Kids Corner

Above: The kara that seemed to bother the school leaders in South Wales so much. If this is what was threatening their system and their way of life .... !

              Sarika Watkins Singh















Sarika
Watkins
Singh

Faith

British Judge Rules Against School Board's Bigotry

by ANTHEA LIPSETT

 

A Sikh teenager excluded from school for breaking a "no jewellery" rule by refusing to remove her kara (a slim, steel bracelet) which is an article of her faith, was a victim of unlawful discrimination, a judge ruled today.

The high court judgment means Sarika Watkins-Singh, 14, will return to Aberdare School in South Wales (United Kingdom) in September - wearing the kara.

The school had twice suspended Sarika for refusing to remove the kara, which her lawyers told Mr Justice Silber was as important to her as it was to England spin bowler Monty Panesar, who has been pictured as always wearing it.

Sarika, of mixed Welsh and Punjabi origin, of Cwmbach, near Aberdare, was at first taught in isolation and eventually excluded for refusing to take off the bangle in defiance of the school's policy. This banned girls from wearing any jewellery other than a wristwatch and plain ear studs.

Today, the judge declared that the school was guilty of indirect discrimination under race relations and equality laws.

After the judgment, Sarika's mother, Sinita, 38, said: "We are over the moon. It is just such a relief".

The teenager claimed she was a victim of unlawful discrimination when she was excluded from school last November.

She was enrolled at Mountain Ash Comprehensive School, where she is allowed to wear the kara, in February, pending the outcome of the court challenge.

Human rights group Liberty, which has been supporting Sarika, claims the school breached race, equality and human rights laws by not allowing her to wear the kara.

However, school leaders were disappointed by the judgment, saying it appeared to contradict previous rulings.

Martin Ward, the deputy general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, said: "We are disappointed that the courts have failed to support the school in this instance.

"The school had offered the student reasonable alternatives to accommodate her religious beliefs, such as wearing the bangle but not so that it was on display, and it is frustrating that the courts did not find this acceptable".

He said the judgment would not make sense to headteachers, parents and students.

"The purpose of school uniform is to create a community ethos and no individual pupils should be able to go their own way. Previous judgments recently have reinforced the right of the governing body to make a judgment, following consultation with the community, on what uniform is reasonable".

Jeffrey Bacon, a renowned employment barrister specialising in discrimination, said the judgment would not set a precedent for schools to accept all religious symbols.

"The judge recognised that it's one of the five 'kakars' [articles of faith of Sikhism], which is significant and would suggest schools and employers shouldn't start running for cover and allowing people to wear everything. But it does pave the way for people to look for chinks in the armour".

Bacon, from Littleton Chambers and who is married to a Sikh, said most Sikhs wear the kara and the judgment was important because it defined it as not being a piece of jewellery.

"To most people the kara looks like a piece of jewellery, but he judged it be one of the five articles of faith, or symbols, of Sikhism. It would be hard for other people to try and fit into that.

"Sikhs as a religious or ethnic group would be less able to comply with the school's policy, which is the start of indirect discrimination", he said.

[Courtesy: The Guardian] 

 

For more:

Full marks to British tolerance: A Sikh teenager has won the right to wear a religious bangle to school. It's a victory for open-mindedness and common sense. By Jasdev Singh Rai, [The Guardian]. http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2008/jul/29/religion.schools

 

The importance of the Kara to Sikhs: Taken together, the five Ks show that Sikhs have dedicated themselves to a life of devotion and submission to God. By Tom Peterkin, [The Telegraph]. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/religion/2469603/The-importance-of-the-bangle-to-Sikhs.html

 

July 29, 2008

Conversation about this article

1: Tejwant (U.S.A.), July 29, 2008, 2:55 PM.

It is a good victory but it should become the springboard for us Sikhs to show the world with actions what these articles mean. Mere chats about symbols become just a self-righteous babble. As Carl Jung said and I am paraphrasing it, 'Symbols mean much more that what they seem to a naked eye'. So let's not turn these Punj Kakars into mere symbols with some abstract feel-good symbology, but live a do-good way of life that truly helps others with our actions. Otherwise we would be fighting the schools all over as a self-serving ego trip rather than for what these beautiful articles mean. Once our actions prove what we wear, the whole world would welcome them and may start emulating them. So, let's not make this victory into a self-fulfilling defeat. But then, maybe I'm a dreamer.

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