Ranjit Singh (82), who fought a legal battle against the French Government to keep intact his identity as a turbaned Sikh, has returned to India with pain in his heart. He rues that neither any Sikh outfit nor the Indian Government helped him in his two-decade-long fight
In March 1991, Ranjit Singh left for France in search for better prospects. Twenty-seven years on, he is back in India, having lost subsistence allowance for refusing to forego his identity as a turbaned Sikh.
Singh, who belongs to Ambala, paid the price for refusing to get photographed without the turban — for the ID to renew his status as a refugee. After fighting his battle with the French authorities for nearly two decades, Singh, 82, returned to India on Saturday to stay with his son in Pathankot.
Singh was first issued the ID in 1991 with the turban and it was due for renewal in 2001. For months, the French authorities asked him to get himself photographed, this time without the turban. However, Ranjit Singh refused to comply, and after a couple of years, the French government stopped his social security allowance.
Singh took on the French Government, filing a case in the Administrative Tribunal there. He even took the battle to the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR), which dismissed his petition. Singh later moved the United Nations against the French law banning the wearing of turban for ID photographs.
In June 12, 2012, the UN Human Rights Committee (UNHRC) concluded that France had violated the religious freedom of Ranjit Singh, then 76.
Even six years after the verdict, the French Government refused to extend social security allowance, causing him a lot of hardship, he claims.
“Even though I am over 80, I do not have medical insurance cover and was forced to pay all my bills. Recently, my medical expenses at a private hospital crossed over 2,200 euros. As I was unable to pay back instantly, my family offered to pay in monthly instalments of 80 euros,” he says.
Refusing to be a burden on his elder son, who lives in France, Singh decided to move to India to stay with his younger son.
“What is the use of luxury once you lose your religious identity? I am a born Sikh and will prefer to die with this identity. This is not a battle of ego but of religious faith, which is above all worldly pleasures,” said Singh.
Will he seek social security benefits from the Punjab Government? “Yes, I will visit Chandigarh next week to apply for my old-age pension and other allowances,” he adds.
NRI Iqbal Singh Bhatti, president of Paris-based human rights body Aurore Dawn, said the Indian Embassy had offered support to Singh in taking up his fight to international organisations. The NGO sent one of its members along on Singh’s journey back home.
