Fifteen influential Senators have asked US Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel to allow Sikhs to serve in the armed forces with their religious faith intact.
“We believe that a service member’s religion should not be a barrier in our nation’s armed services,” 15 top American Senators wrote in a letter to Hagel.
The Senators made the demand in the hope that necessary instructions would be issued so that talented Americans of faith are given a fair opportunity to serve in the US military. According to the copy of the letter dated April 24, which was provided to PTI today, the Senators said that in recent years the US Army has granted individual waivers to three Sikhs to wear turbans and maintain unshorn hair and beards.