A visit by Barack Obama to the holiest of Sikh shrines may be cancelled because his advisers do not want the US President to wear a headscarf – fearing that it could fuel rumors that he is a secret Muslim.
The Australian -
Mr Obama had planned to see the temple when he travelled to India next month but his advisers are said to have ruled out the headscarf option, fearing that in some people’s minds, it would connect him with militant Islamism.Everyone who enters the Golden Temple in the northern Indian city of Amritsar must cover their head, and the US President's advisers fear it could fuel false rumours that he is a secret Muslim.
Most tourists cover their heads with a square piece of cloth, thousands of which are given away each day, while many Sikh men, and some women, wear elaborately folded turbans.
Mr Obama had planned to see the temple when he travelled to India next month but his advisers are said to have ruled out the headscarf option, fearing that in some people's minds, it would connect him with militant Islamism.
To avoid handing ammunition to a campaign of internet smears and talk radio innuendo by right-wing opponents, who suggest that the President is a Muslim who entered the White House by stealth, they are believed to have suggested that he should wear a baseball cap instead.
According to the temple's head priest, however, baseball caps are forbidden.
The guardians of the temple told The Times yesterday that there was little chance of an exception being made for the leader of the free world.
"We are not making any special preparations for him, since everybody is equal in the eyes of God. It is our tradition to cover head while you are in [the temple] and even he will have to cover his head," said S. Ram Singh, of the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee, which manages the upkeep of the temple complex.
Other prominent dignitaries have been allowed to enter the temple wearing their own choice of hat.
The Prince of Wales, for instance, wore a panama.
An emergency meeting of Indian politicians, temple officials and American diplomats would take place today, a spokesman for the committee said, to see if a compromise were possible.
Indian government sources said a final itinerary for Mr Obama was yet to be decided but suggested that a visit to Amritsar, which would take him to within an hour's drive of Pakistan, was unlikely for "logistical reasons".
The White House said yesterday that none of the President's stops had been formally announced. Aides did not rule out a visit to Amritsar but said that Mr Obama's programme was still being fine-tuned.
Mr Obama is expected to arrive in India on November 6 and visit Mumbai and Delhi during a four-day visit. It will be his first trip to a country that the US is seeking to cultivate as a regional counterweight to China and an anti-terrorism ally.
The Times
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/world/barack-obama-may-avoid-sikh-temple-on-asia-visit-over-fears-of-being-branded-a-muslim/story-e6frg6so-1225941032704But he wasn’t afraid of being branded a Muslim for donning real Muslim attire several times before…
