By IANS
London : A Sikh organisation in Ireland is planning to challenge a ban on Sikhs in a volunteer reserve police force from wearing the turban while on duty.
A Sikh man, who has not been named, and a qualified IT professional had decided to join the Garda Reserve, a volunteer reserve section of Ireland’s police force Garda Siochana, but was told he could not wear his turban while on duty.
The Irish Sikh Council said Saturday that it is in touch with representatives of a New York Police Department (NYPD) Sikh officer who successfully overturned a similar ban in the New York police force.
President of the Sikh council, Harpreet Singh, said the council intended to take necessary steps in the matter, Sunday Business Post reported.
Male Sikhs are required by religion to cover their hair at all times by a turban, an article of faith and an intrinsic aspect of their identity.
Turbans are worn by Sikh police officers elsewhere, most notably the London Metropolitan Police.
In June, Sikhs in France filed a case before the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) in Strasbourg challenging a French law that demands that turbans be taken off while being photographed for identity cards after Shingara Mann Singh, 52, a French national for over 20 years, was denied a replacement driver’s licence in 2005 and again in 2006 because he refused to remove his turban.