Source: The Indian Express

Wire Service: Reuters

http://www.expressindia.com/fullstory.php?newsid=54359

On September 10, 2005 Reuters reported, "Two Sikh boys have fallen foul of France's ban on religious clothing in state schools this year, with one excluded because of his turban and another forced to wear a small cloth instead, a Sikh activist said on Friday. Gurinder Singh, 17, was barred from class in a Paris suburb because he refused to remove the keski, or under-turban, that his school let him wear last year, said Kudrat Singh of the United Sikhs pressure group.

Hardeep Singh, 13, was only allowed into class when he agreed to wear a small cloth over the top-knot of his uncut hair. Sikh men do not cut their hair for religious reasons.

Three Sikh boys were expelled from school last year for wearing their turbans, which officials said violated a new ban on religious symbols in state schools aimed mostly at stopping Muslim girls from attending in headscarves."