UP school refuses entry to turbaned Sikh student

A Sikh student was refused entry into his school in Uttar Pradesh's Bijnore district, about 425 kms from here, as he had allegedly worn a turban.

According to the parents of the tenth standard student, the management of the school, which was situated in Najibabad town in the district, told the boy that he would be given an entry in the school only after taking off the turban.

"The principal says that wearing a turban is not allowed in the school," Harbhajan Singh, the father of the student said.

The boy, according to the sources, has been an old student and had started wearing turbans only recently. The school management had earlier asked him not to wear the turban in case he was not allowed entry into the school.

The local Sikh community was up in arms against the school and has demanded action against its management. "It is a violation of our religious rights, which have been guaranteed to us in our constitution," Singh said.

The president of the local Gurudwara Nanakshahi Committee at Najibabad Sardar Balbir Singh, also criticised the school management and demanded that the student be allowed entry.

The Sikh community also submitted a memorandum to the prime minister, National Minority Commission and other Sikh bodies through the local administration.

They also warned that they would launch an agitation if their religious rights were not restored. "No other school stops Sikh students from wearing turbans," Balbir Singh said.