Essay Example on Turban Wearing Individual’s Struggle in North American

Turban Wearing Individual’s Struggle in North American Communities In Sikhism the turban is a head wrap which is considered an integral part of the culture and symbolizes an individuals honor dignity and self worth The practice of growing beard is the symbol of respect for the perfection of god s creation The turban is not commonly worn by many and thus those that are ignorant of its significance are prone to believing negative stereotypes For example uninformed individuals may associate the turban with terrorism as terrorists as Bin Laden or Taliban terrorists have worn turbans Being a minority Sikhs suffer racism and disrespect because of the lack of awareness Baltej Singh Dhillon was born and raised in Malaysia until 16 years old In 1983 he immigrated to British Columbia where he completed his high school and started studying criminology in Kwantlen College To improve the chances to get in high school he helped the RCMP Royal Canadian Mounted Police launch the Block Watch program in his community and was subsequently hired by the force to work on the program and decided to seek admission to the RCMP He fulfilled all the starting requirements for RCMP but he got refused to abide by the RCMP because of the dress code of that time where the turban was banned and the requirement of clean shaven faces Rather than giving up on his career he went to Commissioner of the RCMP Norman Inkster to proclaim about the injustice of the government against the turban wearing community manifested about the dress code policies 

Hopefully now I ll be able to continue on with my career goal of becoming an RCMP officer Dhillon told the CBC at the time I will not have this stumbling block that would prevent me of one practicing my religion and secondly serving my country Canada as an officer in the Royal Canadian Mounted Police Many critics including some municipalities in western Canada that contracted the RCMP for municipal police services condemned the government s decision Others launched legal challenges By 1996 however the Canadian Human Rights Commission the Federal Court and the Supreme Court of Canada had upheld the government s decision In this free world no one is bound to obey the unconstitutional laws until unless they are in the agreement and implemented by the law Baltej Dhillon had a dream of becoming a Mountie and instead of giving up his dreams he fought for his dreams and rights fearlessly His one step has not only made things better for himself but has encouraged so many others to fight for their rights and not just give up on their ambitions His struggle to fight for the right to express and take pride in his religion became a fundamental step for many religions to have the courage to fight their own personal fights against discrimination towards their religious rights He has proved the significance of religious beliefs and set an example to never let go your self respect Moreover the government made it easier to adopt in the society giving Sikhs the equal rights as Canadians accepting their religion and race Also empowering the individuals who belongs to the other religion with different race to use the great opportunities given by the government to serve the country and fight for their rights instead of living in the fear of isolation or discrimination