The delegation of Delhi Sikh Gurudwara Management Committee (DSGMC), including its president Manjit Singh GK, has reached Dubai for a religious function after the protocol officer from India’s High Commission arranged their departure without removing turbans for security check.
The members left from Rome airport on Thursday morning, a day after they were asked to remove the turban during a security check at Rome airport on Tuesday night while they were returning from Italy’s Cremona city after attending a Dastar (turban) Awareness Day event. They all refused to follow the directions.
lauding DSGMC chief’s “defiant gesture” for not allowing Italian Airport authorities to remove his turban, Punjab Deputy Chief Minister and SAD president Sukhbir Badal on Thursday said that this conveyed that Sikhs would not allow anyone to meddle in their internal religious affairs.
“Turban is an intricate part of Sikh personality and nobody in the world has any right to denigrate the pious symbol of Sikh identity,” said Sukhbir.
He said that it was unfortunate that various democracies of US, Canada and European countries were adopting parochial and racial approach towards Sikh
community, specifically targeting them at international airport taking the plea of security.
“Congress-led UPA Government owes an apology to Sikh community for failing to give a firm message to all countries not to harass Sikh community at various airports. It is double whammy for the Sikh community that they are being targeted when they are having Sikh Prime Minister in the country,” said Sukhbir.
Expressing concern over repeated incidents of targeting of Sikhs especially in Italy, he said that there seems to be underlying conspiracy of Congress leadership in this.
Questions the Centre’s “soft approach” towards harassment of Sikhs in foreign lands, SAD’s Bathinda MP Harsimrat Kaur Badal urged the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to check this practice through its embassies in various countries by ensuring respective national Governments that they must accord due respect to turban by desisting from such practices, “which hurt the religious sentiments of Sikhs”.
Harsimrat, speaking on the notice given by her for suspension of question hour over the issue on the fourth day of lok Sabha’s Monsoon Session, said that time and again, incidents of harassment of Sikhs are taking place world over.
“Thousands of Sikhs in their everyday life have to bear the brunt of hate crimes because of their mistaken identity due to their attire,” she said while citing the examples of Wisconsin attack.
“As per international law, turban cannot be removed but the security officials at airports in Italy time and again do not let a Sikh take off unless his turban is removed,” she pointed out.
Condemning any type of discrimination be that to Sikhs or those belonging to any other religion, she sought strong diplomatic action.