A Sikh Girl Has Been Asked To Take Off Her Turban In Her College In Bengaluru

A 17-year-old Amritdhari (baptised) Sikh girl was asked by her college to remove her turban because the college has a uniform dress code and must abide the Karnataka high court's February 10 interim order prohibiting students from wearing saffron shawls, hijab, religious flags or the like in classrooms of colleges that have recommended a dress code.

The Karnataka government said that the high court have to explain the situation and issue orders, despite the fact they stated that the the girl's family has urged that college has never discriminated and has generally been very kind and polite.

On February 16, a student at Mount Carmel PU College in Bengaluru, who is also the president of the students' organisation, was requested to remove her turban for the first time, which she politely declined. Later, the college communicated with her father, explaining that they understood the significance of the turban for a Sikh but were constrained by the high court judgement.

Mount Carmel PU College spokesperson stated that so far, the girl wearing the turban has caused us no problems. They told all students about the high court judgement when the college reopened on February 16, and we resumed their regular activities. When the deputy director of pre-university education (north) visited the institution on Tuesday, he noticed a group of girls wearing hijabs and invited them to the office, where he informed them of the high court judgement. These girls are now demanding that no girls be allowed to wear their religious insignia, including the turban, which the Sikh girl is also not allowed to wear. They talked to the girl's father and mailed him later.

Gurcharan Singh, the girl's father, who works at a senior level in a big IT firm and has lived in Karnataka for the past 17 years, said he informed the college administrators that she would not remove her turban. He stated that she has never experienced any form of discrimination in college. They appear to be in a tense situation now as they respond to the high court judgement.

He wrote to the college to point out that the high court order made no mention of the 'Sikh turban,' and that this should not be misinterpreted. He said that however, he is in contact with their community advocates and various organisations, pleading with the authorities to allow his daughter to attend classes while wearing her turban. Gurcharan Singh called veteran advocate HS Phoolka for advice following his most recent interaction with college officials.