SGPC asks PM to go public on Sarkozy's stand on turban issue

Amritsar, Jan 28 (UNI) The Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandik Committee (SGPC) today demanded that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh make public his discussion with the French President Nicolas Sarkozy on the 'turban issue'.

In a letter faxed to the PMO from here today, SPGC president Avtar Singh Makkar has requested Dr Singh to put forth before the Sikhs the stand taken by Mr Sarkozy on the ban imposed by the French government on the wearing of head gears, including turbans by Sikh students in schools in France.

"The PM should go public on the views of Mr Sarkozy as the issue was of a very sensitive nature", Jathedar Makkar said in a statement here. The ban had hurt the Sikh sentiments not only in France but all over the globe as the turban is a religious symbol of Sikhism, he added.

Dr Singh during his talks with Mr Sarkozy had taken up the turban issue.

Meanwhile in a statement issued at Chandigarh, Punjab BJP president Rajinder Bhandari hailed the intiative shown by party chief L K Advani demanding the lifting of the ban on Sikh turbans by France. Mr Advani too had discussed this issue during his talks with Mr Sarkozy.

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