Firstly, lets talk about FIBA. FIBA is the international Basketball authority. They banned "headgear" in all their sports without giving any good explanation. I get the reason some people think Sikhs should wear helmets in the army or on motorcycles, but to ban it on the basketball court? Really? Why? Because it makes people look different? Skin color make us look different, hairstyles make us different, our NAMES makes us different; they team that we play for is different, are we going to make all the above uniform? Is FIBA really that stupid to be scared of being different?
Sport is a great unifying force of good. Countless people exit poverty by lighting up our television sets; and indirectly our lives; with the talent they display in their sport. Jesse Owens and Milkha Singh smashed stereotypes along with their world records. It shows the most human of emotions, the joy of success, the agony of defeat. By playing together, you build camaraderie. No matter from which part of the world you are, you are on that court / pitch / field / gym (etc) competing with the person or people next to you.
Also, due to stupidity, insanity or (at worst) racism, of FIBA, we should appreciate so many other institutions that are not like that. FIFA and every football association around the world, FIH, NHL and every hockey association in the world, every boxing association, every MMA association (lets Sikhs keep hair), Wrestling etc....
Singaporean Sikhs who practice our religion like me, should also appreciate this. I played hockey and volleyball in school. No one ever made my turban an issue. Like every Singaporean son, I served NS and Reservist, but never had issues with my turban. This stupid incident really makes me appreciate my country.
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| Sikh Basketball player |
Lastly, from a Sikh perspective, how sad is this? Where is the uproar? Some bits here and there, but where was the full blown action? Honey Singh saying stuff on Youtube is nothing close to sufficient. Why is Manmohan Singh quiet? Where are all the Sikhs that only seem to have loud voices in arguments and fights? Where are all the prominent Sikhs that did not demand an action? What would Israel do if circumcision banned from basketball? What would Muslims do if the name Muhammed was banned? Why were we so pathetically quiet?
At a personal level, I would have walked out of the Asian games if I was in the 2 Sikh's shoes. Qatari women showed the world how its done when they walked away. Many often say that I have an extreme point of view with regards to this, but I believe it is right. Clear lines has got to be drawn in the sand.
This is also the reason, I do not tie my beard. I am not against it on religious grounds, my problem is with its reasoning. Sikhs tie beards because other people (sometimes other Sikhs) are uncomfortable with it. They may call it untidy, out of times, ill-disciplined. My point is that if people are uncomfortable with our beards what are they going to be uncomfortable with next? Our Turbans? Our unshorn hair? Etc.. We are okay with organizations like FIBA blanketly banning our turbans, just like we are okay with organizations that never hire practicing Sikhs
I get it that some professions like surgeons or chefs; they need to tie their beard so as to not let it fall during an operation or in someone else's food. To me that is understandable, what I do not understand is why a computer programmer needs to tie his beard too. Scared beard fall into keyboard? <:)==
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