Bill introduced to allow turbans in NYC

New York City became the first place in the US on Wednesday when it introduced two bills aimed to allow wearing of turbans or Muslim hijab in its services and put in place emergency measures to deal with racial crimes as happened after 9/11. Various ethnic, religious, immigrant and civil rights organisations had lobbied with city council members for introducing these bills to safeguard their rights. Councilman David Weprin, from Queens where Indians form a huge chunk of the immigrant population, is instrumental in the introduction of the two bills. He met with representatives from various organizations at City Hall before these legislation were introduced in City Council. According to a statement by the New York-based Sikh Coalition, the first bill would ensure that Sikhs and Muslims working in New York City agencies will never again be forced to choose between their jobs and their turbans or head coverings. "This is the choice that the New York Police Department (NYPD) put before two traffic enforcement agents in 2001 when it fired them for refusing to remove their turbans. Just last year, another city agency, the Metropolitan Transit Authority (MTA), told Sat Hari Singh he would be removed from his job if he did not stop wearing his turban. This bill would not only prevent such incidents from happening in the future, but it would also send a strong message discouraging religious discrimination by private employers. [more]