Sikh college student wins suit against US Army ban on facial hair, turbans

The United States military is made up of honorable men and women from a variety of cultural, ethnic and religious backgrounds. Yet out of an active-duty military force of 1.4 million, only three observant Sikh men serve in the U.S. armed forces, according to NPR. The small percentage of active Sikh U.S. servicemen is linked to the U.S. military’s 1980s ban on facial hair and religious headwear.Sikhism — a centuries-old Indian religion — requires its male followers to keep their hair uncut and wear a turban. Sikh leaders have long urged the Department of Defense to be more accommodating and a federal court decision issued last Friday could signal a move toward more religious accommodations and exemptions in the armed forces. On Friday, U.S. District Court Judge Amy Berman Jackson ruled that Iknoor Singh, a Sikh Hofstra University student, could join the U.S. Army’s Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) program at his university without having to contravene his religious principles. “I didn’t believe it at first when I heard about the decision,” Singh said in a telephone interviewwith the Associated Press Monday. “It was kind of surreal. This is something I have been fighting for two or three years. I’m excited and nervous; very excited to learn.”   USA Today