Sikh Identity and Appearance

SIKH IDENTITY AND APPEARANCE

General Advice and Good Practice

Any school with Sikh children will be immediately aware of the importance of dress and appearance to their religious and cultural identity. This may have implications in relation to the school’s policies on uniform and jewellery as well as health and safety matters.

The School should demonstrate a sympathetic understanding on these matters as all schools have as one of their principles respect for the family backgrounds from which their children come. Undoubtedly the Sikh community will appreciate and value such an approach.

Therefore this document offers information about the fundamentals of Sikh identity and appearance known as the Five K’s. It is important for all staff to know about this and to recognise that a baptised Sikh promises never to remove these distinguishing features from their body following initiation.

♦ The most distinctive feature of a member of the Sikh faith is wearing the Turban. Its function is to cover the uncut hair (Kesh) gathered on top of the head. The Turban is not itself one of the Five Ks. Yet it is considered so sacred that to abuse it is to challenge a Sikh's right to life. The right to wear the turban (pag or pagri ) has often been fiercely fought for by Sikhs. It is unacceptable to replace it with a school cap for example. If an incident happened in school where a Sikh child's turban was interfered with the school should immediately inform the parents. Other pupils must therefore be encouraged to give the fullest respect to Sikh pupils on this matter of critical importance to them. Even younger Sikh children may wear a piece of material over their topknot which commands the same respect as would a full turban.

The Five K’s comprise: Kesh (uncut hair ) represents devotion to God in that it demonstrates an unwillingness to alter what God has given ; Kangha (wooden comb ) worn in the hair represents a disciplined way of life; Kirpan (sword ) represents the obligation to fight for truth and justice; Kachhera (undershorts) represent desire to live a chaste, modest life; Kara (steel wrist bracelet) represent strength of Sikh community.

♦ Kara (steel wrist bracelet). If a school is concerned about the health and safety implications of a kara being worn - during sporting activities, for example - it might consider the following: • requesting that a smaller kara be worn; • requesting that the kara is moved up the arm and protected in some way (by covering it with a tennis sweat-band or a bandage, for instance). Even though some Sikhs will be seen to take off their own kara on occasions, schools should not themselves insist on the outright removal of a kara.

♦ Kirpan (sword). Sikhs are aware of the concern that non-Sikhs might have about pupils wearing a 'weapon' and would wish to point out that it is only older students who have been fully initiated who would be entitled to wear the kirpan and that the wearing of a kirpan is within the law because it is worn for religious reasons. Furthermore safeguards are always taken by the use of a retaining strap preventing the kirpan being easily withdrawn from its scabbard. It is the view of Avon & Somerset Constabulary that schools need not be over-anxious about this issue as they have never known of any incident arising within our area.

Sikh clothing and modesty Both sexes must be modest in their dress and appearance. For this reason, some Sikh families would prefer their daughters to wear trousers rather than a skirt and keep their heads covered by means of a scarf. The Turban is optional for a Sikh woman. For Sikh men, however, apart from the requirement of wearing the Five K’s and a turban, there are no further clothing restrictions for example colour. There would be no problem if a school asked that a boy's turban be in the same colour as the uniform.

Religious Education Sikhs treat all religions as equal believing that they can all provide paths to God : each religion is a boat on the ocean of life. Guru Nanak (see Backgound Information next page) taught that, if people were Hindu, then they should be good Hindus; if Muslims, they should be good Muslims. There is no tradition of Sikhs wishing to convert others to Sikhism. Therefore, there would be no problem for Sikh children joining in with festivals of other faiths, neither would Sikh parents mind their children visiting other places of worship.

There would be no problem with someone being asked to draw or paint a picture about their religion. Indeed, some gurdwaras have competitions for children to see who can, for example, draw the best picture of Guru Nanak or Guru Gobind Singh. However, Sikhs would be offended if children were asked to act out directly the part of a Guru in drama. Instead, they would prefer a reporting of an event or reading words spoken by a Guru.

In teaching about Sikhism through use of artefacts, Sikhs would ask that they are handled with care; that it is explained why the 5 K’s are special for Sikhs; and that they be stored carefully in a place where no-one has smoked. Ideally Sikhs would prefer that a Sikh pupil or adult visitor should show them to other pupils as he or she would accord the honour due to them. This applies to four of the Ks, as the kesh - uncut hair – cannot be shown.

Collective Worship. Sikhs would have no objection to their children taking part as long as of course there is no threat to Sikhism or the Sikh way of life.

