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Discrimination such as this has plagued the world and no doctor can cure this disease; with no miracle cure in sight. ... Discrimination affects nearly every face of our society. ... One such religious minority is the Sikhs, who since September 11th, have increasing been the target of discrimination. General ignorance about the Sikh religion has created an atmosphere of fear of their different articles of faith, and placed an undue hardship upon the Sikhs. They have experienced racial discrimination, religious discrimination, and stereotypes.
For over a century, the Sikhs, who came to the United States in the early years of the twentieth century, have greatly tested their sense of belonging outside their homeland because they have experienced discrimination and assaults for their religious practices. They have faced the decision of holding onto their religious values and facing discrimination, or assimilating themselves fully, out of fear and giving up their unique culture. ... In order to understand their religious practices I will start with a brief summary of the Sikh religion and how they brought change into their Sikh community by fighting for their religious freedom.
The Sikh religion is 500 years old and there are twenty-two million followers. ... The Sikh religion in the United States alone is over 100 years old. ... It teaches the full equality of men and women and women can participate in any religious function or perform any Sikh ceremony and even lead the worshippers in prayer . ... Khalsa, meaning pure, are those Sikhs who have undergone the sacred Amrit Ceremony initiated by the 10th Sikh Guru, Guru Gobind Singh. ...
Every baptized Sikh vows to wear the ‘five K’s’. The Kanga is a wooden comb which is kept in a Sikh’s hair and seeks to reflect a Sikh’s purity and orderliness. The Kachha are specially made cotton underwear worn by a Sikh as a reminder of the commitment to purity. ... This seeks to deter the Sikh from committing any act contrary to the will of god. The kirpan is a ceremonial sword between 6 to 36 inches in lengh and is worn by every baptised Sikh. ... The kirpan seeks to remind the Sikh of his or her constant battle against sin . ... A Sikh is not allowed to cut nor trim his or her hair in anyway because it is considered a gift from God and cutting it is regarded as an act against the Lords will . ... The Five Ks, along with the turban, constitute the Khalsa uniform, which distinguishes a Sikh from any other person in the world, and is essential for preserving the life of the community and fostering the Khalsa brotherhood. ... With them have come the religious traditions of the world Islamic, Hindu, Jain, and Sikh. The people of these living traditions of faith have moved into American neighborhoods, tentatively at first, their altars and prayer rooms in store fronts and office buildings, basements and garages, recreation rooms and coat closets, nearly invisible to the rest of us. ... After making this decision school administration found out that Harbhajan Singh Pandori, a Khalsa Sikh, was wearing a kirpan to school. ... He had thought that his family would be relatively free of discrimination in Canada, but that appeared not to be the case.
Now the question was whether the Sikh students and teachers have the right to wear a kirpan at all times and everywhere, including on school premises. ...
A Sikh teacher and the Ontario Human Rights Commission took the case to a Board of Inquiry and argued that Sikh religious practices dictate that the kirpan must be made of iron or steel and worn at all times; otherwise the Khalsa would break their holy vows. ... To demand that a person choose between school or a job and his/her religion is an act of discrimination. ... Spellman who is a professor of Asian American studies at the University of Windsor and a consultant to the Canadian Ministry of justice on issues relating to Sikhism. ... Repeatedly he stressed the Khalsa Sikh must wear the kirpan otherwise they would became a failed Sikh. Sikh organizations in Canada and high Sikh authorities from India verified the complainant’s argument that the kirpan must be made of iron or steel and worn at all times. ... And finally a baptized Sikh is not to use the kirpan in anger as a weapon . ... The main issue on which the board of inquiry based its decision on was that there was no evidence that a Khalsa Sikh had ever misused a kirpan in any Canadian High School. ... The Cheema case is of a Sikh family who filed a federal civil rights action requesting a federal court to instruct a grade school from enforcing a statutory ban on weapons in schools. ...
The simple fact presented in court was that other school districts with a Khalsa Sikh population had managed to accommodate kirpans without sacrificing student safety. ... Professor Gurinder Mann, a professor of Sikhism and South Asian Religions at University of California Santa Barbara, acting as witness expert for the children, provided a sworn statement explaining the role of the kirpan according to the Sikh faith. ... They can hold onto the fact that while a knife can indeed be a kirpan, and therefore have some deep spiritual meaning to a Sikh; this does not change the fact that the underlying object is still, a knife. ... Short and unwideable kirpans will not be sufficient according to the Sikh religious beliefs. ...
The last case is an example of a Khalsa Sikh being discriminated against because of religious practices and is that of Bhinder Singh. ... It did not amount to discrimination on the basis of religion and the special circumstances of an individual should not be taken into account. ... Non-Sikhs were not involved therefore Bhinder shown a prima facie case as a discrimination. ... The rules and regulations were set for safety reasons not to discrimination. ... “It is incidental, unintended and cannot constitute discrimination” . ... Although the hard hat rules was imposed in good faith and not in order to discriminate against members of the Sikh religion, the rule nonetheless has a discriminatory effect on members of the Sikh religion.
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