WASHINGTON, DC
Turbaned Sikhs in the US have an uphill task if they want to sign up for the U.S Army. One recruit was recently asked to give up the basic symbols of his religion: his beard, knee-length hair and turban. But Maj. Kamaljeet Singh Kalsi waged a two-year campaign that in 2009 resulted in the Army granting him a special exception for his unshorn hair, the first such accommodation to a policy established in the 1980s. Since then, two other
Sikhs have won accommodations from the Army. But many others have failed. And so now, as he prepares to leave active duty, Kalsi, who earned a Bronze Star in Afghanistan, is waging a new campaign: to rescind those strict rules that he believes have blocked hundreds of Sikhs from joining the military. He wants to open the door to more Sikh participation in the Armed Forces. At stake for the military is the uniformity in appearance that it deems necessary for good order and discipline. Sikh leaders cite an additional reason for their push. In the days after the Sept. 11 attacks, Sikhs were attacked, and at least one was killed, by assailants who confused them with fundamentalist Muslims. Last year, a white supremacist shot to death six Sikhs in their gurudwara, or place of worship, near Milwaukee. The more Sikhs serving in the military, police or firefighting, the more positive will be the exposure and Americans will see them as threatening outsiders. Up until 1974, Sikhs were allowed to serve in the United States military with hair and beards intact. But in the 1980s, stricter rules regarding personal appearance were enacted. Sikhs on active duty at that time were allowed to keep their articles of faith, but future recruits were required to seek case-by-case exceptions. No one succeeded until Kalsi in 2009. Among the concerns raised by the armed services – all branches have rules similar to the Army, according to the Sikh Coalition – is whether Sikh men can safely wear helmets and gas masks.
