^ Young Men Get Haircuts, Annoying Their Elders.New Delhi: Munshiram Memorial Publishers. They responded in a calm manner, explaining the meaning of their appearance and the original poster apologized.

In September 2012 a member of reddit uploaded a picture of Balpreet Kaur, a young Sikh, mocking their facial hair. The incident traumatised the youth and is under probe ordered by the Defense Ministry. In 2010, Basant Singh, a Sikh youth in Penang, Malaysia woke up discovering his hair was cut by 50 cm when he was asleep in his dormitory while serving the Malaysian National Service Training Programme. In 2009, Resham Singh, a Punjabi student in Melbourne, Australia, was attacked by a group of teenagers who tried to remove his turban and cut his hair. In 2008, he was convicted by the jury of 'second-degree menacing as a hate crime, second-degree coercion as a hate crime, fourth-degree criminal possession of a weapon, and third-degree harassment,' and was sentenced to probation, community service, and completion of a tolerance program.

In 2007, an 18-year-old Pakistani, Umair Ahmed, forcibly cut the hair of a 15-year-old Sikh boy Harpal Vacher in a US school. Balbir Singh Sodhi, a Sikh living in Mesa, Arizona, was shot to death on September 16, 2001, when he was mistaken for a Muslim. Harassment Īfter the attacks of September 11, 2001, Sikhs in the West have been mistaken for Muslims and subjected to hate crimes. Reasons include simple convenience (avoiding the daily combing and tying), because their parents cut their hair and they decided to get their hair cut as well, and social pressure from the mainstream culture to adjust their appearance to fit the norm. It is estimated that half of India's Sikh men have abandoned the turban and cut their unshorn hair. In modern times the trend of short hair has encroached upon this tradition. The people are devout not cutting their hair is/has been an emblem of their goodwill. So important is Kesh that during the persecution of Sikhs under the Mughal Empire, followers were willing to face death rather than shave or cut their hair to disguise themselves. Kesh combined with the combing of hair using a kangha shows respect for God and all of his gifts. Without unshorn hair the other four are of no significance.]īy not cutting hair, Sikhs honour God's gift of hair. Steel bangle, big knife, shorts and a comb [These five letters of K are emblems of Sikhism. Kesh is a symbol of devotion to God, reminding Sikhs that they should obey the will of God.īhai Nand Lal, who was a well-respected poet in the court of the 10th Guru, Guru Gobind Singh, wrote in Persian:

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