Army may review policy excluding Sikhs

NEW YORK: In a significant development, the US Army has written to the Sikh Coalition stating that "senior leadership" is aware of Sikh community concerns. The letter also acknowledges "the importance of reviewing the rationale behind our current policies when circumstances warrant."

The Army communicated with the Coalition via a letter from Major General John R. Hawkins III to the Sikh Coalition's Executive Director.  The letter states that the Army's Human Resources Policy Directorate is currently gathering information "to assist our leadership in making an informed decision" about the cases of Captain Kamaljit Singh Kalsi and Captain Tejdeep Singh Rattan.

The Sikh Coalition has welcomed the Army's commitment to reexamine policies that effectively exclude Sikhs from service. It said that once the Army fully reviews the policy, it will agree that Sikh practices have in no way acted as an impediment to successful service in any military in the world.  

On January 26, the Sikh Coalition had written to Defense Secretary Robert Gates regarding two Sikhs who have been told they would have to give up their Sikh religious practices in order to continue their service in the United States Army. 

Capts. Kalsi and Rattan were part of an Army program that pays for medical education in return for military service. At the time of their enrollment, military recruiters assured both men that their turbans and unshorn hair "would not be a problem."

Cpts. Kalsi and Rattan maintained their Sikh identity throughout graduate school, during specialized Army training, at Army ceremonies, and in Army medical facilities.  Four years later, the Army is now telling the two Sikhs that the recruiters' assurances were false and that they will have to forsake their religious practices.

The Secretary of Defense's response letter gives hope that the United States Army is open to reviewing whether the Sikh articles of faith truly hinder one from ably serving in the Army.