According to Times of India “ Although the Austrian govt officially recognises Sikhism, the religion is yet to receive comprehensive legal protection.
Challenges remain in securing full recognition in the judicial system for Sikhs, particularly holding persons accountable for sacrilege issues. This is because there is a need for Sikhs to make up at least 2% of the total population of Austria for their faith to get judicial protection. The issue came up after an incident of violation of maryada (Sikh code of religious conduct) during the parkash (installation) of Guru Granth Sahib by a local Sikh following which Sikh Gemeinde Austria (an Austrian Sikh body) intervened, but the person didn’t listen to them and instead took the issue to court, Surinder Singh Parmar – a member of the Austrian Sikh community – said on Sunday. “Without judicial recognition, there is little chance of holding persons guilty of sacrilege through legal means,” said Parmar.Parmar, who has been living in Vienna for four decades, said the issue was common across European countries where the Sikh population was less than 2%. “Sikhism has partial recognition, but once we obtain protection under the judicial system, the community will benefit significantly in terms of practising and promoting Sikhism,” he said.Following the official recognition granted to Sikhism by Austria in the past, Sikhs living in the country are now able to use “Singh” and “Kaur” after their forenames, list Sikhism as their religion, and register themselves as Sikhs. Prior to the recognition, they used to write Sikh and Kaur in the ‘extra name’ column in govt forms.At present, there are seven gurdwaras in Austria – three in Vienna and one each in Salzburg, Klagenfurt, Graz, and Linz. Parmar said while Sikhs received various forms of support from the Austrian govt for practising religion and organising ceremonies like nagar kirtans, judicial recognition will allow Punjabi teachers in schools and study of the religion.
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