26 Jan - Toronto, Canada:

A Sikh security guard who was asked to trade in his turban for a hard hat at a Milton Home Depot will have his case heard before the Human Rights tribunal today.

Deepinder Loomba has been fighting the hardware franchise for almost four years after a supervisor at a Home Depot construction site asked Loomba to wear a hard hat.

Link

23 Jan - Texas, USA:

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), assisted by UNITED SIKHS, settled an employment discrimination case earlier this week against Champion National Security, a security firm that discriminated against Sukhdev Singh Brar.

The EEOC sought compensatory and punitive damages when filing the employment discrimination action against the security company, after numerous consultations with UNITED SIKHS to understand the importance of kesh (unshorn hair) covered by a dastaar (Sikh turban) as one of the five articles of faith Sikhs are required to wear as an inherent practice of the Sikh faith. Champion National Security settled the case, acknowledging the discriminatory policy and agreeing to a written change in company policy with continued Sikh awareness training, to be provided by UNITED SIKHS. Champion National Security will also post anti-discrimination notices on all employee bulletin boards and compensate Sukhdev Singh $24,000.

Link

23 Dec - California, USA:

A Bakersfield family says they were discriminated against by a UPS driver. Their neighbor e-mailed 17 News after he says the driver wrote a derogatory term on a tracking slip while dropping off a package.

Anant Singh says his father is a member of the Sikh religion and wears a turban. When his father signed for a UPS package last week, the driver asked for his signature as usual, the younger Singh said.

But the family calls what they found on the tracking slip days later both hurtful and upsetting.

“I just happened to see it said signed by the word "terrorist." So I was amazed. I printed the paper and read it again, and it said signed by a "terrorist," Singh explained.

Link

16 Dec - Ireland:

AN under-age football club is expected to lodge an official complaint with the FAI after a 12-year-old Sikh boy was ordered to remove his turban during a game.

Karpreet Singh had worn his turban during matches without incident for four years before a problem arose during a recent schoolboy game in Co Meath. The youngster was told by the referee to remove the 'headgear' during the first half, and didn't return to the pitch for the second.

[...]

"The referee told him to remove the 'headgear'. The boy said that he couldn't expose his hair, and his teammates rallied around him."

Link

16 Dec - Europe:

A Sikh rights group asked a U.N. human rights committee on Monday to declare that France violated a student's rights by expelling him for wearing a turban and to recommend repealing the law that led to it.

France passed a law in 2004 banning children in state primary and secondary schools from wearing conspicuous religious symbols, including Muslim headscarves, Jewish yarmulkes, large Christian crosses and Sikh turbans.

Bikramjit Singh was 18 when he was expelled from school in France in 2004 for refusing to remove his turban, according to a group called United Sikhs, which held a civil rights Conference in New York near the United Nations on Monday.

Link

05 Dec - Houston, TX, USA:

A northwest Harris County family said they were treated like criminals after their home was burglarized, KPRC Local 2 reported Thursday.

On the night before Thanksgiving, Raman Deep Sinth said thieves broke into his family's bathroom window and ransacked his home. He said about $15,000 worth of stuff was stolen.

Sinth said he called the Harris County Sheriff's Office for help.
"That night we were actually robbed twice," Sinth said. "Once by the actual burglars, who we don't know who they were, and secondly by the sheriff's department, who we knew who they were."

He said he believes the deputies were troubled by his turban. He wears it as a member of the Sikh faith. He said he also believes the deputies were also afraid of his sister's kirpan, another religious symbol.

[...]

Sinth said soon, he, his sister, mother and another relative were in handcuffs. He said he was locked up in the back of a sheriff's cruiser.

Link

From November 21:

A Halifax County man was turned away from a local mission when he refused to remove his turban while trying to make a donation.

Gary Khera, who is a Sikh with U.S. and Indian citizenship, went to the Union Mission this week to donate cash or food, The Daily Herald of Roanoke Rapids reported Thursday. Khera said he had previously mailed in his donations but wanted to visit the site in person.

The mission has a rule - explained in large lettering on the mission's door - asking all males to removed headcoverings inside the facility, and mission directors asked him to remove the turban. Khera refused to do so because he wears it all day as part of his religion.

Link

A San Joaquin County Superior Court judge says a Sikh man facing trial over the murder of his daughter's former boyfriend will have to appear before jurors without his turban.

