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With 2 Sikhs headed to Marine boot camp, legal battle is ongoing – By Irene Loewenson (Military Times) / Jan 7, 2023
Even as two Sikh men are set to ship out to Marine boot camp with their articles of faith, the Marine Corps’ rules limiting turbans, beards and other Sikh religious symbols will continue to be put to the test in 2023.
A panel of judges for the Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit on Dec. 23, 2022, issued a preliminary injunction that will allow Jaskirat Singh and Milaap Singh Chahal to become Marine recruits without giving up their articles of faith.
The two men, along with Aekash Singh, had sued Defense Department officials in April 2022, arguing that rules barring them from wearing long hair, turbans and beards during boot camp violated their rights to religious liberty.
Jaskirat Singh and Milaap Singh Chahal plan to ship off to boot camp “as soon as their personal circumstances allow,” according to Amrith Kaur Aakre, legal director of the Sikh Coalition, one of the organizations representing the plaintiffs.
