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Conduct Unbecoming a Nation Grounded in Religious Freedom:
Iknoor Singh vs The United States of America

Editorial, NEWSDAY

 

 

 

Iknoor Singh desperately wants to serve his country.

The Hofstra University sophomore hopes to join the campus Reserve Officers' Training Corps ("ROTC") en route to a career in military intelligence. Amazingly, the U.S. Army won't let him unless he first violates his religious beliefs.

Iknoor Singh is a Sikh. The U.S. Army insists he cut his long hair, shave his beard and remove the turban his faith requires. He has been denied the religious exemption he sought in April 2013, so he and the American Civil Liberties Union have sued the U.S. Army.

He shouldn't be forced to choose between his faith and his country.

The Army's grooming regulations exist to ensure the safety of soldiers and their units. But by law, the military has to make reasonable accommodations for religious practices and garments that don't compromise safety. Exemptions have been allowed for at least a handful of Sikhs in the Army who've been allowed to keep their hair and turbans.

Iknoor Singh, 19, a U.S. citizen from Kew Gardens, deserves similar consideration. The business major speaks three foreign languages designated critical skills vital to the national interest. If he doesn't join before his junior year, Iknoor will be ineligible for a Reserve Officers' Training Corps scholarship for tuition and fees, $1,200 for books and a $300 to $500 a month stipend; and he'll be denied the surest route to become an Army officer.

The Army has put him in an untenable position. After first denying the exemption, officials now insist no decision can be made for a prospective ROTC cadet. So to join the ROTC, Iknoor would have to remove his turban and cut his hair and beard, which Sikhs grow as a sign of respect for the perfection of God's creation. Only then would the Army decide whether to exempt him from that requirement.

That's conduct unbecoming a nation grounded in religious freedom.
 
 
[Courtesy: Newsday]
November 19, 2014

 

Conversation about this article

1: Harinder Singh (Punjab), November 19, 2014, 7:20 AM.

Keep trying. Never, Never give up.

2: Kaala Singh (Punjab), November 19, 2014, 11:14 AM.

Keep trying, you are in America, you will succeed. The Americans have what one may say, fear of the unknown. Once they get to know the Sikhs they will welcome us with open arms. Although Sikhs have been in the US for more than a century, they have lived in their own cocoons and did not engage with the broader community. 9/11 forced the Sikhs to come out of their shells and a lot of work has been done since, but a lot more remains to be done. Rest assured, you will never go through what the Sikhs went through in India. You are fortunate to belong to a civilized country.

3: R Singh (Palo Alto, CA), November 19, 2014, 8:17 PM.

"Keep trying. Never, Never give up." Sounds like American policy in the Middle East.

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Iknoor Singh vs The United States of America"









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