Anti-Sikh attacks result in two Sikhs’ hair forcibly cut

News of two anti-Sikh attacks have come to light in which Sikhs have had their kesh (sacred unshorn hair) forcibly cut, exposing institutional ignorance and an unwillingness to protect Sikh human rights and religious freedom in the UK and USA.

A 5-year-old Sikh boy in South London has had his kesh cut with scissors by another pupil at Alexandra McLeod Primary School in Abbey Wood, South-East London. The reception pupil has cut his hair prior to the incident in line with his Sikh faith, and has been left traumatised and deeply hurt by the attack, his parents have shared.

The attack took place at the on Friday 21^st May 2021. The school said it was aware of the incident and that it had occurred when “most of the staff had left”. The school and the local authority have said that the matter will be investigated.

Lobby group Sikh Federation UK has said it was “totally unacceptable and devastating” for the child’s sacred unshorn hair to be cut by another pupil. The NGO has called on education minister Gavin Williamson to take action over the matter.

Meanwhile in the USA, a 64-year-old Sikh prisoner has also had his kesh forcibly cut. Surjit Singh, who is incarcerated in Arizona prison, had his Dastar (Sikh turban) confiscated and never returned.

Thereafter, “corrections officers handcuffed, physically restrained, and — over a period of hours — forcibly shaved his beard despite his repeated objections,” according to a ‘religious-freedoms violation’ complaint filed with the U.S. Department of Justice. The complaint was made by The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Arizona, along with several other organisations including the Sikh Coalition.

Singh had also never shaved, cut or removed his hair, and “the incident caused him deep shame and mental trauma, including severe depression,” according to the complaint. He reportedly told corrections officers that they should “cut his throat rather than his hair”.

“My faith remains deeply important to me, and incarcerated individuals have a right to our faith just like everyone else in this country,” Surjit Singh said in a statement. “I am simply asking that the Arizona Department of Corrections guarantee that me and others in my position are able to serve our sentences with dignity by respecting our religious beliefs.”

The Arizona Department for Corrections mandates that inmates are clean-shaven for identification photos. Following the attack on the Sikh prisoner, the Department sent two letters of apology to the Legal Director of the Sikh Coalition in New York, apologising for the attack, which it claimed arose from an “innocent, but unfortunate, miscommunication between a chaplain and security staff”.

After the attack, Singh was transferred to another prison where he now has the religious freedom to grow his hair and beard and wear a turban throughout the remainder of his sentence.

The two attacks are the latest in a string of anti-Sikh attacks that have made headlines in recent months. Late last year, two boys in Telford, England recorded physically assaulting a Sikh boy while walking home from school. They did not face court action for the hate crime. A Sikh taxi driver was also assaulted by passengers in Reading last year, in a case which is ongoing. Most recently, a 14-year-old Amritdhari (initiated Sikh) pupil was involved in a stabbing incident with a 16-year-old male, at a school with known for “bullying and racial attacks”. The incident resulted in Kirpans being temporarily banned in schools across the Australian state of New South Wales (NSW).