Memorandum submitted to Smt. Sushma Swaraj by BJP Sikh delegation

Smt. Sushma Swaraj ji,
Leader of Opposition,
Indian Parliament,
New Delhi.

Respected Madam,

On behalf of the global Sikh community, we, the Sikh members of the Bharatiya Janata Party (the principal Opposition Party of India) request you to please raise the matter of ban of turban in schools in France during your meeting with the French President, His Excellency, François Gérard Georges Nicolas Hollande.

Madam, apart from being well versed with the Sikh religion and history, you have always been committed to and have championed the Sikh cause. As you are aware, the Turban is not merely a religious symbol. It is a mandatory article of faith, an article which very much defines the core identity of a Sikh, it is a necessity for a Sikh to maintain unshorn hair. Hence the Turban becomes an inextricable part of a Sikhs appearance and not just a fashionable accoutrement. The fact is that over the generations, it has become the symbol of pride for the Sikhs is because of the exemplary manner Sikhs have stood up and fought gallantly for righteous causes in various phases of world history.

Madam, our shared history with France starts with the Sarkar-E-Khalsa (Sikh Empire) in the 19^th Century, when General Allard and General Ventura of French origin served with distinction in Maharaja Ranjit Singh’s army. Many Turbaned Sikh soldiers fought and died for the freedom of France in World War I and World War-II specially at Neuve Chapelle. The French consciousness is therefore not unfamiliar with the Sikh attire and appearance and of the fact that the Turban is the most recognizable feature of a Sikh. Unlike other head gears, it is an inextricable part of the Sikh identity.

Madam, recently the UN Human Rights Committee has ruled that France's ban on the wearing of "conspicuous" religious symbols in schools - introduced by a law adopted in March 2004 - violated a Sikh student's right to manifest his religion, protected by the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR).

In a decision in relation to a complaint made by Bikramjit Singh in 2008, the Committee accepted that the wearing of a turban is regarded as a religious duty for a Sikh and is also tied in with his identity; and that France had not justified the prohibition on the wearing of the turban.

The Committee accepted that France was entitled to uphold the principle of secularism (laïcité), a means by which a State party might seek to protect the religious freedom of all its population; it recognised that the adoption of the 2004 law had responded to actual incidents of interference with the religious freedom of pupils and sometimes even threats to their physical safety.

However, the Committee went on to express the opinion that this was not enough to justify the interference with religious rights that the law represented. France had "not furnished compelling evidence that by wearing his keski (small turban) [Bikramjit] would have posed a threat to the rights and freedoms of other pupils or to order at the school. The Committee also considered that the penalty of permanent exclusion had not been shown to be necessary; and that it had been imposed not because of any harmful conduct by Bikramjit, but because he belonged to a broad category of people by their religious conduct.

In the Committee's view, France had not shown "how the sacrifice of those persons' rights is either necessary or proportionate to the benefits achieved". The views were adopted on 1st Nov 2012, at the 106th session of the Committee's sitting. Less than a year ago, the UNHRC had also concluded that France had violated the religious freedom of 76 year old Ranjit Singh when he was asked to remove his turban for his ID photograph.

Madam without getting into the quagmire of UN resolution, we respectfully implore you to request the French President to expeditiously repeal the law that bans the wearing of the Turban in schools and on ID photographs so that French Sikhs, too, may enjoy their religious freedom in modern and pragmatic France that recognizes multiculturalism and diversity or risk an all pervasive Sikh alienation.

With highest regards,

(Sardar R P Singh)
Member National Executive
and Co-Incharge Jammu Kashmir
Mobile No. +919811200919

With : Kulwant Singh Bhatt, Con. Sikh Cell, Kuldeep Singh, Member State Committee, Kartar Singh Duggal, VP Mehrauli Dist., Impreet Singh Bakshi, VP Youth wing, Kawaljeet Singh.Sec. Mayur Vihar Dist., Harbakshish Singh Co Con. PR Cell Dli, Avtar Singh, Sec. Chandni Chowk Dist., Sukhwinder Kaur, Con. Sikh Cell Njf Dist., Hartirath Singh Pres. Rajouri Mandal. D.S. Gujral, Pres. Sikh Sangat Dli.,