Two Indian national basketball players forced to play without turbans.
By Sujeet Rajan
WASHINGTON, DC: Turns out, discrimination against the Sikh community is not just confined to the United States: it can happen elsewhere too, say China.
The turban for the Sikhs is sacred, part of their religious mandate, and an accepted part of their daily attire.
Sikhs, wearing turbans, have been part of many sporting disciplines India has taken part in for ages. That includes ‘The Flying Sikh’ Milkha Singh, cricketers Bishen Singh Bedi and Harbhajan Singh, and outside of India, the likes of Nuvraj Singh Bassi, the first turbaned Sikh to play in the Canadian football league, and Monty Panesar, the English cricketer.
In the US, the Sikh community has faced perhaps the worst discrimination the community has ever faced outside of the sub-continent, especially after the terrorist attacks of 9/11. Sikhs have been shot dead, viciously attacked, verbally abused and poked fun at, given special preference for screenings at airports, all for their religious adherence to keeping a turban and long beard.
But still, it comes as a shock that Sikhs should be discriminated against by a neighboring country of India: China.
At the recently concluded FIBA Asia Cup in Wuhan, China, Indian hoopsters Amritpal Singh and Amjyot Singh were asked by officials to remove their turbans before the start of the country’s match against Japan on July 12, saying they were breaking international basketball rules.
The Indian team officials and players were aghast and protested, but when they realized that their pleas were ignored, the two players took to the court without their turbans – a sacrifice for their country.
An AFP report on Wednesday said India’s union sports minister Sarbananda Sonowal was “shocked and outraged” after learning of the incident. He pointed out rightly that wearing a turban on court did not impact “fair play”. He has asked the International Olympic Committee to issue guidelines on the wearing of turbans so that “such incidents do not take place again.”
Amritpal Singh, told The Times of India newspaper he had always worn his turban for international matches and the “controversy left both of us distressed.”
“Wearing turban is a part of me. When they told us we couldn’t play with one it felt very awkward. But for the team we decided to play without turbans,” said Amjyot Singh to the Times.
Wonder what the officials who asked the two players to remove turbans were thinking of? What would the turbans have infringed upon? or given what advantage.