Obama To Skip Golden Temple Appearance To Avoid Appearing Muslim?

President Obama may be skipping a trip to a prominent Sikh holy site in India due to worries that wearing the appropriate headgear may reinforce incorrect rumors that he is in fact a Muslim, rather than a Christian.

The New York Times reported Tuesday that plans to visit one of India's most famous attractions had been nixed after it became apparent that the president would be required to cover his head with either a traditional Sikh turban or a skull cap like some Muslims wear. Requests to wear an altered baseball cap were not initially approved.

"We have no problems if he wears a skull cap, the kind that Muslims wear to the mosque -- or any other cap that is modified to something similar," Giani Gurbachan Singh, head priest of the Golden Temple, told The Indian Express. "But we don't allow baseball caps or Army hats."

But that position is coming into question today, as different Sikh groups are pressing the president not to cancel his appearance simply over an issue of the proper attire.

"I am calling an emergency meeting with the other Executive Body members. We want to make it clear that he may wear anything to cover the head. It may be an appropriate cap also," Jathedar Avtar Singh Makkar, president of the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee, the chief representative body of the Sikhs, told The Indian Express Wednesday.

"We have no objection to his wearing a cap. He is our revered guests and we are already in the process of welcoming him with full honours," a personal staff member of the body told the Express.

According to The Indian Express, many see Obama's visit as a great opportunity to bring visibility to a distinct religion that has often been lumped in with Islam, and don't want the president's worries about being seen as a Muslim at a Sikh holy site to deny this event:

Congress MLA Kewal Dhillon said in a statement that the US President's proposed visit was historic as it would give recognition and respect to the entire Sikh community living in India and across the world. Moreover, it would help clear the confusion over the various cases of mistaken identity whereby so many Sikhs living in the USA have been victims of brutalities in the wake of the 9/11 terrorist attacks. He said that it would be "truly a huge loss to the entire Sikh community if the visit gets called off" and urged the SGPC to find a solution to the problem as soon as possible to ensure that the visit is not cancelled.

Obama has repeatedly had to defend himself after trips abroad and meetings with foreign dignitaries. The president took fire from certain media sources for his conduct in receiving Saudi King Abdullah, as well as Japanese Emperor Akihito.

A recent poll also showed that nearly one in five Americans believe that Obama is a Muslim.

Comments

[Tina1]

08:03 PM on 10/27/2010

Kamal Nath, India's Minister for Transportation and Roadways, is being sued in an historic lawsuit in New York at the U.S. District Court for the Southern District, for leading the the Indian army in the genocide of the Sikhs at the Golden Temple in 1984.This is, of course, a great embarrassment for the Indian Government so Indian lobbyists are pushing to keep Obama from appearing at the Golden Temple in an effort to keep the lawsuit from being spotlighted.

[schnauzergirl]

11:06 AM on 10/21/2010

I don't know which is more sad- The fact that so many Americans can't tell the difference between mislim and sihk or that they stillthink Obama is a muslim. I bet if he attended a jewish wedding and was photographed wearing the little white kippah (yarmulke) the "proof Obama is a muslim" headline would be everywhere

[Gumby69]

10:07 AM on 10/21/2010

Man what is up with the blind willfull ignorance of your country.That people would think this. I'm thankful I live in Canada.

[vulpecula762mm]

10:38 AM on 10/21/2010

Your last leader was no prize there either buddy.

[iuriggs6]

10:02 AM on 10/21/2010

My next door neighbor told me about Obamas trip yesterday and he was so proud. He was born in Agra and grew up in the Punjab province and has visited the golden palace many times. Beautiful pictures of it with he and his family are in his living room. I almost don't have the heart to tell him the trip might be cancelled because of ignorance. By the way, I am a conservative and this makes me sick.....

[syllepsis]

03:13 PM on 10/21/2010

Makes me sick too. Obama is showing an appalling lack of character, and is feeding the bigotry he ostensibly repudiates.

[HeartT]

09:58 AM on 10/21/2010

He's not going not to prevent appearing Muslim, but to prevent the media firestorm that will engulf the airwaves trying to cast him as Muslim if he goes. I don't know about the president, but I watch the news and if he goes, FOX will have 24/7 coverage of "is or isn't he" and the rest of the stations will show the same footage saying that he isn't, at pretending to say that he isn't. The result will be America inuadated with "the president is Muslim" stories from all angles and the Republicans will cheat their way to victory. We know the game. Stay away Mr. President. These people will turn the truth into a noose.

[Deltalk]

09:47 AM on 10/21/2010

Some numbers to chew on

From the AP-GfK Poll, October, 2010

Favorable/ Unfavorabl e

52/48 - Barack Obama

49/50 - Sarah Palin

48/51 - Democrat Party

45/54 - Republican Party

42/37 - Tea Party Movement

35/63 - Nancy Pelosi

29/54 - Harry Reid

Likely Voters

MoE +/- 3.3 percent

October 13-18, 2010

Gov. Palin's favorables have improved by 5 percent over last month's AP-GfK Poll, and her unfavorables have improved by 8 percent. The difference between her numbers and Obama's are within the poll's margin of sampling error (MoE). So much for the "she's unelectable" meme being pushed by the left and its trained media hounds...

