UK schoolgirl suspended over religious bracelet petitions Brown
The mother of a teenage British girl excluded from school for wearing a religious symbol said her education had suffered immensely as a result.
Sinita Singh’s 14-year-old daughter, Sarika, has not attended Aberdare Girls’ School in south Wales since being told last year she could not wear a bracelet known as a Kara.
Her case will be heard at the High Court in London on Tuesday and is due to last three days.
Sarika enrolled at Mountain Ash Comprehensive School earlier this year, which is allowing her to wear the bracelet, and will stay there until the legal process is complete.
The family travelled to 10 Downing Street today to hand in a petition which calls upon British prime minister Gordon Brown to intervene in the matter “to show discrimination is totally unacceptable”.
The petition has gained the backing of 150 Gurdwaras – the main Sikh religious institutions – and over 200 Sikh organisations and 70 non-Sikh organisations.
Speaking from London, Mrs Singh said: “It (exclusion) has affected her in some good ways but also in a hell of a lot of bad ways.
“She has lost a lot of education and if she had been in Aberdare Girls’ School she wouldn’t have gone downhill and she would have kept her grades.
“She has gone to a new school and although it is a good school she has gone two years behind.
“There is a lot of stress, worry and panic attacks. It is the build-up of everything.”
She added: “We hope the outcome next week will be in our favour so we can just get back to normal.
“She had top grades and was doing really well (before exclusion). This is one of the most important years of her school life with her GCSEs approaching.
“Let’s hope we’ve raised a lot of awareness and let’s hope it never, ever happens again.”
Human rights group Liberty, which is supporting Sarika’s High Court battle, claims the school has breached race relations and human rights laws by not allowing Sarika to wear the Kara.
Sarika, the only Sikh at her school, was excluded from Aberdare Girls’ School in November, after being taught in isolation for two months.
The school bans girls from wearing jewellery other than wristwatches and plain ear studs.
Amritpal Singh of the Sikh Federation said: “We have very strong backing for this petition.
“We are showing that the Sikh community are looking at this and that nobody should have to suffer discrimination that Sarika has suffered.
“The Sikh community are together on this issue.”
