Memorandum on Dastar Issue (Turban Issue in France) by Khalsa Action Committee

Memorandum To
His Excellency Mr. Jérôme Bonnafont
Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary
Embassy of France in India
by
Khalsa Action Committee

22 January 2008

There is no denying that the French government, particularly the department of education and legal affairs, is acutely aware of the religious and social significance of the Turban to the Sikh people. Reams of material have been submitted over the years to various French fora by a multitude of Sikh organizations from all over the globe. Political leaders, religious personalities, university scholars and legal luminaries have also submitted their viewpoints in great detail.
Our concern is that the French government and now its judiciary too have ignored all pleas of the Sikhs. While we are conscious of the secularist ideals of France, we earnestly believe that the French have significantly erred in this particular case. The school going Sikh student wearing the turban is no threat to any person. The French driving license of a Sikh person, with his photograph showing dishevelled hair, without the turban, is an extremely painful experience, not only to the person who possesses the license but to every other Sikh who knows about this.
It should be noteworthy that a Sikh is conspicuous even without his turban and therefore the rationale for the ban is irrelevant, improper and unlawful as per international law.
In a day and age when governments in UK and Australia are allowing Sikh children to wear and carry the Kirpan –the symbolic small sword worn by baptized Sikhs to school, it is unfortunate that the French government has failed to allow them to wear the turban.
The unshorn hair on the head of a Sikh has to be covered with a turban. It is mandatory and obligatory for the Sikh to do so. Just as it is a bar on the Sikh to move about without the turban; it is insulting to a person to be conversing with a Sikh without the turban. The apparel of a Sikh is incomplete without the turban.
We strongly believe that all logic about France being unaware of the Sikh situation is fallacious and misleading. We are aware that during the last two decades of the last century, when Sikh nationalists were engaged in a struggle to uphold their identity and Human Rights in Punjab, France was one of the few countries which had allowed Sikh nationalists to engage in political activity on its soil. This knowledge makes the present stalemate unfathomable.
The Sikh turban is an inalienable right of the Sikh people and as such it should be restored in France without any further delay. Our concerns may kindly be forwarded to His Excellency the President of France, Hon’ble Mr. Nicolas Sarkozy on his forthcoming visit to India.
Kanwarpal Singh Gurtej Singh Jagmohan Singh Tony
(Spokesperson) (Advisor)

Source: Email From KAC