July 30, 2008	Wednesday	Rajab 26, 1429

LONDON, July 29: A Sikh teenager who was excluded from class for refusing to remove a religious bracelet at school won her discrimination claim on Tuesday in Britain’s High Court.

The court ruled the school failed to promote equality when they banned 14-year-old Sarika Singh from class last year when she refused to remove her Kara bracelet — a thin steel bangle worn by observant Sikhs. The Aberdare Girls’ School in south Wales argued the bracelet broke its policy allowing no jewellery.

“I’m so happy to know that no one else will go through what me and my family have gone through,” Singh said in a statement she read outside the court.

When she refused to remove her bracelet, Singh was taught in isolation from her fellow classmates for two months before being suspended in November. She lost an appeal filed with the school’s governing body asking for an exception to the school’s jewellery policy.

Justice Stephen Silber said in his ruling that the Kara bracelet is universally accepted by Sikhs as an important part of their religious observance. The ruling allows Singh to return to Aberdare in September and wear the bracelet in class.

The Kara bracelet is one of the five Ks — symbols that remind observant Sikhs of their devotion to the Guru. The Kara is worn as a reminder to not do anything the Guru would disapprove of.

“Should Sarika wish to return to school in September, in accordance with the judgment, she will be offered help and support to reintegrate her into the normal day-to-day life of the school,” a statement from the school said. Aberdare is 40 kilometres northwest of the Welsh capital, Cardiff.

The case comes a year after a British teen lost a legal challenge over a school ban on wearing a chastity ring to class.

Sixteen-year-old Lydia Playfoot argued it was “unlawful interference” with her right to express her Christian faith, but Britain’s High Court supported the school’s contention that the ring was not an integral part of the Christian faith.—AP