A Sikh girl has told a British court that her kara is as important to her as it is to the English spin bowler Monty Panesar.
LONDON: A Sikh girl has told a British court that her kara is as important to her as it is to the English spin bowler Monty Panesar.
Sarika Watkins-Singh used the argument as part of her case to be allowed to wear her steel bangle at school.
The 14-year-old, Punjabi-Welsh girl is taking the Aberdare Girl’s School to court for discriminating against her after she refused to take off her kara last November.
Sarika’s lawyer Helen Mountfield told the High Court in London that the kara was not a piece of jewellery but a symbol of the Sikh faith. The Aberdare Girls School in South Wales where Sarika was the only Sikh out of 600 pupils did not allow any jewellery as part of its strict uniform regulations.
Mountfield showed the judge a picture of the English cricketer wearing a kara and insisted that for Sarika it was important to wear the bangle as it was for the spin bowler.
Justice Silber said he would like to see a kara and told the counsel to bring one in to court when the case continues in three days. Sarika’s mother, Sunita Singh said her daughter’s faith intensified after the family visited India, including the Golden Temple in Amritsar two years ago.
“I am a Sikh and it is very important for me to wear the kara because it is a symbol of my faith and a constant reminder that I should only do good work, and never do anything bad, with my hands,” said Sarika.
When Sarika refused to take her kara off, the school had taught her separately for some months in educational and social segregation during school hours before being excluded for a day, then for five days and finally indefinitely.
Liberty, the human rights group which is supporting Sarika, claimed that the school breached race, equality and human rights laws.
Last Friday Sarika’s family went to 10 Downing Street to hand in a petition urging prime minister Gordon Brown to intervene. The petition has the backing of 150 gurudwaras and more than 200 Sikh organisations. Over 100 MPs have also offered their support.
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