Canadian Sikh Receives Apology For Being Asked to To Remove Turban at Royal Canadian Legion
Posted: 22 Jan 2018 10:12 AM PST
Jaswinder Singh Dhaliwal (Steve Bruce/CBC)
OTTAWA, Canada—The Royal Canadian Legion in Tignish, P.E.I. has apologized for asking a Sikh man named Jaswinder Singh Dhaliwal to remove his turban. This past Wednesday, Jaswinder Singh was abused with racial slurs in Ottawa, the national capital of Canada. A woman reportedly threatened him that she would rip his turban off. She also heckled him with racist remarks.
The incident took place this past week on Wednesday at Tignish town in Canada’s Prince Edward Island on January 17 when Jaswinder Singh Dhaliwal was playing pool with his friends at Royal Canadian Legion. The management approached the group and asked Jaswinder Singh to remove his “patka” as it was the Legion’s “policy to remove headgear out of respect for veterans” despite of the fact that religious garments are exempted from this policy.
Royal Canadian Legion is a Canadian ex-service organization that includes people who have served in military.
A video of the incident has also come to fore that shows a woman threatening to rip off the head covering in response to being filmed and a patron at the bar making an obscene gesture while saying the garment must be removed because “it is the law”.