Ottawa apologizes after Sikh children denied passports

[Bulldog]

Kelly Sinoski, Vancouver Sun
Published: Friday, August 17, 2007
Passport Canada will issue an apology -- and travel documents -- to three Sikh children whose passport applications were rejected because they were wearing religious headgear.

The federal agency will also offer remedial training to passport staff to ensure a similar incident doesn't happen in the future, spokesman Fabien Lengelle said today.

"It is resolved," Lengelle said. "As soon as we became aware of the issue, we called the parents and offered corrective measures.

Lakhwinder Kaur Sidhu had mailed passport applications to Ottawa for herself and her husband along with their three children, Gurleen Kaur, 9, Ravneet Kaur, 7, and Gurmant Singh, 4, on May 15.

All five had included passport photos in which they were wearing their religious headgear.

Although Sidhu and her husband, Hardip, got their passports last week, the children's applications were denied because their photos did not meet the specifications as the wearing of a "head covering is unacceptable."

Her son was wearing a patka, which is knotted at the top to keep the hair intact, while the girls were wearing head scarves. Sikhs wear head coverings as part of their religious observance after they are baptized.

Sidhu said her husband was wearing a turban, while she was wearing a chunni.

The latest decision by Passport Canada has appeased the World Sikh Organization, which sent a letter to Foreign Affairs on Wednesday, asking that the "misunderstanding on the part of the local official" be corrected.

WSO spokesman Jasbeer Singh said the wearing of religious headgear by Sikhs is protected by the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms and it's unacceptable for the passports to be rejected on those grounds.

"I feel relieved it's happened as long as CIC properly commits itself to putting in training and orientation for staff so we don't have to keep facing the same problem day in and day out," he said.

The situation put a crimp in teh Sidhu family's plans this summer. The family had planned to travel to California to visit relatives but Sidhu said Thursday they might now have to wait until winter and go to India instead.

http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/news/story.html?id=1ad02f0c-6388-442e-93c5-5a97afdc554a&k=56733

[LindaBT]

   I find this hard to swallow.  We aren't even allowed to smile for our photos because it can change the way we look but in the name of "religious reasons", others can wear hats or head coverings.  The reason for a passport photo is to clearly identify the passort holder.  I can understand people's religion being important to them, but is it too much to ask that all head gear be removed by everyone when posing for a passport photo.  Apparently so!

[Bulldog]

I agree, sometimes religious freedom goes too far !

[Gambitt]

I have to say I agree, and here's why.

Let's say for example, that I were Jewish.  But, insead of a Yarmulke, I decided to wear a baseball hat.   According to the Jewish faith...

From a biblical standpoint, only the Kohanim serving in the Temple were required to cover their heads (see Exodus 28:4). Yet for many centuries, the obligatory custom has been for Jewish men to wear a kippah all the time, as the Code of Jewish Law says, "It is forbidden to walk four cubits without a head covering."

With blessings from Jerusalem,

Rabbi Shraga Simmons
Aish.com

So, isn't a baseball cap, a "head covering"???   Therefore,  if I want to wear my Detroit Tigers hat in my passport photo,  I just have to say it's okay, because I am Jewish?

My Tigers hat, is now My religeous "head covering" and I should be able to wear it.

(before I offend anyone of the Jewish faith, I was just using an example that I happened to be familiar with.. Shalom Aleichem! )

Edit...  And ya know what?   Just reading this post over, I found my own error!   If I walk up to the photo stand, with my "head covering" on, take it off for the photo, put it back on and then leave the stand, I still haven't broken the code, as I have not walked 4 cubits....


Edited again, as I learn more....

Amritdhari Sikhs (those who have been baptized in the Amrit ceremony) are supposed to have their heads covered when in public.

So, if you are a Sikh, and wish to have a passport photo, ask the photographer to close a curtain, or the door to the room, where the photo is taken.  Therefore, you are no longer "in public", and the head covering can be removed.

OR

To meet with Canadian Law, and ensure "Religeous Obervance" it would be proper, to require those not wishing to be uncovered in public; to hire a photographer to come into thier house, and take the photos there.

If I'm not skilled enough to figure out the income taxes, that I am required to pay in Canada; I have to hire an accountant, at my own expence; so why can't they be required to hire a photographer, if they cannot appear in public?

[Bulldog]

Great points Gambitt