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."
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=512500&in_page_id=1770&ito=newsnow
also reported on http://ethnicconfusionbritain.blogware.com/blog ,www.ethnicconfusionbritain.co.uk

Racist crime has increased by almost a third in parts of Scotland since last month's foiled bomb attack on Glasgow Airport, reports The Independent.

According to the paper, the incidents include a suspected fire bombing of a mosque and verbal assaults on Asians.

Community and political leaders in Scotland have called for calm in the aftermath of the June 30 attack, but statistics released this weekend show that the country's Asian community has faced a backlash.

Strathclyde Police said it had recorded more than 10 racially-motivated crimes per day since the airport attack.

In the 12 days following July 1, there were 142 racist incidents.

Scottish Muslim representatives have voiced concerns over the figures, and believe many more have gone unreported.

Osama Saeed of the Muslim Association of Britain, said: 'We still need to build bridges and ensure that those responsible [for the attacks] are punished.' [Link]

For Britain's overseas doctors, all this has been bad news and the writing on the wall is already clear. It is now official that they are to be subjected to a more stringent vetting regime before they are considered for employment in the NHS. Doctors from India fear that they are likely to face greater scrutiny because of the Indian "connection'' to the London-Glasgow plot. Ramesh Mehta, president of the British Association of Physicians of Indian Origin, acknowledged that there was a great deal of "worry" among Indian doctors. Already, some 10,000 doctors from India are struggling to find jobs as a result of new immigration rules, which are discriminatory towards overseas doctors outside the European Union. Things can only become more difficult for them.

Muslim doctors are particularly concerned. "If a doctor is identifiable as a Muslim because of the beard or the hijab, we are worried that the trust between a doctor and a patient could be compromised,'' said a spokesman for the Federation of Student Islamic Societies.

So far, fears of a social backlash have proved unfounded. Unlike Australia where apparently some patients refused to be seen by Indian/Muslim doctors, there has been no such case in Britain. But anxiety remains and as one doctor said: "Just because nothing has happened does not mean that we are not under greater scrutiny. We are all quite conscious of it.'' [Link]

The foiled terrorist attacks in Britain last month have prompted anxiety and soul searching in India, a country whose economy relies heavily on its citizens' ability to work overseas.

Some of those arrested in connection with the thwarted bombings in London and Glasgow are Muslims from India. It is the first time since 1985, when a bomb downed Air India Flight 182 near the coast of Ireland, that Indian citizens have been implicated in a major international terrorist incident.

The revelations have prompted fears that Indian professionals, Muslim or otherwise, will face increasing difficulty finding employment overseas.

Concerns that relatives already working abroad will face a backlash have also been heightened.

Some Indians remember that the first hate crime victim in the United States in the wake of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks was Balbir Singh Sodhi, a Sikh filling station owner in Arizona shot to death by a man who apparently saw Sodhi's turban as a symbol of terrorism and anti-American hatred.

A pledge by Prime Minister Gordon Brown of Britain last week to review policies for screening foreign doctors was met with a plea from the Indian prime minister, Manmohan Singh, not to single out citizens of any country for scrutiny.

"A terrorist is a terrorist and has no religion or community," Singh said he told Brown. [Link]

When Prime Minister Gordon Brown announced more rigorous background checks on foreign doctors applying for visas to work in Britain, panic spread through India's medical community, whose highly skilled professionals have always found it easy to work and study abroad.

The prime minister's announcement this week followed the disclosure that, among the medical professionals being held in connection with the failed bombings in Britain, three are from a single family in Bangalore. It was the first time that Indian Muslims have been accused of being linked to a possible al-Qaeda plot.

In emotional television broadcasts, Indian political and medical leaders said they worried that it would be harder to get visas to Britain and that Indian professionals living abroad would face racial profiling.

Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, displaying rare emotion while speaking with journalists Thursday in New Delhi, said that he had spoken with Brown on Wednesday evening. Singh said he told Brown that he was "against all labeling of terrorism by nationality." Singh also said: "A terrorist is a terrorist and has no religion or community. As a Sikh I know what it's like to be called a Sikh terrorist." [Link]

Since the attacks, the Muslim community in London has experienced a strong backlash. Police say there have been at least 38 racist incidents, including a number of beatings, though no serious injuries. [Link]

U.K. Muslims and South Asians suffered several reprisal attacks after terrorists tried to explode car bombs in London and murder people at Glasgow International Airport, the Muslim Council of Britain said yesterday.

