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TRACY-

Congressman Jeff Denham is helping Sikh activists in their quest to openly serve in the military.

Sikh leaders say a presumptive ban currently prevents Sikhs from serving in traditional attire, including turbans and beards.

“We have a very large Sikh population here. It’s the beginning of the holy season. I think it’s important to talk about some of the things congress is addressing,” Denham said.

Denham attended a Sikh service in Tracy on Sunday, both as a Congressman interacting with his community, and as a military veteran.

“I want you to know there is an open door policy with any concerns within the community. I also served in the military for 16 years,” Denham said.

Denham, along with several other political leaders, recently signed a letter to the Department of Defense, asking for changes to the military’s appearance policy, so that Sikhs may serve in their traditional attire.

“It started after 9/11 with media coverage. When people, you know, hear the word terrorist, they assume that’s someone with a turban and a beard. That’s far from the truth,” Sim Singh said.

Singh and his associate, Goldie Pabla, are working on a campaign to educate the public about Sikhism. They say the three main principles of Sikhism are to have faith in one god, to serve their community, and to help people.

“But people’s opinions of Sikhism are completely opposite,” Pabla said.

“A lot of people have decided, hey, we’re not going to part ways with our religion. We’d rather keep that. Even if that is, does take away from our dream of joining the military,” Singh said.

Singh and Pabla say allowing Sikhs to openly serve in the military will allow them to fight for their country instead of just fighting stereotypes.

“To have the Sikh population serve in the military today will essentially stymie a lot of these bullying a lot of discrimination we do face because in the eyes of the public, now, a Sikh person wouldn’t be viewed as a terrorist person, but a hero. Oh this is a soldier, fighting for us,” Singh said.

Pabla is also studying bullying against Sikh children in local schools. She says 6 out of 10 local children are bullied for wearing their turbans in class. She says she wants people to know that a turban is not a symbol for terrorism.

“We’re here to break that misconception and let the community know that we as sikhs are here to help,” Pabla said.