Tragedy around FIBA Controversy all round

It deeply saddens me that 2 Sikh players from India, including their captain, cut their hair so that they could play basketball for their country in the Asian games. I wish to speak about this in various angles.

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. 

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? <:)==

My Hypocritical stance on bearskin helmets and tying of beards

As a practising Sikh, I did not have to wear a helmet over my turban during national service. I do not wear a helmet when I ride my friend’s bike.

 

So many people might assume that I would defend the right of a fellow Sikh in the UK to wear a turban instead of a Bear Skin hat when doing some parade in the British Army for the Queen of England. I do not.

 

Before I make my case, I would like to list the reason why Sikhs would not wear bear skin hats or helmets in Army and for motorcycles. It is not because Sikhs cannot do so. A Bear Skin hat can easily cover a Sikh’s turban. Sikhs in Guru Gobind Singh Ji (Our Tenth Master) time wore special helmets. And a helmet for Sikhs can be easily made for motorcycles.

 

But why do these Sikhs not want to wear helmets or any other thing on their head other than a turban. The reason is fear. If people start encroaching on Sikhs imagery with a turban, what else can they go after? Some feel that if you make Sikhs wear helmets today, will Sikhs be forced to wear a beret tomorrow which definitely would not cover a Sikhs hair?

 

I do get why they do it. In fact, I would use this sentiment in a similar manner in the second part of this blog-piece. But when it comes to this helmet philosophy I disagree.

 

Here is why. Sikhs are required to keep their hair uncut. Sikhs need to keep this hair covered. On these principles we should not compromise. Other than that, I feel we should be able to decide and apply discretion. Helmets are not meant to enslave a society, it is meant to save lives. Guru Gobind Singh Ji understood it, and had it in his army.

 

And at times, as long as we keep our hair covered and uncut, we should be able to do our jobs. What is wrong in wearing a bear skin hat over a Patka? Nothing! Wearing a bear skin hat in the parade would not make the soldier less a Sikh or more. It just means that that Sikh is doing his or her job.

 

My second stab at hypocrisy in this article is when I use the same sentiment on why Sikhs feel not the need to use helmets on motorcycles; on why Sikhs should not tie their beards. Many of my family and friends think that my reason for doing so is religious, but it is actually not.

 

Like what we do for our hair, practising Sikh men do not trim our beards or shave. However, it is a common practise for many Sikh men to tie their beards in a knot, gel the sides and put a net over it and make it look as small as possible and in their words, “making it look neat and clean.”

 

My first problem is with the phrase “making it look neat and clean.” Why, a Sikh who leaves their open their beard is not? If it is so simple in making a knot and putting some net over it was so clean and tidy, do these people not think that our Gurus would have come up with that idea?

 

Hygiene was an integral part of the Khalsa code. You wake up, you bathe first then you pray. Your body is your first place of worship you got to keep it clean and neat. And you think that our Sikhs then would not have made it a requirement if having a beard open if it was neat and tidy? Please!

 

Secondly, it is also psychological. If we are to allow someone to say that having a beard open is untidy, are we also opening up to other interpretation. A family member once told me that he cuts his beard having gel on your shirt would make it look untidy. There are entire industries where Sikhs cannot be put forward because they have turbans on their head, at times with the boss being practising Sikhs themselves. Where does the buck stop?

 

We should only tie our beards when we have to. If you are a surgeon, please tie your beard. If we need to tie our beards when handling radioactive material, we should. If you are having brain cancer and need surgery, please shave your head.

 

I have also felt the same way about people tanning or bleaching their skin. Black women should not be wearing weaves for work. It is not what on your head, its what in it that matters.