Sex Education There is no reason why Sikh parents would object to this, providing that it is placed in a moral framework. There would also be no objection to including information about contraception.

C:\WINDOWS\TEMPORARY INTERNET FILES\OLK97\FAITH MATTERS FINAL VERSION (2).DOC12 Background Information on History and Core Beliefs.

History • The history of Sikhism can be said to have started with the life and teachings of Nanak (1469-1539) who was born in that part of the Panjab region of north-west India which now lies within Pakistan. Nanak's parents were Hindu. At about the age of 30, he had a spiritual experience which convinced him that he had been given a divine commission to preach about the presence and nature of God. In time, a group of disciples gathered around him: the word 'Sikh' means 'disciple'.

• Nanak's disciples regarded him as their 'guru' (a word meaning 'spiritual teacher') and so referred to him as Guru Nanak. The number of Guru Nanak's disciples grew and so began the Sikh community. Guru Nanak taught that whether people of his time were Hindu or Muslim, they should live honest lives and be true to the one God. Before Nanak died, he appointed one of his closest disciples to be the next Guru.

• There were ten human Sikh Gurus, each one appointed by his predecessor. Each of the Gurus is associated with particular periods or events in the evolution of the Sikh community. For example, the fifth Guru, Arjan, who compiled an early collection of sacred writings, is associated with the building of The GoldenTemple at Amritsar.

• The tenth and last Guru, Gobind Singh, 1666-1708 was notable for a number of reasons. Firstly, he created the Khalsa or initiated brotherhood; this started when he asked for five Sikhs willing to give their lives for their Guru. The five men who volunteered were baptised by him and from then on wore the five distinguishing marks of the baptised Sikh - the Five Ks, so called because they each begin with the sound 'K' in the Panjabi language.Guru Gobind Singh also said that, in order to show their equality and unity, all Sikh men should have the name Singh (lion') and women Kaur ('princess'). He also said that, after his death, the Sikh community would no longer obtain their teachings from a human guru. Instead, authority would reside in the Sikh community (the Panth) and in the sacred book which included the words which had been revealed to the Gurus. Thus, Sikhs refer to their sacred book as a Guru – the Guru Granth Sahib.

• There are about 20 million Sikhs in the world today, 16 million of them living in or near the Panjab. Many Sikhs came to Britain during the 1950s and early 1960s. The British Sikh community, estimated at nearly 500,000, is the largest outside India.

C:\WINDOWS\TEMPORARY INTERNET FILES\OLK97\FAITH MATTERS FINAL VERSION (2).DOC13 Core Beliefs

♦ Sikhs believe in one God.

♦ Many of the central Sikh beliefs about God are seen in the Mool Mantar, an important prayer, which many Sikhs recite daily. The first two Panjabi words, lk Onkar ("There is one God") are used to decorate the Sikh gurdwara (place of worship). This reminds Sikhs of their belief in the oneness of God.

“There is one God, Whose Name is Eternal truth, The Creator, Without fear, Without hate, Immortal Beyond birth and death Self-existent Realised by the Grace of the Guru”

♦ Basic to Sikh beliefs is the idea that it is important to show service to others. The holding of langar- communal eating - is an important part of gurdwara life. All those visiting a gurdwara, be they Sikh or not, will be given the opportunity to eat with others; all sitting together on the floor as a sign of their equality. Because food is offered at no charge, langar is sometimes translated as 'free kitchen'. Men as well as women are involved in serving food to others as a further sign of equality. The Gurus rejection of caste (social staus) is also demonstrated in the gurdwara by offering karah parshad, a sweet food, to all as they enter.

♦ The Sikh community has a number of festivals throughout the year which either celebrate anniversaries of the birth or martyrdom of different Gurus or mark other significant events in Sikh history.

♦ Strict Orthodox Sikhs hold that only those who have become members of the Khalsa or Brotherhood can truly be called Sikhs, whereas others would also include 'aspiring' Sikhs who might wear some of the Five K’s.

C:\WINDOWS\TEMPORARY INTERNET FILES\OLK97\FAITH MATTERS FINAL VERSION (2).DOC14 Sources of Information

Organisations

The Sikh Missionary Society UK 10 Featherstone Road, Southall, Middlesex. UB2 5AA Tel : 0208-5741902

Sikh Resource Centre 114 St Mark’s Road, Easton, Bristol BS5 6JD Tel 0117-9525023