Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia - The family of the Malaysian Sikh teenager, who had complained that his hair was cropped off while he was asleep at a national service camp, is considering legal options to pursue the case.
The youth, who woke up to find his hair shorter by 60 cm, said he will resume his training today.
Basant Singh, 17, had left the Sungai Bakap camp in Penang after his controversial claim, which the National Service officials had denied.
The Sikh youth had claimed that his metre-long hair, which has not been cut since birth, was snipped while he and 10 other trainees were asleep in the dormitory.
NS department director-general Abdul Hadi Awang Kechil said that Basant would not be exempted from training but could switch to another camp or could defer his training in the light of the incident.
It is understood that the teen's family was seeking legal advice on the matter, Star newspaper said today.
Sikh Naujawan Sabha Malaysia president Amarjit Singh said the community viewed the "assault" on Basant seriously.
"Many Sikhs are angry with the assault and are asking the status of the police probe," he said yesterday.
Sikhs, he said, were also concerned with the increasing number of incidents involving Sikh schoolchildren being asked to trim their hair, shave their beard or moustache or remove their steel bangle (called kara, another requirement under Sikhism), the paper said.
Khalsa Diwan Malaysia president Santokh Singh said many headmasters and teachers had claimed ignorance when told that Sikhs were not allowed to cut, trim or shave hair from any part of their body.
Citing a recent example, he said a middle school student was ordered to shave his beard and moustache in early January, although his parents had written to the headmaster on the matter.
"The principal rejected this and maintained that the boy should shave," he said.
He said it was resolved by the Perak Education Department, which said it was wrong for the headmaster and school to issue the directive, the paper quoted Santokh Singh as saying.