Sikhs Call for an End to Religious Ban in the U.S. Army

Sikh Recruits Lead Fight for Integrated Army

WASHINGTON, April 14 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Today, two Sikh military
recruits called on the U.S. Army to end its religious ban and to fully
integrate the Army. The two men, both medical professionals in the Army, are
being told that they must remove their turbans and cut their unshorn hair and
beards - all mandatory articles of the Sikh faith - when they report for
active duty in July.

(Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20090414/DC98817 )

Captain Kamaljit Singh Kalsi, a doctor, and Second Lieutenant Tejdeep Singh
Rattan, a dentist, were both assured by military recruiters that their turbans
and unshorn hair "would not be a problem" when they were recruited to join the
Army's Health Professions Scholarship Program. The program paid for medical
training in return for their military service.

Both men maintained their turbans throughout graduate school, during
specialized Army training, at Army ceremonies, and while working in military
medical facilities. Now, the Army is telling the two Sikhs that the
recruiters' assurances were false and that they will have to forsake their
religious practices if they want to serve.

"I was shocked to learn that the Army would go back on its promise, and tell
me I would have to give up my faith in order to serve," said Captain Kalsi.
"There is nothing about my religion that stops me from doing my job. I know I
can serve well without compromising my faith." Captain Kalsi is the fourth
generation in his family to serve in the military.

In 1981, the Army banned "conspicuous" religious articles of faith for its
service members. However, Sikhs and other soldiers of faith who were part of
the army before the 1981 rule change were allowed to stay. As a result,
Colonel Arjinderpal Singh Sekhon, a doctor, and Colonel G.B. Singh, a dentist,
have been serving in the Army with their turbans and unshorn hair for the past
twenty-five years. Both men only retired within the last two years.

"We chose to hold the news conference here in front of the Marine War Memorial
because Sikhs were part of the U.S. military during World War II. Sikh
Americans, like all Americans, should have the right to serve their country,"
said Amardeep Singh, Executive Director of the Sikh Coalition. "In 1948,
President Truman integrated our military. Today we are asking the Army to keep
his promise of equal opportunities for all Americans."

Sikhs have a long history of serving in armed forces throughout the world with
their religious identity intact. A Sikh soldier served in the U.S. Army as far
back as World War I. Thousands of Sikh soldiers helped liberate France in
WWII. Today, Sikhs serve in the militaries of England, Canada, India and
Austria, among others, often alongside American soldiers in Iraq and
Afghanistan.

The two recruits were joined today by representatives of the Sikh Coalition, a
national civil rights organization. The Coalition, along with the law firm of
McDermott Will & Emery LLP, filed a formal complaint this morning with the
Department of the Army's Inspector General. The complaint challenges the
decision to keep observant Sikhs out of the Army. The group launched the
campaign in the shadow of the Iwo Jima War Memorial in Arlington, VA, as a
tribute to the Sikh soldiers who fought in the US military in World War II.

To learn more, please visit www.sikhcoalition.org/army or email us at
media@sikhcoalition.org.

SOURCE Sikh Coalition

Amardeep Singh, Executive Director , +1-917-628-0091 (mobile), or Neha Singh,
Advocacy Director, +1-212-729-6141 (mobile), both of the Sikh Coalition