Students and staff at Lethbridge College had an opportunity to learn about turbans and the Sikh religion on Wednesday.
The day marked International Turban Day, which was started in 2004 to raise awareness of the turban and its significance, according to Gurpreet Singh, a research assistant at the college who helped organize the event. He said a lot of people stopped in the college’s Centre Core area to learn how to tie a turban and see
how it feels to wear one.
“I was not expecting that — I was thinking maybe it would be a fair where people just go pass by,” he said. Gurpreet said the turban serves multiple purposes for Sikh people. It is a way to cover their heads — he said it is considered disrespectful for Sikhs to be in front of elders bare-headed.
“This is not like a baseball hat cap or something like that where you just put it on and take it off. You have to wear it everyday,” Gurpreet said. He added It also helps to keep hair tidy and is an important part of Sikh identity.”
Sukhpreet Singh, a general arts and science student, said the event felt special, “like a kind of respect to our [Sikh] community.” “Our religion is different but we must not be ignored and we must not be discriminated. We must not be disliked. We have a different religion that’s very unique, that’s very good I must say.”
He said he would like to encourage people to read and learn about the Sikh religion.