Exit question: Will Allahpundit, who has posted every poll which has portrayed Gov. Palin in the worst possible light on Hot Air, post this one? Don't bet the farm on it.

[Cougar29]

07:46 AM on 10/21/2010

I will not vote for O in 2012!! Still in both wars! Gitmo still open! Gold man running Treasury! Patriot Act NOT repealed! Rendition alive and well! Net an yahoo in charge of State Dept! Tax cuts for rich extended! Unemployment 11-19%! Americans kicked out of their homes!!! He is a tool of Wall Street!!!

You promised us Mr. President to STOP this!

[schnauzergirl]

11:08 AM on 10/21/2010

So instead you are going to vote for the party that started all that? Talk about cutting off your nose to spite your face.

[Opinionated1111]

07:01 AM on 10/21/2010

Why doesn't he just visit it from the outside - like most eveyone else does??? Why does such a 'big deal' have to be made about EVERYTHING???????????????

[benjamin harrison]

09:19 AM on 10/21/2010

not to appear Muslim...hmmm

[1differentdrummer]

06:01 AM on 10/21/2010

Makes sense to me.

[Shelley Fish Palmer]

03:16 AM on 10/21/2010

I can't decide whether I'm more concerned about the rampant ignorance of people who think that Islam and Sikhism are the same thing or why it is still considered a bad thing to be an American Muslim. No... I don't think that president is a Muslim. In fact I think that he uses religion as a means to further himself politically. That is neither here nor there... my point is that "Muslim" is still synonymous with "scurry." I say (with Charlie Brown-like tone) "good grief."

[AndrewInToronto]

10:03 AM on 10/21/2010

Seconded for most. I'm looking at the picture when I first open article and see Amritsar and think, "Why would anyone think he is Muslim? " This is absolutely absurd, to me, for both the reasons you mentioned: his faith doesn't matter, whatever it is; and this is a Sikh temple. Has it come to concern about this level of ignorance about attires of modesty that this become a sort of policy?

[schnauzergirl]

11:18 AM on 10/21/2010

Remeber all the stories in the news about sihks were being yelled at and threatened becasue people thought they were muslims (because of their turbans)?

I was in a gas station the other day and the employee behind the counter was an older indian man win a very smartly wrapped turban. The patron infront of me handed him a $20 or someting, then after the employee had wrung up the @20 and was about to give out the change this guy tossed a bunch of extra change on the counter to add in. the clerk took a few moments to count it and them work out the new correct change in his head (since the register was already open), The customer got impatient and actual said "What they don't teach simple math in your fancy islam schools?" The clerk just stared at him. I wanted to say something, but the guy had left before I was able to pull my jaw up off the floor.

This was not in some rural hick station, this gentleman was wearing a nice suit and was in an uper-middle class business area of northern VA

[Richard Pearce banned]

12:19 PM on 10/24/2010

Richard Pearce was banned a week ago, seems HuffPo moderators won't tell me why, or reverse it, so fanning my friends today.

[youvebinfarteen]

03:09 AM on 10/21/2010

He could wear a Yankee cap.

[whitegayrepublican]

03:06 AM on 10/21/2010

Colored folks in the White House and them done got the world turned upside down. So much for the open diversity training and picturesque commercials touting America's racially diverse culture and society. What a load of Crock.

Only now the trailer park dwellers are seeking to migrate prior to storm season to the land of the sophisticated and intelligent to join us all in urban more humane centers of the country.

[goodog]

01:54 AM on 10/21/2010

If you read the article critically, there's actually no quote from anybody saying that they're skipping the trip over headgear.

While I wouldn't be surprised or blame the administration if this were the case, the article is also very careful not to quote anyone, not even anonymously, no one making the claim that the writer is making.

This is a journalistic travesty coming from the hufnpuf, who has, ever since the healthcare debate began, made very loose claims aiming to put words in the administration's mouth.

[mixpiklix]

12:53 AM on 10/21/2010

He should go to the mosque, he won't change the minds of those folks who think he's a muslim and he won't add any new people to that list of crazies.. It would help with the muslim vote i'm sure

[Shelley Fish Palmer]

04:01 PM on 10/21/2010

It's not a mosque. It's a Sikh temple. They are two completely different religions.

[magnoliabird]

12:22 AM on 10/21/2010

Now you know this is a stretch. This reporter is creating a stir where there is none. Obama is traveling and focused on November for the Party. And this reporter decides on his own to create some B.S. like this because he things he can create a stir on both sides. What B.S.