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Breaking News: Wrist Bangle Is 'symbol Of Faith', High Court Hears


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BREAKING NEWS: WRIST BANGLE IS 'SYMBOL OF FAITH', HIGH COURT HEARS

Date : 17.06.08

A Simple steel wrist bangle meant as much to schoolgirl Sarika Watkins-Singh as it did to England spin bowler Monty Panesar, a High Court judge heard today.

It was one of the symbols of their Sikh faith and not a piece of jewellery, lawyers for 14-year-old Sarika said at the start of a hearing to decide whether a school was justified in banning her from attending classes while she insisted on wearing the bracelet.

Mr Justice Silber said he would like to see one of the bangles - known as the Kara - at some point during the hearing, which is set for three days.

In the meantime, Sarika's counsel, Helen Mountfield, referred the judge to a photograph of Panesar wearing the Kara as one of the symbols of the Sikh faith.

The Punjabi-Welsh girl, from Cwmbach, near Aberdare, claims she was the victim of unlawful discrimination when she was excluded from Aberdare Girls' School last November after refusing to remove the Kara.

The school, at which Sarika was the only Sikh among 600 girls, does not permit jewellery other than wristwatches and plain ear studs.

In February, Sarika enrolled at Mountain Ash Comprehensive School, which allows her to wear the Kara, pending the outcome of her court challenge.

Her mother, Sinita, aged 38, has said that, although Mountain Ash is a good school, her daughter's education has suffered as a result of the move and the stress involved in the run-up to her GCSEs.

Last Friday, the family travelled to 10 Downing Street to hand in a petition calling on Prime Minister Gordon Brown to intervene in the matter "to show discrimination is totally unacceptable".

The petition gained the backing of 150 Gurdwaras - the main Sikh religious institutions - and more than 200 Sikh organisations and 70 non-Sikh organisations. More than 100 MPs have also offered support.

Human rights group Liberty, which is supporting Sarika's case, claims Aberdare Girls' School breached race, equality and human rights laws by not allowing Sarika to wear the Kara.

http://www.thisissouthwales.co.uk/displayN...tentPK=20888147

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Sikh teen seeks discrimination ruling over bracelet

1 hour ago

LONDON (AFP) — Lawyers for a Sikh teenager banned from school for wearing a religious bracelet, went to court on Tuesday claiming unlawful discrimination.

Sarika Singh, 14, was barred from Aberdare Girls' School in south Wales after refusing to remove the steel bangle, known as a Kara, on the basis that it did not allow jewellery other than wristwatches and plain ear studs.

After she was excluded in November she moved to another school in the area which does allow her to wear the bracelet -- but her family claims she suffered academically because of the move.

The family handed in a petition at Prime Minister Gordon Brown's Downing Street residence last week, urging him to intervene to show that "discrimination is totally unacceptable".

The petition was backed by 150 Gurdwaras -- Sikh religious institutions -- as well as more than 200 Sikh organisations and 70 non-Sikh bodies.

Human rights group Liberty, which is backing the family in seeking a High Court ruling, said the school breached race, equality and human rights laws by not allowing Sarika to wear the Kara.

"Sarika Singh has suffered humiliating isolation and is being denied a proper education simply because she wears the Kara," said Anna Fairclough, representing the Singhs on behalf of Liberty, earlier in the case.

A small iron or steel bangle worn on the wrist, the Kara is supposed to act as a reminder of the tenets of the faith.

http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5hGO0su...2etkXGDiJ4aM6HQ

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