Dishonour to Sikhs, a national insult: Indian Govt

New Delhi, Mar 23 (PTI) India on Wednesday said
dishonour to the Sikhs is a national insult and the government
takes serious note of the incident in which golfer Jeev Milkha
Singh's coach Amritinder Singh was forced to remove his turban
at Milan airport.
Assuring the Upper House of Parliament, Rajya Sabha,
that the issue would be taken up with Italy, External Affairs
Minister S M Krishna said, "Whenever there is an insult to
Sikhs, we take it as national insult. We take it up in that
spirit."
He was responding to senior BJP leader S S Ahluwalia
who said during Zero Hour that the Indian government was not
able to convince Italy that turban for Sikhs was a symbol of
religious respect.
Ahluwalia said the turban is "Guru's blessings" and
"we cannot tolerate insult" to it in a country where the Prime
Minister is a Sikh.
He said the Italian Ambassador expressed regrets over
the first incident at the Milan airport, when Jeev's coach was
asked to remove the turban and put it in the tray where shoes
were screened. Jeev and his coach were travelling on March 15
to participate in the Sicillian Open.
The coach was meted out the same treatment on his
return by the same security officer, Ahluwalia said asking,
"What is the use of the Italian envoy's regret...what is the
use of lip service?"
He said, "Italy is very dear to our country and India
is very dear to Italy" but these incidents occur.
The BJP leader said the Italian envoy should be
summoned to the External Affairs Ministry and asked what his
regret meant if such incidents recur.
Krishna said the turban of Sikhs shows the majesty and
diversity that India stands for. It is not a piece of cloth
but a symbol of national pride, he said.
Sharing the concerns of members over attacks on Indian
nationals abroad, he said welfare of Indians going for jobs
and studies abroad was of utmost importance to the government.
"Whenever incidents of this kind have been reported to
us, we have immediately taken it up with all seriousness that
it deserved so that they do not recur. But in some countries,
they keep recurring unfortunately," he said.
Referring to the recent incident of rape and murder of
an Indian in Australia, Krishna said, "I will take it up with
the Australian Ambassador. We will call the Ambassador. He has
been repeatedly called and we have given our views."