Sarkozy Defends Ban On Sikh Turbans At Summit With India's Prime Minister

Tuesday's issue of New Europe reports that French President Nicolas Sarkozy was placed in an awkward position at the press conference concluding the European Union/India Summit in Marseille. Standing next to Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, a Sikh who was wearing a light blue turban, Sarkozy was asked by a reporter about a French law that prohibits Sikh civil servants from wearing turbans at work, and Sikh public school students from wearing them in school. An irritated Sarkozy replied: "Sir, we respect Sikhs. We respect their customs, their traditions. They are most welcome to France. But sir, we have rules, rules concerning the neutrality of civil servants, rules concerning secularism, and these rules don't apply only to Sikhs, they apply to Muslims or others. They apply to all on the territory of the French Republic." (See prior related posting.)