Over the past week, a Muslim man was stabbed in Manchester, northwest England, a Pakistani-run convenience store was attacked in Glasgow and a premises next to an Islamic center in the Scottish city had an explosive device thrown through the window.

``We've already had some in Scotland, Muslim businesses have been attacked,'' Muslim Council of Britain spokesman Inayat Bunglawala said in a telephone interview. Muslims in the U.K. number 1.6 million, or about 2.8 percent of the population, according to the 2001 population census. The Muslim Council of Britain is an umbrella group founded in 1997 by more than 250 Muslim organizations.

On June 29, police officers dismantled two car bombs made from gas canisters, gasoline and nails parked in London's theater and shopping district. A day later, two men rammed a Jeep Cherokee, filled with flammable material, into a terminal entrance at Glasgow airport. Eight people have been arrested in connection with the plot. All are Muslims who worked in the state-run National Health Service.

Ghulam Mustafa Naz, 47, a Pakistani-Syrian, was stabbed in Manchester's Blackley district on June 30 in a brutal assault, a Greater Manchester Police spokeswoman said. No motive has yet been established, the spokeswoman said. He was dressed in a track suit at the time, a police spokeswoman said.

Convenience Store Rammed

In Glasgow, a driver repeatedly reversed a car into the convenience store on July 3, before setting fire to it, a Strathclyde Police spokesman said.

In another attack, a Century 21 real estate agency was targeted with an incendiary device on July 1. The office is next to the Sarajia Islamic Studies center and its back windows are adjacent, John Darrock an agent at Century 21 said.

``Some sort of device was thrown through the upstairs toilet window.'' Darrock said. The intense heat melted the water pipes in the rest room so the fire was extinguished before it was discovered, Darrock said.

The real estate agents was attacked ``by mistake'' and the Sarajia Center next door was probably the intended target, Bunglawala said.

There hasn't been an increase in racial attacks in Glasgow following the terrorist attacks, Strathclyde Police said.

``Individuals are responsible for their actions -- not communities,'' Alex Salmond, Scotland's first minister and head of the Scottish Parliament, told reporters on June 30. ``No community in Scotland should feel threatened or under suspicion because of this incident.'' [Link]

The arrests of two Indians in connection with the Al Qaeda- style bombing plots in London and Glasgow have sparked surprise and consternation here in their homeland, where Islamic radicalization is of relatively small but increasing concern.

News of the arrests was splashed on front pages across the country yesterday, and raised fears among India's millions of Muslims that they could fall under greater suspicion at home and abroad. Community leaders appealed to the public not to rush to judgment concerning Mohammed Haneef, a doctor who was arrested in Australia, and Sabeel Ahmed, a trainee physician who was detained in northern England, where he reportedly had worked with Haneef....

"The community is a bit shocked. You don't expect young doctors to be connected with such incidents," Mohammed Belgami, a urologist who is president of the local chapter of Jamaat-e-Islami Hind, a national Muslim organization, said by telephone from Bangalore.

"Secondly, I'm a doctor and I do know most students here. And from what I know, they are very upright and very morally sound doctors," Belgami said of the two young men, both in their 20s. "Nothing is proven. It's as if they're already incriminated."....

India is home to more Muslims than any other country besides Indonesia and Pakistan. About 13 percent of Indians are Muslim, out of a population of 1.1 billion. The proportion in Bangalore is higher -- about 1 in 5, Belgami said....

"Muslims in India have a lot of problems. They don't have jobs, a good education," said Sayeed Khan, who runs the Muslim Youth of India organization. "At least 43 percent of Muslims live in slums. They don't have basic facilities."

His organization is trying to keep young Muslims from becoming radicalized, which he acknowledges "is happening, but on a very small scale."

With the arrests of Haneef and Ahmed, Khan expressed concern that India's Muslims could face more harassment.

"This creates a stigma for all educated Indian Muslims in Britain and the States," he said. [Link]

uslims are organizing a rally in Glasgow on Saturday to demonstrate a united front against terrorism and to quell fears of a backlash against Scotland's Islamic community.

The announcement came on the same day that thousands of Indian and Pakistani cricket fans gathered in the city to watch a goodwill match between their countries' national teams, which had been planned before the failed car bomb attacks in London and Glasgow last week. The game was washed out by rain.

Mosques and Islamic organizations hope the event, which will be held on July 7, the second anniversary of the fatal bombings in London, will demonstrate their resolve against terrorism. Under the title "Scotland United Against Terror," they are inviting everyone to take part, including faith leaders, churches, trade unionists and others in civic society. [Link]

ANXIETY, fear and anger rippled through Britain after three failed bomb attacks in London and Glasgow.

