Kiwi club’s turban ban decision “a wake-up call” for Sikhs in the country: NZSC
By ANITuesday, June 15, 2010
AUCKLAND - New Zealand’s Cosmopolitan Clubs have said that they will not criticise a Manurewa club’s decision to maintain a ban on wearing ‘turbans’ in its bar despite the New Zealand Sikh Council calling it “a wake-up call” for Sikhs in the country.
Auckland’s Manurewa Cosmopolitan Club held a poll during its annual meeting on Sunday, in which about 75 percent members said that they wanted to maintain its policy forbidding the headwear.
The vote was held after Karnail Singh was barred from entering the club in November last year for not removing his turban.
Otahuhu Cosmopolitan Club manager Lynne Smith said that her club had no hard and fast rules, but it was sensitive to all cultures and turbans were not a problem.
She further said that she would not criticise the Manurewa club’s ban, as it was their “constitutional choice”, The New Zealand Herald reports.
Mangere Cosmopolitan Club Secretary Manager, Aaron Kirby, said that his club welcomes all cultures, but would not publicly comment on Manurewa’s ban.
Meanwhile, New Zealand Human Rights Commission (HRC) held a mediation meeting between New Zealand Sikh Council (NZSC) and the Manurewa Cosmopolitan Club.
After the meeting, HRC Commissioner Joris De Bres said that the final decision “seems like a blast from the past … I’m deeply disappointed”, while NZSC President Bachan Singh Nihalgarh said the decision was “a wake-up call” for Sikhs in the country.
The HRC, which had acted as a mediator shortly after Karnail was first barred, has said that it is willing to help and resolve the differences.
HRC spokeswoman Kat Ryan said it would be in touch with both parties to see if it could assist any further now that the club had decided not to change its rules.
“If either one of the parties are not satisfied they can apply to the director of the office of Human Rights proceedings. If it is accepted by the director it can the taken before the Human Rights Review Tribunal,” Ryan said. (ANI)
