Sikhs Turn To Mens Fashion Shows And Beauty Pageants To Promote Turbans

You may call fashion your religion, but for some, religion really is fashion. Take the Sikhs, who wear turbans as a sign of commitment to their religion. Yet, more and more, youths are abandoning the headgear as well as facial hair, causing upset community members to react by promoting turbans as a fashion item. Reports the Calcutta Telegraph: “Sikh community leaders…are planning turban-tying contests and fashion shows to convey the message the turbaned look is ‘cool’.” Leaders have also called for fashion rags: “We need a Sikh fashion magazine to promote uncut hair, the beard and the turban as cool and clean. We should use persons like Manmohan Singh as role models,’’ said one representative. But that might prove hard to sway some kids like a Delhi teen named Rocky Singh who believes that, “faith is deeper than a turban.” Increasingly, religious fashion has sparked controversy, especially in France where President Sarkosy recently stated that burqas are “not welcome in France,” and his predecessor, Chirac, outlawed “religious symbols” in school, that targeted Islamic head scarves. [Telegraphindia.com]