Government and religious leaders appealed for calm, but some Muslims braced for a backlash — while some non-Muslims looked for someone to blame.

The attacks sparked scattered incidents of racist abuse in London, with young white men targeting Muslim taxi drivers and others of South Asian appearance. Glasgow Central MP Mohammad Sarwar said some Muslims in Scotland had been threatened or targeted with abusive graffiti.

"I have spoken to a number of people from the Muslim community and the Asian community who feel very angry," he told BBC radio. He said Scottish Muslim leaders were meeting in Glasgow to discuss the attacks' impact on their community.

Muslim anger was directed at the terrorists — but also at a society some felt singles Muslims out for scrutiny whenever there is a terrorist attack.

"We are seething with anger about this," said Osama Saeed, Scottish spokesman for the Muslim Association of Britain.

"As a community not only are we just as likely to be victims as anyone else, but we are also looked to in order to provide direction and in some respects take responsibility for this," he said.

On an official level, Government and Islamic groups say they have made great strides since July 7, 2005, when four British Muslims blew themselves up on the London transport system, killing 52 commuters, despite incidents of arson on mosques and attacks on women wearing headscarves. Many Muslims also feel they have borne the brunt of the Government's tough new anti-terror measures. The Government has made a point of reaching out to Muslim groups and consulting organisations such as the Muslim Council of Britain, which represents more than 400 affiliated mosques and organisations.

Prime Minister Gordon Brown has also appointed Shahid Malik, an up-and-coming legislator from northern England, as the country's first Muslim government minister. [Link]

Name-calling, anxiety, fear and anger rippled through Britain on Sunday after three failed bomb attacks in London and Glasgow. Government and religious leaders appealed for calm, but some Muslims braced for a backlash — while some non-Muslims looked for someone to blame.

The attacks sparked scattered incidents of racist abuse on the streets of London, with young white men targeting Muslim taxi drivers and others of South Asian appearance. Glasgow lawmaker Mohammad Sarwar said some Muslims in Scotland had been threatened or targeted with abusive graffiti.

"I have spoken to a number of people from the Muslim community and the Asian community who feel very angry," he told British Broadcasting Corp. radio.

He said Scottish Muslim leaders were meeting in Glasgow to discuss the attacks' impact on their community.

"They're concerned about a backlash and that's why the emergency meeting has been called."

Muslim anger was directed at the terrorists — but also at a society some felt singles Muslims out for scrutiny whenever there is a terrorist attack.

"We are seething with anger about this," said Osama Saeed, Scottish spokesman for the Muslim Association of Britain.

"As a community not only are we just as likely to be victims as anyone else, but we are also looked to in order to provide direction and in some respects take responsibility for this," he added.

"We are sick of being defined as a community by terrorism and having to answer for it."

On an official level, government and Islamic groups say they have made great strides since July 7, 2005, when four British Muslims blew themselves up on the London transport system, killing 52 commuters.

In the weeks that followed, several mosques were attacked by arsonists, while others received hate mail. Some women reported having their traditional head scarves pulled off in the street.

Relations between the government and many British Muslims had already been strained by the unpopular wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Many Muslims also feel they were unfairly targeted for suspicion and have born the brunt of the government's tough new anti-terror measures.

The government has made a point of reaching out to Muslim groups and consulting with umbrella organizations like the Muslim Council of Britain, which represents more than 400 affiliated mosques and organizations.

Gordon Brown, who took over as prime minister from Tony Blair on Wednesday, appointed Shahid Malik, an up-and-coming legislator from northern England, as the country's first-ever Muslim government minister.

On Sunday, Brown stressed the need to isolate extremists from the broader Muslim community.

"We have got to separate those great moderate members of our community from a few extremists who wish to practice violence and inflict maximum loss of life in the interests of a perversion of their religion," he said.

On the streets of London, the city's famous stoicism and tradition of tolerance were still in evidence — but tinged with an undercurrent of unease.

"I haven't had one nasty look or one nasty comment," said Abdul Basit, 26, a bearded Muslim man strolling the streets of Whitechapel, an east London area home to large Muslim and working-class white communities.

"It's all about education. As long as people know who we are and what our religion is about and know that we don't condone, it, then it's all right."

But suspicion remained.

"I haven't talked to anyone about the car bombs, but I definitely think the Muslims around there are still connected with the car bombers," said David Delmas, 23. "Even if not directly, and they aren't friends with them, I think they understand why they did it and where they're coming from, and that is a big problem." [Link]