Lift ban on turbans: Sikhs to US military

An influential Sikh group in the United States has planned to launch a campaign this Vaisakhi, demanding the US Army to end its ban on turban.
     
Sikh Coalition, an advocacy group for the Sikh community, on Tuesday said that on April 14, it would file a formal complaint with Department of Defense's Inspector General on behalf of two Sikh medical professionals, who have been told by the Army to remove their turbans and cut their unshorn hair and beards when they report for active duty in July.

Captain Kamaljit Singh Kalsi, a doctor, and Second Lieutenant Tejdeep Singh Rattan, a dentist, were part of an Army programme that pays for medical education in return for military service, Sikh Coalition said in a media release.

At the time of their enrolment, military recruiters assured both men that their turbans and unshorn hair "would not be a problem", claimed the group. 
   
Captain Kalsi and Second Lieutenant Rattan maintained their Sikh identity throughout graduate school, during specialised Army training at Army ceremonies and in Army medical facilities. 
   
Four years later, the Army is telling the two Sikhs that the recruiters' assurances were false and that they will have to forsake their religious practises, said the statement by Sikh Coalition.

"After four years of training in Army facilities, I was shocked to learn that the Army would go back on its promise, and expect me to choose between my faith or my service to my country," said Captain Kalsi.

"There is nothing about my religion that stops me from doing my job. I know I can serve well without compromising my faith," he said.

In 1981, Sikh Coalition said, the US Army banned "conspicuous" religious articles of faith for its service members. However, Sikhs and other soldiers of faith who were part of the Army before the 1981 rule change were allowed to stay.

As a result, Colonel Arjinderpal Singh Sekhon, a doctor, and Colonel G B Singh, a dentist, continued to serve in the US Army with their turbans and unshorn hair for the past twenty-five years. They both retired in 2008.

Despite this, Captain Kalsi and Second Lieutenant Rattan are being prohibited from taking up the very same positions in the Army on Wednesday, the statement said.