Sikh Teenager Wins Right to Wear Bangle

July 30, 2008

Author: Staff Writer

Source: Gulf Daily News

http://www.gulf-daily-news.com/Story.asp?Article=224911&Sn=WORL&IssueID=31132

A Sikh teenager suspended from school for wearing a religious bangle won her High Court fight to overturn the decision yesterday. Sarika Watkins-Singh, 14, from South Wales, said the plain steel bracelet was a symbol of her faith and should be exempt from her school's ban on wearing jewellery.

Senior judge Mr Justice Stephen Silber accepted her argument and quashed the decision by the governing body of Aberdare Girls' High School, 20 miles north of Cardiff.

"In this case there is very clear evidence it was not a piece of jewellery but to Sarika was, and remains, one of the defining focal symbols of being a Sikh," he said.

Sikhs wear the bangle or "Kada" as one of the five signs of their faith.