Sikh men removed turbans to save Hindu youths drowning in canal

Setting aside religious code, two young Sikh men saved a group of drowning Hindu youths from drowning in Punjab, India, on Sunday. The youths, who had come for the immersion of Ganesha idols at Sular Ghat, had got into the water.



But suddenly, as a gush of water came, four of them lost their footing and were washed away. Inderpal Singh, who was sitting on embankment of the canal watching the immersion, promptly took off his turban and tossed one end of it at the youths and pulled them in.





"I had no time to think and quickly removed by turban and threw at the drowning boys and pulled them in," Inderpal said. On the other bank, Kanwaljit Singh followed suit. "My immediate reaction was to jump into the canal and try to save them. But I cannot swim.

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"So I removed my turban and used it to save the boys," he said. The youths praised their rescuers. "He first tried to pull us out with a wire lying on the embankment. But it broke, and he then used his turban," said one of them. Under the tenets of Sikhism, one can remove the turban only at home, during a bath.