Three Sikh students were expelled from school for refusing to remove their turbans. This is the first time Sikhs were forced out under a new law banning conspicuous religious signs and apparel in the classroom, their lawyer said.Officials of Louise Michel High School in Bobigny, northeast of Paris, yesterday decided to expel the three teenagers at disciplinary hearings ordered by a court, said lawyer Felix De Belloy.The ruling was the latest twist in France’s effort to apply a new law banning religious symbols at public schools. The ban, which includes Islamic head scarves, Jewish skullcaps and large Christian crosses, took effect at the start of the school year. Head covering is also subject to the ban. The boys had been suspended since September 23 pending the disciplinary hearings yesterday.A court last month ordered the hearings to decide the fate of the boys, who had earlier been confined to classes in a cafeteria since the start of the school year. Sikhs asked the court to force school officials to take action by either accepting or expelling the boys.The students had made a concession by accepting to wear a keski, a smaller version of the full turban, but the panel did not accept that offer, the lawyer said. The lawyer for the boys said he would appeal against the decision. ‘‘I have the feeling that the decision had already been taken,’’ Belloy, lawyer for the 14, 17 and 18-year-old boys told reporters. — PTI
