AMERICAN ARMY ALLOWS DECORATED SIKH SOLDIER TO GROW BEARD, WEAR TURBAN
Tuesday, 15/12/2015
http://paper.hindustantimes.com/epaper/viewer.aspx
NEW YORK: The US army has allowed an active-duty Sikh combat soldier to grow his beard and wear a turban, a media report said on Monday, in a rare exception in decades.
Captain Simratpal Singh, 27 had to cut his hair on his first day at the United States Military Academy at West Point nearly 10 years ago since the army would not allow a soldier with long hair or a beard, the New York Times reported.
Last week, however, Singh, who led a platoon of combat engineers that cleared roadside bombs in Afghanistan and was awarded the Bronze Star, was granted a temporary religious accommodation.
“It is wonderful. I had been living a double life, wearing a turban only at home,” Singh told the newspaper. “My two worlds have finally come back together. A true Sikh is supposed to stand out, so he can defend those who cannot defend themselves,” he said.
The accommodation is only temporary and will last for a month, the Times report said, while the army decides whether to give Singh’s exception a permanent status.
If the army decides against giving a permanent religious accommodation to Singh, the Captain could be confronted with the decision of whether to cut his hair or leave the army. Singh has said he is prepared to sue if the accommodation is not made permanent.
The Times report said it was the first time in decades that the military had granted a religious accommodation for a beard to an active-duty combat soldier, “a move that observers say could open the door for Muslims and other troops seeking to display their faith.”
“This is a precedent-setting case,” said Eric Baxter, senior counsel at the Becket Fund, a non-profit public interest law firm that specialises in religious liberty.
