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Church Supports Sikhs´ Protest Against Harassment In Saudi Arabia

Updated: August 28, 2006 05:00 PM GMT
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Some Church leaders have supported a protest against the alleged harassment of a Sikh doctor in Saudi Arabia.

On Aug. 24, leaders of the Sikhs´ highest administrative body, Shiromani Gurudwara Prabandhak Committee (SGPC), demonstrated before the Saudi embassy in New Delhi.

About 400 people shouted slogans against the West Asian nation, upset over reports that a Sikh physician working there was asked to remove his turban and cut his hair.

Expressing solidarity, Father Babu Joseph, spokesperson of the Catholic Bishops´ Conference of India (CBCI), told UCA News that wearing a turban "is an integral part of Sikhs´ religious traditions and it should be respected across the world." The Divine Word priest said the Church "respects the unique traditions, scriptures and values of each and every religion."

By respecting the religious sentiments of others, "we can promote mutual understanding and social harmony," the Church official continued, calling for the Saudi government to act against those who violate people´s religious rights.

Father Joseph said the CBCI has received several reports about some countries preventing Christians from possessing rosaries and bibles. "This is a sad situation and needs to be addressed," since such actions create an "exaggerated sense of fear," he added.

Father M.D. Thomas, secretary of the CBCI commission for interreligious dialogue, told UCA News the turban is part of the religious identity of Sikh men. "Negative sentiments are bound to come out when one´s religious identity is questioned," said the priest, a member of the Missionary Society of St. Thomas, a congregation started in India.

SGPC president Avtar Singh told UCA News at the protest that the organization has received several complaints of "harassment of Sikhs in Saudi Arabia." But the alleged action against the doctor has "sent a shock wave through the entire Sikh community in the world," he said.

In the incident, Doctor Charanjit Singh, who worked in a hospital in Riyadh, allegedly was pressured to cut his hair and take off his turban. He refused and left that job to join another hospital, but there he faced a similar situation. According to Avtar Singh, the doctor is now jobless and wants to return to India, but the agent who arranged his employment is keeping his passport.

Sikhs would rather "be killed than allow anybody to touch our hair," Avtar Singh said outside the Saudi Embassy. "We are here to protect our religion."

At the end of the four-hour protest on Aug. 24, the demonstrators handed a memorandum to embassy officials asking the Saudi government to investigate the alleged incident and to help the doctor return to India.

Onkar Singh Thapar, another Sikh leader, said some 40,000 Sikhs work in Saudi Arabia.

Sikhism was founded by Guru Nanak, a 15th century mystic who lived in the Punjab region, northwest of New Delhi. He blended Hinduism and Islam, preserving their teachings on justice, gender equality and egalitarianism. The Sikh population accounts for 1.9 percent of India´s 1.02 billion people.

Sikhs credit 10 later gurus (teachers) with nurturing their religion. The last of them, Guru Gobind Singh, imposed a religious identity for Sikh men. As part of this identity, they do not cut their hair, believing it to be a gift from God. Growing long kesh (hair) thus signifies acceptance of God´s will in humility. The men wear the turban as a symbol of Sikh spirituality and social discipline. It also keeps their hair clean. Likewise the kangi, the comb each Sikh man is supposed to carry, both helps keep his hair clean and reminds him of the importance of spiritual purity.

A Sikh man wears karra, a steel bracelet, on his right wrist to signify the bond among Sikhs and with their gurus. Kachcha, the special shorts he wears, symbolize continence and a high moral character, while his kirpan, a sword, symbolizes self-respect and for self-defense.

END

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