Judge Charlotte Orcutt says that the long fabric pious men use to wrap their hair could hide a weapon or be used as a noose. [Link]

Dave Singh wants to get a message out to people in the Goodman area: Don’t fear the turban.

Singh, a native of India who recently purchased the Goodman Mini-Mart, is a member of the Sikh religion, which, according to Wikipedia, is the fifth largest religion in the world.

Singh, who came to Goodman from Pennsylvania, wears a blue turban in keeping with his faith.

“I want to tell people that I am good people and I want to do business here,” he said. “I like the countryside. Where I’m from in Pennsylvania, it is a lot like here, a lot of countryside.”

Singh and his family, including his wife, their three children and his elderly father, have been in the United States for 20 years. His father worked for the British government during World War II, while a brother has followed the father’s footsteps and also worked for the British.

“All of my family are now citizens of the U.S.,” he stated.

He proudly talks of his three children, saying all three are employed: A daughter works for a bank, another works for a gas company, while his son works with him in the business in Goodman.

“We want to do something good in the community,” he said. “We hope to do very good.”

Singh first worked for a convenience store in Pennsylvania for six years before starting his own in 1998. Several weeks ago, he heard the Goodman store was for sale, purchasing it just over a month ago.

“I kept all three of the employees, as they’re very good people,” Singh said. “They helped me clean the store and they take good care of the customers.”

“I enjoy working with them — they’re good people,” said Kimberly Mensink, a clerk at the store. “I hope they succeed here. Dave has a lot of good ideas for the store.”

The mini-mart offers gasoline and typical convenience store grocery items such as soda, snacks, beer, and coffee.

Sometimes, customers ask for items the store doesn’t carry. When they do, Singh writes down each request, placing those items in his next order to suppliers.

“We try to make everyone happy,” Singh said. [Link]

A Hempstead, N.Y.-based chain of retail discount stores, National Wholesale Liquidators, Inc., will pay $255,000 and agree to injunctive relief to settle a lawsuit brought by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the agency announced today. The EEOC had charged that the company subjected employees to a hostile work environment based on their race, national origin and religion and sexually harassed an employee.

In its lawsuit, the EEOC said a National Wholesale Liquidators store manager subjected South Asian workers to taunts about their national origin and religion. The EEOC also charged that the store manager sexually harassed a female employee. The woman, a Sikh, was told by the manager to remove her turban because she “would appear sexier without it.”

“The EEOC hopes this settlement encourages employers to take steps to educate their managers and employees,” said Margaret A. Malloy, the EEOC trial attorney assigned to the case. “Harassing employees based on national origin, sex or religion is unacceptable and will not be tolerated.”

EEOC New York District Director Spencer H. Lewis said, “This case should remind employers to take seriously allegations of harassment, especially where managers in positions of authority are involved in the misconduct.” [Link]

President Nicolas Sarkozy on Monday made it clear that Sikhs could not hope to be above the rules in France.

He was replying to a question on the controversy over Sikh students being prohibited from wearing turban to educational institutions.

Mr. Sarkozy was unambiguous and firm: “The Sikhs were most welcome; but we have rules, rules of secularism” which were applicable to all “on the territory of France.”

In this insistence on uniform application of rules, “there was no discrimination.” [Link]

Dallas County has revised its security-screening procedures to settle a lawsuit filed on behalf of a Sikh man who was ordered out of a courtroom for refusing to remove his turban, a civil rights group said yesterday.

The new policy announced by the American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Texas calls for security personnel at all county buildings to allow people wearing religious head coverings or other religious garments to walk through a metal detector without removing the item. If the detector beeps, security personnel will use a hand-held detector or conduct a private search.

The policy was developed by the county based on models provided by the Sikh American Legal Defense and Education Fund. The new led to the dismissal last week of a case brought by the ACLU on behalf of Amardeep Singh.

According to the suit filed last year, Singh was ordered out of a Justice of the Peace courtroom under threat of arrest in June 2006. Singh had gone to defend himself from a traffic ticket when he was told by court personnel and Judge Albert Bernard Cercone to remove his "hat." When Singh tried to explain that wearing a turban is a required religious practice for members of the Sikh faith, the judge and court officials refused to hear his explanation.

Sikhs compare the turban to yarmulkes worn by many Orthodox Jews and hijabs worn by many Muslim women and say removing it is humiliating. There are an estimated 500,000 Sikhs in the U.S., according to their legal defense group.

