Sardar Bahadur Singh of Vernon, Conn; who perhaps may be the only turbaned bus driver in North America.
Bahadur Singh who hails from the Ropar Dist. of Punjab immigrated initially to Canada and then to the United States of ‘America. He was employed as a Section Officer in the Punjab P.W.D. Unable to locate a suitable employment in commensurate with his education, training and experience he sought job as a bus driver in Canada and in so doing he was forced to remove his turban, hair and beard. In the meantime he immigrated to the United States and here again he took the job of driving the Connecticut transit bus and also made his home in Vernon, Conn. There he met Amarjit Singh Buttar and expressed his desire of growing his beard, hair and also donning a turban in accordance with the traditions of the Sikh religion.
Amarjit Singh Buttar through his contacts with the Democratic Party approached the appropriate people in the Connecticut transit and informed them that in exercising his constitutional right of Freedom of Religion, he wants to wear a turban, The department has granted S. Bahadur Singh’s request. A problem which had the potential of a legal battle was amicably solved with the blessing of Akal Purakh.
Article extracted from this publication >> January 24, 1986
