Times of India – Irish court rules Sikhs can’t wear turban at work

Kounteya Sinha, TNN

London, 31 May 2013. Ireland is once again in the eye of a storm involving an Indian citizen.

Still reeling under a controversy surrounding Indian dentist Savita Halappanavar, an Irish court on Thursday has squashed an appeal by a Sikh man to be allowed to wear the turban while on duty for that country’s police force.

High court Judge Kevin Feeney in Ireland dismissed the appeal by Ravinder Singh Oberoi to be allowed to wear the turban while on duty for the Garda Reserve, a volunteer group formed to assist the police force of Ireland. Garda Reserve comprises around 1,000 volunteers.

Oberoi appealed under the country’s Equality Acts after he completed all the three stages of his training but was told that he has to take off his turban as it does to comply with the full Garda uniform. Oberoi also complained of being “treated less favourably” for wearing the turban in the job market.

The ruling was given in favour of the Garda and will now allow Oberoi to wear his turban.

However, Indian Sikhs based in the UK — a large vote bank that will have a major say in the next British general elections in May 2015 – have found more support from British MPs on the controversial issue of wearing the turban and kara in airports or to work and also carrying the Kirpan to public places.

A one-and-a-half-hour debate in Westminster Hall at the Houses of Parliament recently saw Don Foster, the minister for communities and local government in David Cameron’s cabinet saying “UK is working very closely with European colleagues to persuade them to accept the Sikh identity.”

Foster said his department was working to enable Sikh turban-wearers not to have to wear hard hats to work after several MPs raised concerns over discrimination at work against Sikhs with turbans. Foster added “Freedom of worship is core to the British way of life.

Public displays of religious belief, such as the wearing of faith symbols and clothing are all vital aspects of religious freedom and we are keen to do all we can to support that freedom.”

John McDonnell, Labour MP gave examples to show how Sikhs have been turned away at the London Eye, from concerts at Wembley and Madame Tussauds for carrying a kirpan. He said the government needs to bring about standard guidelines for individual organisations to follow.

Lilian Greenwood, Labour MP for Nottingham South said more needs to be done to tackle discrimination against Sikh workers in the workplace and ensure employers understand the relevance of the Sikh turban.

Another Labour MP Anas Sarwar said how a high street operator recently refused to employ a Sikh because he wore the Kirpan.

He added “I was interested to hear the concern raised about a member of the Sikh community not being allowed to serve on a jury because he was wearing the Kirpan. If Anas Sarwar can provide me with details about it, I would take it up.”

Over 50 MP’s recent took part in the debate at the British parliament raising concerns about discrimination against Sikhs during the debate.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/uk/Irish-court-rules-Sikhs-cant-wear-turban-at-work/articleshow/20372198.cms

416.The Man in Blue – Elections in Southall

In case you did not know, I am a member of the Liberal Democrats. I have been actively campaigning since the beginning of this month and if you live in the Norwood Green ward of Southall you can actually vote for me for Ealing Council. But this is not what this article is about.

What I want to discuss with you is the quality of the councillors and the MPs that we have been voting for here in Southall. For years Southall has been represented by Piara Singh Khabra. We should not be nasty about those who have passed away, but even Labour supporters must admit that Piara Singh did not work very hard for Southall.

Now we have Virendra Sharma as an MP, and he follows the example of Piara Singh. Virendra Sharma wants to be re-elected and Gurcharan Singh, ex-Labour and now Conservative, is his main opponent. I know, we all know that there are much better people in the South Asian community in West London. Why are we stuck with these two poor choices ?

Regardless of party, why is there not a South Asian equivalent of for instance John McDonnell, MP for Hayes and Harlington, who works hard for all communities in his constituency. Why is it that we have throughout West London so many mediocre South Asian councillors ?

It is not because there is a lack of talent. I know plenty of South Asian people in all generations who are intelligent, well educated, hard working and successful in their line of business or in a professional career.

Is politics not attractive to the doers, is it because it does not bring in the big bucks ? Why do we mostly get the people who are happy to take the seat and the respect of the community, but who do not want to work hard at representing the voters of their ward or constituency ?

To a degree the same is true for our Gurdwaré. How many inspirational and hard working Sikhs are there on prabandhak committees ?

If you are more or less a floating voter in West London you have no problem, you just vote for the most capable candidate regardless of party. But if you are a committed Conservative or Labour supporter it must be frustrating. All you can do is choose between TweedledumandTweedledee.

It is a little late now, but I very much hope that enthusiastic and honest members of Southall’s diverse communities will come forward the next time round to genuinely represent the people of our wonderful Southall. (Southall is wonderful ! I lived in Roermond, Amsterdam, Dublin, Amritsar, Chandigarh, Heston and Southall, and Southall easily is one of the best places to live in.)

Appeal to stop the use of violence

All Sikhs, Sikh organisations and Gurdwaré should undertake never again to use violence as a means to settle differences of opinion. There is no precedent from Guru’s days for this bad practice, the Guru taught us to stand up against injustice, not against opinions that we do not agree with.