New Delhi, March 2
Even as the Sikh community living in France continues to mobilise international opinion against the ban on wearing of turbans in educational institutions, the apex body of gurdwaras there has decided to set up a school funded and managed exclusively by the Sikhs.
The foundation stone of “Guru Tegh Bahadur Public School” was laid on February 19. Christened so by the Guru Tegh Bahadur Gurdwara Committee of France, the school is located in the Parisian suburb of
Bobigny, a 15-minute drive from Charles de Gaulle airport.
The decision to set up a school was taken by two representatives of the community living in France, who visited India in January. Mr Jasvinder Singh Mann and Mr Iqbal Singh Bhatti returned home to convene a meeting of all five gurdwaras there and endorse the
decision.
“It will be the first-ever school to be set up by the community in France,” Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee president Paramjit Singh Sarna told The Tribune. Mr Sarna returned from France last week after participating in the foundation stone-laying
ceremony.
He said the school would be ready in five months and classes could commence by September. “It has been decided that the school would be open to all communities. It will teach from the scriptures of all religions and not just Sikhism,” he observed.
Mr Sarna said the DSGMC had sought permission from the Union Government to transfer Rs 25 lakh for constructing the school building. “They were short on funds, so they approached us. We then decided to give Rs 25 lakh as first installment to them.”
The decision to set up the school, he explained, was taken because of the delay in getting the Government of France to lift the ban on wearing of turban. Moreover, he observed, the community wanted to do something on its own to uphold the sanctity of the Sikh
faith.
The president of the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee, Bibi Jagir
Kaur, has welcomed the decision. “Setting up such a school will immensely benefit the community in general and students in particular,” she observed over the telephone. She, however, had a word of caution: “Our work is not finished yet. We have to continue to take steps for overturning the ban on wearing
of turbans.”
