To ban or not turban? That is the question

It’s a good question alright. If a Sikh is joining the Garda Siochana, should he be allowed to wear his turban? Apparently one such character had signed up to join the Garda Reserve. Having been led on horribly, and trained for all of six weeks or whatever it is they do, he was then informed, at the eleventh hour, that he could not wear the turban when it came to dealing with the public.

Which kind of spoiled the whole thing for him. He has now withdrawn his services from Michael McDowell’s storm troopers, presumably until that decision is reversed, and gone public with his story. Fair play to him: it is an issue that is worth debating at least.
I did a quick round-the-table poll on the subject at the last editorial meeting here in Hot Press towers, and the general feeling seemed to be: what of it? Sure if the fecker wants to stick with the oul turban, let him. Them yokes look just as cool as any cap. Even cooler, in fact. Indeed, it might just catch on, become a bit of a fashion statement, like. Maybe every Garda should have to wear one…
That’s the trouble with the youth of today: they don’t feel strongly about anything. Except fashion statements!
I jest, of course. But the first instinct of most of the people in the room was a tolerant one. Who cares? Let him wear what he likes! We’ve no objection to Sikhs…
I don’t either. In fact, as religions go, Sikhism is pretty damn civilised. So, I thought, let’s see what a few other people have to say.
Diarmuid Doyle did a piece on the theme in the Sunday Tribune: he’s normally a good indicator of where intelligent opinion stands on any subject of national importance and, as it turned out, he was firmly in the pro-turban camp.
Ciaran Cuffe of the Green Party rowed in, pointing out that police forces in the UK, the US, Singapore, Malasia, Pakistan and India had no problem with Sikh officers wearing turbans.
The argument in favour is reasonable in as far as it goes.
The turban, Ciaran Cuffe, insisted, is a vital part of the rules of the Sikh religion. Sikh men are prohibited from cutting their hair or appearing in public without the turban. If we want to show respect for ethnic minorities, and we want them to feel that they have a stake in Irish society, then we have to respect their deeply held convictions – and change the rules to accommodate them.
To ban the turban is to forever exclude Sikhs from being members of the Garda Siochana. Would that be fair or right? And, in any event, what is there to lose? It’s about time we grew up and made the gestures necessary to ensure that minority communities in Ireland are not discriminated against in stupidly unnecessary, bureaucratic ways. Good point. Argument over. Or maybe not. Something in my gut, however, was telling me differently.
Philip Watt, from the National Consultative Committee on Racism and Interculturalism also got involved, telling BBC Radio that he thought the police had got it wrong. “They’ve perhaps not thought it through fully enough,” he said. “I think they should go back and review this decision now.”
I watched the debate on Prime Time on RTÉ, in which Kevin Donohue of the Garda Press office explained the official position. “The person standing in front of you,” he argued, “should be representative of the police force – not a Sikh police officer, not a Catholic police officer, not a Jewish police officer.” No one should feel that they might be discriminated against, he implied, because of any religious affiliation an individual officer might have.
At one point during the discussion, the president of the Irish Sikh Council, Harpreet Singh, suggested that turbans had been “part of our bodies” since the 17th Century. That sounded a bit strange. In response, Donohue pointed out that Rastafarians had a thing about hair too, and asked rhetorically if an exception should be made for them also.
The interviewer questioned Donohue about the fact that Catholic members of the force receive ashes on Ash Wednesday. It is a very specific religious statement – was that now going to be banned too? The Garda spokesman kicked for touch but you could see where the debate was heading. What about police officers wearing crosses? It was all very amusing.
Over on Slugger O’Toole’s blog, the point was made that Sikhs are not required to wear a turban – the rule is that they are not to cut their hair. Turbans are just a way of covering up the evidence of just how ill-advised this religious stipulation generally is. And as the fella observed: “I don’t care what length a Garda’s hair is.”
Nor, come to think about it, do I. Ban gardai often have long hair, tied back in pony tails while they’re on duty. Why can’t male gardai enjoy the same privilege? That way, the excellent Ukranian finisher Andriy Voronin would be free to join the Gardai when his career with Liverpool is over – and that would surely be a good thing, would it not, potentially bringing much needed additional firepower to the Garda eleven’s frontline? And anyway lots of Eastern Europeans think that having hair like that is super sexy. Why should they, any more that Sikhs, be denied the freedom to express themselves and their profoundest convictions? And why are matters of religious conviction deemed to be of greater importance than any community’s shared sense of what is sexually attractive?
In any event, and furthermore, why should one religion – however mellow and inoffensive its practitioners might be – be afforded a privilege not allowed to others? If it is OK for Sikhs to insist on wearing a turban, why should a Muslim ban garda not be entitled to wear the hijab – or indeed the burka? Why should a Rasta not be allowed to wear a beanie? Why should a devout orthodox Jew not be entitled to wear his skull cap?
Why shouldn’t they all be allowed to wear beards?
It is one way of looking at things. Fuck the uniform: who needs it? But of course that might lead to predictable problems: you’re driving home drunk as a skunk and a few shams flashing torches try to get you to stop. How do you know that they are Gardai? They could be friggin vigilantes who think you are the local drug dealer and are planning to lynch you. Put the boot down!
So let’s be logical about this. The choice is stark but simple. You either make it a free for all, in which any member of the Gardai can wear whatever hat he or she likes, or you stick with the uniform and bar any and all expressions of religious allegiance – including the turban – while the uniform is being worn.
You also ban ashes on Ash Wednesday. And you ban the crucifix.
I don’t mind really which way the Garda Commissioner jumps on this. All I can say is that he has to be ruthlessly consistent.
Be careful out there…