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| The Sikh children that were expelled from a French school last year. |
Paris (KP) - This week on April 19, a French administrative court in Melun, in the outskirts of Paris, upheld the expulsion of three Sikh school children for wearing a Turban on the grounds that the Turban made them instantly recognisable as Sikhs.
In March 2004 a law was passed in France that bans so-called conspicuous religious symbols and attire in the classroom. Under this law, schoolchildren are banned from wearing the Christian cross, Jewish skull-cap, Islamic head scarf and the Sikh turban. The three French Sikh boys were expelled from school last December for refusing to remove their Turbans. Their request for re-entry in the college Louise-Michel de Bobigny (Seine-Saint-Denis) with Turbans was rejected.
Mr G Roth, the president of the Tribunal stated in the four page judgment that was faxed to the three boys' lawyer that according to French law, the administration did not have to consider if the Turban had the effect of proselytising or that it led to a breach of public order. It was decided that wearing even a small keski was against the "secular" school law.
However, Mr Felix de Belloy, the lawyer representing the three Sikh schoolboys said that the court's decision is regrettable because it did not pay any regard to the French Constitution and to Article 9 of the European Convention of Human Rights that guarantees the right to practise ones religion. The three Sikh boys Jasvir Singh, Bikramjit Singh and Ranjit Singh are aged between 15 and 18 years, and now remain without a proper education.
'Under the French Constitution and Article 9 of the European Convention, the right to practise one's religion can only be derogated on grounds of public security and safety. However, the Melun Court has said that the Administration did not have to consider if wearing the Turban would lead to a breach of public order,' Mr de Belloy further commented.
'We will appeal to the highest court as we believe that the Law cannot intend for us to abandon our religion. Our Turban is a part of our body like our hair. It is immaterial that it makes me recognisable as a Sikh. Without it I am not a Sikh,' said Gurdial Singh, the father of one of the boys.
Mejindarpal Kaur, the director of United Sikhs, stated in a press release that the Sikh organisation had conducted a preliminary survey of Sikh children affected by the French law. The study showed that 84 percent of the interviewees were prevented from wearing head coverings of their choice to school. Five schoolboys were expelled for refusing to remove their turban, and many more were outcast by their peers.
The report prepared by Meerat Kaur of the United Sikhs organisation stated that the effect of the law has varied depending on the age of the child and the school. "The one constant response was that none of the interviewees were allowed to wear a turban to school," she commented.
"Although the law is specifically for public schools, it is having far-reaching consequences and is also being implemented in private schools. There is therefore, no recourse for the Sikh children, who must conform to the wishes of their head teachers or face expulsion. Five boys who were interviewed for this report refused to remove their turban when told to do so by the school Directors, and as a result were expelled," the report stated.
Bhai Kudrat Singh, of United Sikhs France, said that the court was asked to uphold freedom of conscience for the 15 year olds, which is protected under French law. However he continued, the court has not upheld both the letter and spirit of the law. "With one stroke of the pen, the court today has made the Sikh religion, which has been in existence for more than 500 years, illegal," he asserted.
'Sikhs wear the turban to maintain the sanctity of their unshorn hair. Rather than being an ostensible symbol of their religion, it is a personal sign between the wearer and God. It is a manifestation of their religion, as recognised by the European Convention of Human Rights, and is an intrinsic part of being a Sikh, Kudrat Singh wrote in a letter to the French Prime Minister last week.
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| Mr Singhara Singh Mann is fighting the case for turbaned ID-photos. | Meanwhile, Singhara Singh Mann, a French national is also fighting in court for the right to have a turbaned-photo on his passport and ID-cards. The hearings in the photo case were scheduled to be held on April 21. Singhara Singh Mann told Panthic Weekly that an appeal was made to the Supreme Court, but following pressure by French politicians, there will not be a regular judiciary hearing, and only one commissioner will decide the outcome.
"The French Judiciary has become a panel of politicians, where they use political approach. The politicians are playing new tricks everyday. Reasoned by the so-called 'public-security', the authorities are breaking basic human rights," he commented. Mann said that the French authorities are in a hurry to pass a law against the Sikh turban, so that the Sikhs would not be able to file court cases for allowing turbaned-photos in ID-cards.
In a letter sent by Jathedar Gurdial Singh of the Comité Francais d'Action pour le Turban Sikh, or the French Committee for Action on the Sikh Turban, stated: "The five children who were expelled from the schools were not allowed to wear turbans, and neither would the next generation of children starting the school. Thus, it is a very serious matter for us (French Sikhs) and the Sikh nation at large."
But sadly, he continued, the Sikh leaders who always talk of the Panth are now all asleep, and none of them are helping. "We are ashamed of such leaders. It seems that there is no dignity left among our leaders, who do not want to stand up for the Sikh honour (turban)," he said.
Meanwhile in Punjab, SGPC leaders stated that a delegation of ten Sikh leaders would arrive in France on April 24. It has been reported that the delegation would meet the French Home minister.
It seems uncertain how much an SGPC delegation would be able to do for the Sikhs in France. The situation for Sikh children is very serious. Reports show that many children between the ages of eight and nineteen have faced bullying at school. After the laws were passed there was a mileau of tension and confusion among Sikh children--their natural religious development faced external hindrances.
The general treatment of kesadhari Sikhs (Sikhs with long hair) in France is bad, since they suffer from discrimination at all levels. It is extremely difficult to find careers in the mainstream employment sector, which leaves them to only a few options such as starting their own businesses or moving to other places. The discrimination that the children are suffering at school is hindering their education and will further prevent them from being employed in the mainstream sector. The law banning the turban will only exacerbate this problem as it isolates the child from an early age instead of helping him to integrate into mainstream society.
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