Beard of a true Sikh costs IAF man his job

BANGALORE, May 15: "Se dadiyan sachiyan to gurcharni laggan" (Those beards are true which touch the Guru’s feet), says the sacred Guru Granth Sahib.

But for former leading aircraftsman Harvinder Singh, his beard — that of a true Sikh — was the reason for his dismissal from the Indian Air Force (IAF). The 22-year-old former airman, who was here on a visit, told The Indian Express that though exceptions in dress code were granted to Sikhs in the IAF, the officers did not abide by them. Now he has sought the intervention of the Akal Takht, the supreme seat of Sikh religion, to change IAF regulations which he believes are "against the religion of Sikhs and detrimental to the sentiments of Sikh Air Force personnel."

In a memorandum, Harvinder Singh — who was dismissed from service after he refused to tie up and dress his beard — has appealed to Akal Takht Jathedar Bhai Ranjit Singh to "intervene at the level of the Union Home Ministry to change the anti-Sikh rules". Harvinder Singh, accordingto charges filed by the Air Force top brass, was "unsuitable for retention in IAF" after five years of service.

According to him, he had to suffer "months of humiliation and harassment" at the hands of his superiors at Ozar Air Force Base Repair Depot at Nashik.