French Sikhs Request Help from Indian Prime Minister in Opposing Ban of Religious Symbols

January 2, 2004

Source: The Telegraph-Calcutta

http://www.telegraphindia.com/1040103/asp/nation/story_2746423.asp

On January 2, 2004 The Telegraph-Calcutta ran a Reuters article that reported, "France’s tiny Sikh community is seeking help from Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee to have their turbans exempted from a planned French law to ban Muslim headscarves and other religious symbols from schools. Chain Singh, spokesman for about 5,000 Sikhs here, said he was contacting Vajpayee and Punjab chief minister Amarinder Singh to ask them to urge Paris to exempt turbans...Singh said he had contacted the Indian embassy in Paris and would soon write to Vajpayee and Amarinder. 'India is responsible for Indians around the world. We want them to talk state-to-state with France,' he said."