Criticism and praise for Sikh "blasphemous hero" who uses turban to save dog
Sarwan Singh, 28, unwound the ritual headdress to use it as a rope and pull the drowning animal out of the water. A video of the scene goes viral and unleashes a debate in the country, divided between those who believe him a good person and those who see him as a "traitor" of religious rules. The video of the rescue.
Delhi (AsiaNews) - A video that portrays a young Sikh removing his turban to save a drowning dog has gone viral on the internet, where the comments are divided between those who considered him a hero and those who see him as a blasphemer. Sarwan Singh, 28, said he "knew well" what he was doing: "I know that the turban is sacred, but at that moment the only important thing was to save the animal's life."
Singh told an Indian newspaper, he was driving "when I saw a group of men enter the channel. So I stopped the car and went down to see what was happening. I was shocked to see that a dog was drowning and no one was helping him. "
When he took off his turban, the people around him were shocked: they believed it was a sacrilegious act. The man is in fact a follower of Sikhism, an ancient doctrine which enables the faithful to remove their turbans only at home or while bathing. After having unraveled it he asked the people on the bank to hold on to it while he tried to pull he dog out: "He was scared, so we took care of him for a while, giving him something to eat. Then he went on his way. "
The gesture, filmed by a mobile phone, was posted online in no time unleashing a welter of comments. Most were positive, however, especially from non-Indians: PETA, a well-known animal rights association in the United States, has named him "hero of the month." But in comments on social networks, many Sikhs criticize the gesture: "The turban is sacred, and he was wrong. That’s it".
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