that
France does not
care for international admonition. While
France
has a strident political position on various international issues,
and so it should have, it is ironical that it virtually pooh-poohs
European and world opinion about religious tolerance. The US based
International
Helsinki
Federation has denounced religious intolerance of the governments of
France in its annual reports for the last many years.
The report of
the Federation says that "The trend in the field of religious
freedom is toward adopting legislation that increasingly restricts
the activities of minority religions to the advantage of the
so-called traditional religions”.
Bashy Quraishy,
the Vice-chairperson of The Federation of Ethnic Minority Organisations,
candidly pointed out that Ethnic Minorities are no threat to the
Western identity and welfare system. In contrast to this popular
belief, the presence of these ethnic minorities poses no threat to
the host nation's identity, culture or religion. This is true he
says, because ethnic minorities are diverse and not a single entity,
their number is so small that they are no more than 7% of the whole
population in any given European country and this insignificant
number can hardly be a threat
 He further says
that the West with its technological advances, mass media monopoly,
and economical superiority, is strong enough to withstand any crisis
that originates from ethnic minorities.
A very well
known Danish politician, with a Jewish background, Mr. Arne Melchior
once said in the Danish parliament:
"If
a small percentage of Ethnic Minorities in
Denmark has the
ability to destroy a strong Danish culture, then perhaps this great
culture is not worth keeping or preserving".
Megalomaniacs
are there in every county and in every community. They are
invariably exceptions and not the rule. The true test of democracy
is to face and thwart them and to compromise age-old ideals of a
free and fair democratic society.
Sikhs in
USA must lobby
the office of the International Religious Freedom at the US state
department to step up marginalization of France because of its
racial policy against the Sikhs there.
The WSN presents
the views expressed by many authorities and scholars on the
subject:
His Holiness The Pope
 “The government
cannot be an arbiter in any religious matter. Rather it should
respect the dignity of the human person and of his inalienable
rights among which his right to adhere, practise and propagate his
religion is fundamental. No government should interfere with the
inner core of any religion…Secularity is not secularism! It is
nothing other than respect for all beliefs on the part of the state
that assures the free exercise of ritual, spiritual and cultural and
charitable activities by communities of believers.” -- Pope John
Paul in a communication to Tarlochan Singh, sent through Monsignor
Felix A. Machado, Secretary of Poncciatol Council of Inter-Religious
Dialogue.
Article 27 of the International Convenant on civil and political
rights
“(I)n those
states in, which ethnic, religious or linguistic minorities exist,
persons belonging to such minorities shall not be denied the right
in community with other members of their groups, to enjoy their own
culture, to profess and practice their own religion as to use their
own language.”
Sikh Forum &
Sikh Core Group Delhi Chapter
“We urge upon
the Government of France not to interpret secularism in narrow and
dogmatic manner and stand by its commitments to the international
community and human rights, respecting different cultural and ethnic
identities and combating all forms of chauvinism and xenophobia.”
“It was the
French Revolution in 1789 that had first talked of ‘rights of man’
and even the 1958 French Constitution was explicit when it said that
it would ensure equality of all citizens before law without
discrimination by origin, race or religion. It shall respect all
beliefs. I am sure the French President will look into the issue of
turban in a comprehensive manner and not just legally.” Dr. MS Gill,
India’s
former Chief Election Commissioner and now a federal law maker in
the Upper House
Lord Slynn of Hadley, an eminent jurist
 The
French law is to say the least “silly” and it “violated the human
rights” of individuals and should be challenged. “In
England, we
would never make such silly laws.” Several European countries had
allowed the Sikhs to wear the turbans and had even amended their
local laws to accommodate the religious sentiments of this
community. The Turban is the Crowning Glory of the Sikhs. It makes
the Sikh an integral part of the Sikh Commonwealth.
Nicholas
Berdyaeuv, a celebrated Christian thinker
Without the
turban, the Sikh loses his self. The attempts to de-turbanise the
Sikhs would amount to a repudiation of their glorious heritage. The
Sikh turban is an inheritance Sikhs cannot do without.
Darshan Singh Maini, Sikh litterateur
“According to
the Sikh philosophy of “a physically complete man”, the human being
must preserve all the hair on his head and face as an essential part
of his nature. Just as the skull is protective of the brain, the
hair, as an inseparable part of the skull, ensures the elan vital of
a human being.”
23 January 2008
|
Read Also