"The Constitution protects the right of Mr. Singh and every citizen to access their government without compromising their religious beliefs," said Lisa Graybill, legal director of the ACLU Foundation of Texas. "By applying this new policy, the county and Judge Cercone will help ensure that right is respected in Dallas County."

Last year, officials in Lawrenceville, Ga. revised their policy after a Sikh man was kept from entering the court because of his turban, according to documents in the lawsuit.

A federal guideline also revised last year allows air passengers to keep on headwear such as turbans at screening checkpoints. It gives airport screeners the option to pat down headwear at the metal detector if a passenger does not want to remove it for personal reasons. [Link]

An India-born Sikh police officer has become the first in New Zealand to don a turban while on duty, breaking away from the tradition of the force.

Constable Jagmohan Malhi of the Nelson city in central New Zealand fulfilled his late father's dream by wearing a turban on duty, recently adopted by police as part of uniform.

Malhi, who grew up wearing a turban, had shaved off his beard and moustache "because of peer pressure", he said, adding that he also shaved his head three years ago when he graduated from police training college, the local media reported.

When Malhi's father, who wanted him to grow his hair again, died last year, he decided to fulfill his wish and launched his own personal campaign to have the protocols changed. The police hierarchy agreed too. [Link]

The nation came together after 9/11. Unfortunately, it came together to discriminate against its perceived enemies.

"I stand for America all the way," shouted 42-year-old Frank Roque as he pulled up in his pickup truck on Sept. 15, 2001 and shot Balbir Singh Sodhi five times at a suburban gas station in Arizona.

What did Sodhi do to deserve such an end?

He wore a turban and sported a beard.

Sodhi wasn't a Muslim. He wasn't Arab. He was a Sikh from the Punjab region in India and as a Sikh he was following religious law by wearing a turban and keeping a beard.

Sept. 11 hurt this nation deeply. It shook the country's foundations to the core and changed the course of American history. Our foreign policy began to take on a different tone and the attack forced Americans to think about their place in the world community.

But 9/11 changed things for Sikhs like me in a different way.

It was as if overnight we became fundamentally different. And we felt it.

Suddenly stares and dirty looks became commonplace. People began to whisper around us when we walked by. Some taunted us with racial slurs. Others thought it would be better to vandalize our temples or honk at us while driving. Some like Roque took to murder.

I was only in sixth grade at the time, but I was starting to feel the changes in my own home as well.

That day itself we were flooded with phone calls by relatives and family friends advising one another to stay at home and not venture out unless absolutely necessary. If there was anything to be done, any place to go, my mom would go and my Dad and I would stay at home. We put baseball caps in our car so just in case "anything goes wrong" my dad and I could take off our turbans and put the caps on.

Sikh community leaders immediately released press statements condemning the brutal attack on their nation. We began to hold inter-faith conferences where we could explain to the public that we were Sikhs and had nothing to do with the terrorists behind 9/11.

We are not Muslim. We are not Arab. We are not from the Middle East. Our religion is different as is our home country and language.

But even if we were Muslim, it shouldn't matter. People of a certain faith or skin color shouldn't be blamed for an attack carried out by a small number of extremists.[Link]

Soldier comes from long line of Sikh warriors


As the first member of the Canadian Air Force to wear a turban, 2nd Lieut. Jasbir Singh Tatla figures he's a good role model to issue a call to arms to his fellow Sikhs.

And if you want to honour the Sikh tradition of being warriors, Tatla said, don't get involved in gangs and criminal activity. Instead, sign up with the Canadian Forces, where you can make a real difference and fight -- for your country.

"It's a great honour to be the first member of the Air Force to wear a turban," said Tatla, 35, of Surrey. "It is something that is hard to express in words, but it gives me a chance to set an example for my community....

"My whole family background is army," said Tatla, who is married with two sons, aged three and eight. "So it was a natural thing for me to do." [Link]

AN exclusive private school has apologised to a Sikh student it refused to enrol because of its strict uniform rules as part of an out of court settlement.

The student's family launched a landmark case last year after Brisbane's Ormiston College told them their 12-year-old son could only attend school if he cut his hair and did not wear his turban.

Uncut hair and turbans are both strict requirements of the Sikh religion.

The family, who cannot be named for legal reasons, lodged a claim with the Anti-Discrimination Commission Queensland against the college and its headmaster Brett Webster.

The family's lawyer Scott McDougall today said his clients were happy with the confidential settlement, which included a public apology.

