The Sikh Turban: Post-911 Challenges to This Article of Faith

Moreover, on March 22, 2006, the House of Lords ruled that a Muslim girl’s “right to
manifest her belief in practice or observance” was not infringed when her high school
excluded her for wearing a jilbab, or a long shapeless black gown, instead of the school’s
uniform. 279 The lords reasoned, in part, that “there were three schools in the area at which
the wearing of the jilbab was permitted . . . . There is, however, no evidence to show that
there was any real difficulty in her attending one or other of these schools[.]” 280
To be sure, not all Western nations have responded to the terrorist activity and
subsequent concern for the spread of fundamentalist Islam by clamping down on the
wearing of articles of faith. For example, in 2005, the Australian government rejected a
proposal “to ban Muslim girls from wearing traditional headscarves in state schools.” 281
In discussing why he disliked the proposal, the Prime Minister stated, “If you ban a
headscarf you might, for consistency’s sake, have to ban a . . . turban,” 282 which the
Prime Minister apparently was not willing to do. Moreover, an official in opposition to
the proposal said, “We’re at war with terror, not young girls wearing scarves or (people
wearing) crucifixes or skull caps.” 283
Canada traditionally has been lenient towards minority groups. Former Prime
Minister Pierre Trudeau, for example, instituted a policy of multiculturalism that sought
to assist members of all cultural groups to overcome cultural barriers, promote encounters
between different groups, and support all of Canada’s cultures. 284 Canada’s commitment
to multiculturalism has been hotly debated and opposed since the nation’s inception.
Opponents to the policy feel that it leads to the erosion of a unified Canadian identity. 285
279 R v. Headteacher and Governors of Denbigh High School, (2006) UKHL 15,
available at
http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/ld200506/ldjudgmt/jd060322/begum-4.htm.
280 Id.
281 Brendan Nicholson, PM rejects headscarves ban, THE AGE, Aug. 30, 2005, available
at http://www.theage.com.au/news/national/pm-rejects-headscarvesban/2005/08/29/1125302511538.html.
282 Id.
283 Id.
284 See A. Wayne MacKay & M. Chantal Richard, Multiculturalism: Who Needs It?, 8
EDUC. & L.J. 265, 282 (1998).
285 Id. at 270 (pointing out that multiculturalism cannot be blamed for everything, since
these groups would be demanding certain rights whether or not an official governmental
policy on the issue had been articulated).
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