NEW DELHI, Feb 12 (UNI) Leaders of several Sikh organisations have submitted with the French ambassador an appeal signed by 100,000 people to exempt the turbaned community from a proposed ban on religious emblems in public schools.
They have also sought an audience with president Jacques Chirac after France's lawmakers overwhelmingly backed a government drive to reinforce secular traditions.
"On behalf of 20 million Sikhs in India, a delegation met ambassador Dominique Girard and submitted with him a memorandum with 100,000 handwritten signatures in an appeal to the French government to reverse its drive against religious symbols in public schools," World Punjabi Organisation (WPO) international president Vikramjit Singh Sahney said.
United Sikhs director Jaspal Singh, human rights advocate H S Phoolka, former vice-chancellor Anup Singh and SGPC member Jaswinder Singh were part of the delegation that called on the French ambassador yesterday.
"The turban is an integral part of the Sikh way of life and not just a religious symbol.
We are confident that the French government will revisit the premise on which this issue is based and revise its decision," the WPO chief added, citing historical links his community shared with the French.
He recalled the presence of Napoleon Bonaparte's military generals in the army of his contemporary Sikh ruler Maharaja Ranjit Singh.
More than 100,000 Sikhs died with their turbans on while fighting for the French and other allied forces during the World Wars, Sahney said.
"Banning turbans from French schools will tantamount to rejecting religion which does not appear to be the rationale behind the proposed law." The French ambassador has promised to forward the 100,000-signature memorandum to his government, Sahney said.
The signatories include Sikhs particularly from Punjab, Delhi and Kanpur.
United Sikhs had last month started a global online signature campaign for a petition titled "Right to Turban." "The comments on the online petition carry a single message, Sikh turban is a non-negotiable article for the community," said Sahney.
In the memorandum, the Sikh leaders said a ban on religious garments stood in violation of Article 9 of the European Convention on human rights, the right to manifest one's religion.
"Also of potential relevance are Article 8 (respect for private life, which includes dress), Article 10 (freedom of expression, which includes symbolic speech), and Article 14 (freedom from discrimination in the enjoyment of other convention rights)," the memorandum said.
The Sikh delegation also request the ambassador's assistance to secure an audience with the French president Jacques Chirac, the education and the interior ministers of that country over the issue.
