President Obama Cancels Sikh Temple Visit in India Over Head Covering Issue?

Asia-India trip marred by what may be called 'scarf-gate'

At the Golden Temple in India, spiritual center for the Sikh religion, visitors must enter wearing a head covering such as a scarf. Plans for a presidential visit to the site derailed over concerns that it could make the president look like a Muslim. Modified hats or caps, as suggested by staff members are not an acceptable substitute.

WASHINGTON, DC (Catholic Online) - When President Obama conducts his first visit to the nation of India next month, he has reportedly removed one event from his itinerary - a trip to the famed Golden Temple, the spiritual center for the Sikh religion and a major tourist attraction.

The president would be required to cover his head in order to enter the temple and there are fears that appearing with a head covering would fuel the "Obama is a Muslim" issue.

The decision has left the White House scrambling for better answers and left most political pundits scratching their heads. When Fox News asked for a final itinerary, they were told that there are far too many sites for the president to visit during his brief stay.

The plans for the temple visit hit the impasse recently over the question of how Obama would cover his head, which is a time-honored tradition of the religion. Most visitors purchase a scarf from a nearby vendor for the purpose.

A modified baseball cap, which was suggested by the presidential aides, was not a permissible substitute as the head is to be covered with a tied cloth, which carries spiritual significance. Temple officials did agree that he could wear a skull cap if desired.

While the Temple, located in the Indian state of Punjab, is tied to the Sikh religion, for India, it represents all of their faiths and is a symbol of religious diversity in the country. For a presidential visit, which is intended to strengthen relations between the two countries, the Golden Temple would be a perfect context for communicating this message.

Sikhs in India have expressed dismay over the decision, hoping that the visit would highlight that their religion and identity is completely separate from Islam.

A Sikh lawyer from New Delhi, H.S. Phoolka, told the New York Times that he was disappointed.

"We have worked so hard to establish in America that Sikhs have a very different identity than Muslims," Phoolka stated. "It is very unfortunate that even the White House is conveying the message that there is no difference between Muslims and Sikhs."

The Sikh religion began around the 15th century in the Punjab region in the north, which now consists of parts of Northern India and Pakistan. A wholly distinct religion from Hinduism and Islam, it contains some elements of both. In America, Sikhs are sometimes confused with Muslims. The men do not cut their hair and wear a turban to cover their heads in public.

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Randy Sly is the Associate Editor of Catholic Online and the CEO/Associate Publisher for the Northern Virginia Local Edition of Catholic Online (http://virginia.catholic.org). He is a former Archbishop of the Charismatic Episcopal Church who laid aside that ministry to enter into the full communion of the Catholic Church.

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