Sarkozy has an "open mind" on turban issue:PM

On Board PM's Special Aircraft, Oct 1 (PTI)Prime Minister
Manmohan Singh Wednesday said French President Nikolas Sarkozy
had an "open mind" in dealing with the controversy over the
turban issue in France that has unleashed protests in the Sikh
community.

Singh said he had raised the turban issue again with
Sarkozy during summit talks in Paris Tuesday.

"He(Sarkozy) said we have an open mind and we will look
at it. He said he had an open mind in the light of what I had
said. He said he will have a relook it," said the prime
minister while mentioning he had raised the sensitive issue
before too when Sarkozy came on a visit to New Delhi in
January this year.

The prime minister he told Sarkozy that the turban was a
very essential part of the Sikh way of life because the
members of the community are not allowed to cut their hair.

The President was told that turban is one way that
enables them to keep their hair bridled, he said.
"There are problems in France, when Sikh children go to
school they are discouraged from wearing their turbans. And
when seeking identity cards they are asked to remove their
turbans. These are some inconveniences that Sikhs face," the
prime minister told reporters.

Sarkozy at a joint news conference with Singh after the
ninth Indo-EU summit in Marseilles in France on Monday said
Sikhs are not specially targetted and the turban rules applied
to other minority communities as well in France.

Sarkozy at the same time said minority communities must
respect rules that need to be followed in France.