''You can assure the Sikh community, on my behalf, that their sentiments will be taken care of."

Jack,
soaping up Lal Krishna Advani
February 20, 2006 (Sify)

The thing about a Jack locution is, when considered in the light of follow-through, it becomes obvious that he has said nothing.

FRANCE ISOLATES SIKH STUDENTS OVER TURBAN

PARIS September 15, 2006 (NDTV) - Four Sikh children are being kept in isolation and are not being allowed to attend classes because they refuse to give up their seven metre long turban and switch to the more discreet under turban keski or patka.

SPOT THE SIKH
French Law Sees At Least One. Sometimes Two.

The keski and patka are a wholly disingenuous compromise. They are as conspicuous as the dastaar and just as much a religious signature of Sikhism. Are French authorities more tolerant because less familiar with these articles, normally hidden under the dastaar, or outer turban?

But even the patka is intolerable to republican France. Not everywhere, but here and there. The ban is a purported law of principle, yet the breath of the ban and its application are discretionary.

Jasmeet Singh is being kept in isolation, while school authorities try to talk him into giving up his patka.

"They say you have two options. Either tie your hair at the back like girls or cut your hair. They say if I continue to wear my patka they will throw me out of school," said Jasmeet, Student.

"The school is French so he should get used to this. There is no other way. I don't want to sound mean, but if he can't, he should go back to his country," said a French [non-Sikh] schoolgirl.

"When he enters school he should not forget his religion but he should take off his turban for half a day and put it back when he comes out. God will understand," added a [non-Sikh] schoolboy.

France's secular laws are aimed at creating a neutral atmosphere in schools by keeping religious affiliations out, but many find this oppressive. School authorities are hesitant in making exceptions for Sikh children, as they fear they will set a legal precedent and insist that the law must apply to all.

But most Sikh children who remain in isolation for weeks or even months feel this is a traumatic period for them, as they often feel rejected or humiliated at school. They are also torn between the sentiments of their parents and their religion on the one hand and the French law on the other.

"Now it's become an ideology where they want to suppress all the cultures they do not understand," said Kudrat Singh, United Sikhs France.

We have detailed here our objections to this feckless French law. Aside from its conceptual defects and infringement on the practice of religion, its application is irregular and its deterrence misplaced. We also question its sudden necessity after 100 years of established separation of church and state over which time today's banned practices never posed a threat to the Republic.

France's problem is with Islamites -- not civic-minded Sikhs, Muslims, Jews, and Christians. France's junk law has only strengthened the hand of the Islamites and unduly distressed the well-behaved religious.

PROTEST HELD OVER TURBAN BAN IN FRENCH SCHOOLS

September 17, 2006 (SSNews) - A demonstration was held by people of all faiths in Patiala, Punjab to lodge their protest against the denial of right to Sikh boys to tie turbans in France. The turban is an important part of the Sikh religious identity and asking them to remove it is seen as a direct attack on their basic human rights to practise their faith.

[Dr. Manjit Singh Randhawa, president, Sikh Nation Organization,] said it was shameful that even after struggling for more than two years for their rights, Sikh boys were going to their classes bareheaded by making ponytails in France. The Sikh boys who refused to abandon their turbans were not allowed inside regular classes and were put in isolated rooms, separated from normal school-life.

Bonne chance, Dr. Randhawa !

PFFT (What is this?): Junk law 5 | Criminalizing religion 2½ | Rayonnement français 0