Washington D.C., USA -- A delegation of Sikh American organizations and gurdwaras visited various government agencies in Washington D.C. recently to voice their concern for the upcoming decision in the French Parliament to ban ‘ostentatious’ religious head coverings in French schools. The highlight of the full day of meetings was the final meeting at the French Embassy.

On Feb 21, the Sikh delegation met with the Ambassador of France, Jean-David Levitte. In and effort to build dialog and diplomacy, the Sikhs stated that they did not feel as if they were being intentionally targeted, nor did the French government intend to target Sikhs, or any one else. The Ambassador said he felt the same way. But the fact remains, as the delegation pointed out, Sikh children would be refused public education because an article of their faith would be banned, their turbans.

The Ambassador, in line with the position of the French government, was very skeptical that anything could be done to stop the proposed ban from becoming law. He repeatedly talked of “laicite” – the French idea of separation of church and state, formalized through legislation passed almost a hundred years ago. Although laicite is based on neutrality of state institutions with respect to religion, President Jacques Chirac will be trampling on the basic human right of freedom of religion to achieve the social harmony he desires.

Secularism in France, the Ambassador pointed out, is very different from secularism in the United States. In the United States, the founding fathers decreed separation of church and state, not to make sure the nation was secular, as in France, but to make sure no state religion could interfere with religious freedom. France, with its history of religious wars and strife, has had to forcefully remove religious influences from the body politic, from time to time.

In 2003, President Chirac asked an independent commission – the Stasi Commission - to address social cohesion in France. The impetus for this commission, Ambassador Levitte said, was a number of serious incidents involving school children in different communities.

Approximately 20-30 per cent of the population under 25 is now Muslim. There was a sudden influx of Muslims from Algeria. Girls began coming to school in veils, which was not a problem until some of their parents began demanding that they not be taught certain subjects, not be taught by male teachers, not participate in sports, and so on.

The cultural assimilation of France's Muslims would be the ideal, said the Ambassador. Many of these communities were allowed to bring their own imams, which the French government did not realize, were teaching militant Islam. In addition to the ban, France will be selective on which imams are acceptable. This is the theory behind the vision of the French interior minister, Nicolas Sarkozy, which Ambassador Levitte supports, of a ‘French church of Islam’ with homegrown imams.

All of these issues with the immigrant population has ended up with a proposed legislation to ban Muslim, Jewish, Christian and Sikh students who cover their heads out of respect for their faith. The French government, the Sikh delegation felt, is attempting to counter extremism with extremism. Even if the intention was not to target the Sikhs or any other religious group, the outcome is clear. Sikhs would suffer collateral damage - religious oppression. Sikh students would be denied a public education and forced into parochial private schools, segregating them along religious lines, they fear.

Sikhs feel victimized, in particular, because their input into the pending legislation was not requested; and although Sikhs were not specifically mentioned in the proposal, their turbans may also be banned.

The Sikh delegation pointed out that Sikhism is not proselytical, and that wearing the Sikh turban is mandatory and non-negotiable. They also pointed out the long history of French-Sikh relationship, from the French generals in Maharaja Ranjit Singh’s army to Sikh soldiers fighting and dying on French soil during the World Wars.

When asked about the Minister of Education Luc Ferry’s remark about allowing Sikh boys to wear turbans as long as they were discrete by being the same color as their uniform, Ambassador Levitte said that he hoped this would be a solution for both sides, but he doubted it would end that way. The French government is still debating the bill, and it is uncertain what the final outcome would be, he said.

A written statement to the Sikh delegation reads: “The legislation would impose a ban on the wearing of conspicuous – but not all – resigious symbols in elementary and secondary state schools (but not universities). This ban will not apply to private schools.”

According to Ambassador Levitte, private schools in France are subsidized, so the annual cost of attending a private school is approximately $500 per year. The Ambassador suggested that if the legislation does not give Sikh students an acceptable remedy, they could consider private schools. This suggestion did not sit well with the delegation, however. They pointed out that it is the right of Sikh students, as citizens of France, to receive a public education, alongside their French peers.

The bill, named "Application of the Principle of Secularity", will go to the National Assembly on Jan 28, with the addition to ban beards from schools as well.

The American Point of View

In a meeting with the United States Department of State, the delegation was presented a letter that Republican Senator Rick Santorum wrote to French President Jacques Chirac asking him to reconsider his decision to ban the wearing of religious articles at public schools “as it will not resolve the conflicts between religious groups.”

“In the case of Sikh, Jewish, and Muslim head coverings, the French Republic could actually forbid people of those faiths to fulfill their religious requirements. In the case of crucifixes, your legislation places limits on Christians from freely expressing their faith. Such legislation, in my opinion, would not resolve the conflicts between religious groups in France. …America, which has never established a religion but protects the practice of it, invigorates both American religion and American politics. Freedom guaranteed by the State protects the freedom of faith,” Senator Santorum wrote.

“I urge you to reconsider the tools you have adopted to reach your goal.”

The State Department would not officially comment on the French ban at this time because there is no text of the law yet, although their official position written for the press was: “A fundamental principle of our religious freedom advocacy is that all persons should be able to practice their religion and beliefs peacefully, without government interference – as long as they do so without provocation and intimidation of others in a society.”

A Helsinki Commission official also expressed support to the Sikh delegation at a separate meeting in Washington D.C.

“In my opinion the French ban would amount to a human rights violation and appears not to uphold the commitments of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) on religious freedom,” said Knox Thames, policy analyst at the Helsinki Commission, an independent agency of the US government, charged with monitoring and encouraging compliance with commitments to promote human rights amongst the member countries of the OSCE.

The OSCE, of which France is a founding member, is the largest regional security organization in the world with 55 participating States from Europe, Central Asia and North America. It is active in early warning, conflict prevention, crisis management and post-conflict rehabilitation.

“Representatives of the OSCE will have an opportunity to raise this issue at the winter parliamentary assembly meeting of the OSCE on Feb 19th and 20th in Vienna,” he said. “The members of the parliamentary assembly, who are elected representatives of member countries, could then table a resolution on this issue at their summer meeting later this year,” said Thames.

Following the meeting with the Sikh delegation, the Helsinki Commission raised these concerns with the French Foreign ministry the next day. “It was a positive conversation and we hope that it might bear fruits for the future,“ Thames told United Sikhs, a seva organization.

United Sikhs initiated an online petition which currently has over 19,000 signatures from individuals, both online and offline; and over 220 signatures and endorsements from Sikh and non-Sikh delegations worldwide. The Sikh Coalition also spearheaded a letter writing campaign.

The letter and petition from both organizations, and a power point presentation regarding the Sikhs, were presented to all officials who were met by the Sikh delegation.

These meetings held in Washington D.C. were organized by Voices For Freedom, a human rights organization.

Note: The 11-member delegation representing the 500,000 strong Sikh community was led by Voices For Freedom, a Human Rights Organization from New York, represented by Dr. Amarjit Singh; American Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee by Dr. Prithpal Singh; Guru Nanak Foundation, Maryland, by Bakshish Singh; Guru Gobind Singh Foundation, Maryland, by Navjit Kaur; UNITED SIKHS by Attorney Harpreet Singh; Sikh Youth of America by Dr. Ranjit Singh; Sikh Coalition by Attorney Amardeep Singh; SMART by Preetmohan Singh; Sikh Sentinel by Anju Kaur; Singh Sabha of Virginia by Ranjit Singh; and Sikh Gurdwara of Greater Washington by Bhai Narendar Singh.