Sikh boy denied opportunity to get license for bike

A Sikh man, Mandeep Singh has approached the Equal Opportunity Commission for seeking justice. Singh stated that last week, he was to take his bike test but could not do so because he was told by the Department of Planning and Infrastructure (DPI) in City West to remove his turban and get a helmet instead.

Singh said that he had paid the required fee to the department.

As per Sikhism, Sikhs should not cut their hair and are required to wear a turban.

Meanwhile, the website of the State Government Office of Multicultural Interests clearly mentions the fact that as helmet interferes with the turban, the crown of spirituality, hence, Sikhs do not wear it over their turbans.

The website states, “They apply for, and are routinely given, permission to avoid wearing a helmet from the WA Police Service. The head or turban is sacred. A Sikh’s head or turban should never be touched or insulted in any way.”

When Mandeep Singh revealed to the DPI that people were earlier exempted from wearing a helmet, they said that now, it was compulsory.