Punjab school orders on turban kick up row

Mon, May 12 02:52 AM

The diktat by the Akal Academy here that all students, including Hindus and other non-Sikhs, would wear turban in the school, has kicked up a row. Parents of non-Sikh students, constituting one-fifth of the total strength of the students at the Academy, are up in arms and have launched an agitation against the move to impose fines on those students who do not wear turban in school.

Coming on the heels of an unsavoury controversy in France, where Sikh students were debarred from school if they wore turbans, the issue is likely to snowball.

"What is the difference between these orders and those issued in France," said a parent who pointed out that these orders have weakened the case of Sikhs in other countries.

Even the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee has pitted itself against the school's instructions. The ruling coalition partner in Punjab, the BJP has reacted strongly and has said that it would raise the issue with the Central Government. Principal Swarn Kaur, however, claimed that the Academy mentions the rule in its prospectus brought out since 1994.

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