"The main thing they wanted was broader understanding within the community to the importance of being able to choose an education whilst maintaining your religious beliefs and identity," Mr McDougall told AAP.

"We're hopeful that other schools will take note and it won't be repeated upon the Sikh community."

He said the boy was attending another private school where he was allowed to wear his turban and was doing well.

Mr Webster said the school was pleased the case was now resolved.

"What we have done is we've agreed to look at our policies and that's a commitment we will take seriously," he said.

"And if there's a need to modify our enrolment or uniform policies to remain aligned with the Anti-Discrimination Act then we will do so." [Link]

This headpiece is a marker of the Sikh identity and a symbol of a religious belief system despite the desire to fit in, where as by creating the Khalsa (an order of the pure ones) to uphold universal brotherhood, Guru Gobind Singh gave the Sikhs the 5 K's in a baptismal rite: Kes (long hair), Kangha (comb to keep the long hair neat), Kara (an iron bracelet), Kachcha (shorts) and Kirpan (sword). These outward symbols were meant to remind them of their principles.

From the day I got old mature enough to know myself I got long hair on my head, and small Turban. That’s how I grew up and that was my belief as a Sikh. I used to go to the temple almost every day when I was a child. The temple priest was really good friend of mine and he taught me how to read Sri Guru Granth Sahib JI (Holy Book of Sikhs). I started wearing Turban. I was a happy person. Then 1989 I moved to Toronto Canada and started my high School. A new country, a new language and new people. Every day I faced new problems. Some of the white people started making fun of me by calling me paki, some of them touched my Turban, and at that time I got English-speaking problem. Few times I complained to my class teacher, but nothing happened. I felt weaker and weaker inside of me, I got fed up, tired from all the problems I was facing.

Finally I asked my cousin if I could cut my hair. So he took me to barber shop and cut my hair. I felt so sad, I cried, but it was too late. From that day my mind was never in peace. I felt like I am missing one of my body part. Missing something in my life. That started bothering me so much....

Finally the most important thing of wearing turban is following The Way of Sikhism. Since I am a Sikh I am proud of my Religion that taught me to be pure or being natural. Sikhism taught me to let my hair grow, and in order to keep my hair clean I have to cover my hair all the time that’s why I am a Proud Turbaned Person. And I am happy once again. [Link]

Some Canadians might not agree with the notion of altering or adding to the national team marching uniform for an Olympic opening ceremonies. Yet after listening to Canadian field hockey player Ravi Kahlon's eloquent explanation, you at least understand the reasoning why he and three fellow Indo-Canadian players will wear turbans when marching into the opening ceremonies of the 2008 Summer Games on Friday.

The four players - Victoria's Kahlon, Bindi Kullar, of North Delta, B.C., Gabbar Singh of Surrey, B.C., and Ranjeev Deol of Mississauga, Ont., - don't wear turbans in everyday life and don't ever intend to. So why now, on this mammoth stage, with the world watching?

"I want to challenge the identity issue," said Kahlon, who admitted the other three players, and assistant coach and former Canadian Olympian Nicki Sandhu, were reluctant when he first broached the idea with them.

"I want to show that you can wear a turban and still be Canadian," he added. [Link]

Turbans 'Sacred'; Sidelined workers file human rights complaint

Two turban-wearing Sikhs have filed a human rights complaint against International Forest Products, saying a new hard hat policy is preventing them from returning to their jobs at a Delta, B.C., sawmill.

Lawyer David Perry is representing Kalwant Singh Sahota and Mander Singh Sohal, who have worked at Interfor's Acorn division for years, but are now unable to continue unless they abandon their turbans for hard hats.

Mr. Perry said yesterday that the B.C. Human Rights Tribunal accepted the complaint on March 9 and that Interfor has until April 9 to file its response.

The company did not return repeated calls to head office and the Acorn division manager yesterday.

"Both of these guys are both long, long-term forestry employee workers, and this is the first time this has ever happened," Mr. Perry said. "It is actually worse than it would be for other workplaces because when you think about the history of Punjabi pioneers coming here, forestry was one of the few industries that they could get into."

Mr. Sahota, who is on a disability leave, said he learned last November that he would no longer be able to work at the mill wearing his turban because of a stricter hard hat rule.

"This is pretty devastating when they give you the news that you cannot come across the yard without a hard hat.

"So when you are in the industry for so long and nobody ever questioned that thing before and all of a sudden they drop a bombshell, imagine how you can feel," he said yesterday. "This turban is pretty sacred to us." [Link]