Sikh groups see red over Pentagon's beard ban

Era of religious waivers is over, says Hegseth

- HARPREET BAJWA @ Chandigarh

RELIGIOUS and political Sikh bodies in Punjab have joined Sikh diaspora organisations in the US to criticise a new Pentagon directive rolling back religious and medical exemptions for facial hair in the American military. The decision directly impacts Sikh in the American armed forces.

Their response follows a memo the US Department of War memo issued after Secretary of War Pete Hegseth said last week, “If you want a beard, join special forces. If not, shave. We don’t have a military full of Nordic pagans,” he said, adding that the era of “rampant and ridiculous shaving profiles” — waivers granted for religious or medical reasons — was over.