The Sikh community is now apprehensive about the safety of their children attending national service training after a male trainee claimed yesterday that his hair was cut at a training camp in Penang.

According to Malaysian Gurdwara Council president Jagir Singh, parents wants guarantees from the authorities that their children will be safe.

NONE "There are a lot of SMSes going around asking parents not to send their children for such training until proper conditions exist," he said in a statement today.

Jagir was referring to the complaint by the trainee's parents in Ipoh yesterday, in which they detailed the incident.

Investigations by the Seri Impian camp in Sungai Bakap failed to produce up any information on the incident. The National Service Training Department headquarters in Putrajaya has since taken over the investigation.

'Take incident seriously '

Jagir urged the authorities to take the abuse of the Sikh teenager seriously and to carry out a thorough investigation, stressing that the cutting of hair could amount to assault under the Penal Code.

The cutting of hair by males in the Sikh religion is strictly prohibited as part of a practice known as kesh . Distraught by the incident, the trainee's father Surinderpal Singh, 47, and his wife do not want their son to continue the training.

Jagir expressed displeasure with National Service Training Department director-general Abdul Hadi Awang Kechil for treating the matter in a "trivial manner" and questioning the veracity of the allegation.

"Once a person cuts another person's hair, it can be easily taken away, leaving no evidence," he said, referring to a New Straits Times report today, quoting Abdul Hadi.

However, the Sikh temple council welcomed the announcement by Defence Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi that an in-depth probe would be carried out.

Jagir noted that while the national service scheme was designed to instill "good values and bring about solidarity", the attack on the teenager had raised doubts about its goals.

"We see here a serious gap in the way it is conducted," he added.