New Delhi, February 18
Hundreds of Sikh schoolchildren will march here during next week’s visit of President Jacques Chirac in protest against a ban on wearing turbans in French state schools, according to the Shiromani Akali Dal Panthak (Jathedar Santokh Singh).
Mr Chirac is due to arrive in New Delhi tomorrow and will meet Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, on
Monday.
“About 400-500 children will walk to the French Embassy to give a memorandum to President Chirac, asking him to revoke the ban,” Mr Manjit Singh, president of the Shiromani Akali Dal Panthak said in a statement issued here today.
The protest march will be peaceful. “Our intention is to tell the French President that our identity is linked to the turban and it should not
be taken away from us,” he added.
