SGPC raises objection to NYPD stopping Sikh trooper from rising beard seeks Jaishankar’s intervention

Amritsar, Aug 1 (PTI) The SGPC has written to the Indian ambassador to the US, elevating an objection to the reported choice of the New York Police Division (NYPD)for stopping a Sikh policeman from rising his beard.
     The Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC), the apex Sikh spiritual physique, additionally sought intervention from Exterior Affairs Minister S Jaishankar within the matter, in line with a press release.
     The SGPC cited sure media reviews which urged that state trooper Charanjot Tiwana, who’s a Sikh and primarily based in Jamestown, New York, had requested permission to develop his beard in March 2022 for his wedding ceremony however his request was denied on the premise that it posed a security problem concerning the usage of a gasoline masks.
     SGPC president H S Dhami mentioned stopping a Sikh policeman from rising his beard on the premise of questions of safety is just not rational.
     “Even when a Sikh trooper has a completely grown beard, the gasoline masks can simply be worn by tying the unshorn beard whereas serving on such an obligation. An instance of that is the Sikh troopers serving within the Indian Military, one of many world’s prime army forces,” mentioned Dhami.
        “Initiated Sikhs don’t lower hair and conserving hair unshorn for a lifetime is without doubt one of the commitments in the direction of the Sikh faith and the Gurus. By adopting such a discriminatory coverage, the Sikhs are being pressured away from their faith by the NYPD, thus additionally limiting employment alternatives for the initiated Sikh neighborhood in a democratic nation just like the USA. 
     “As per the Sikh ‘Rehat Maryada’ (code of conduct) of the Akal Takht, the very best temporal authority of Sikhs at Amritsar in Punjab, an initiated or practising Sikh has to obligatory hold 5 symbols of religion – ‘kirpan’ (sword), ‘karha’ (iron bracelet), ‘kes’ (unshorn hair), ‘kangha’ (picket comb), and ‘kachhehra’ (prescribed shorts),” mentioned Dhami.