Shiromani Akali Dal President Sukhbir Badal on October 4, 2025, urged India’s External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar to intervene against the US military’s recent ban on beards for Sikhs, following US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth’s decree that beards would be banned except in elite special forces. This overturns the 2010 accommodation that allowed Sikh soldiers to maintain their religious attire, integral to Sikh identity. While this has understandably sparked global Sikh outrage over religious discrimination, from an Indian viewpoint, expecting intervention in US military policy—a sovereign country’s internal rule—is rather futile. One might say it’s a classic case of washing internal faith issues onto the diplomatic stage and hoping for miracles. Critics note that Badal’s call serves more as a public relations gesture than a realistic diplomatic endeavor. The ban, widely condemned among Sikh circles, underscores the ongoing challenge minorities face in reconciling religious freedom with military regulations abroad. The rule is set to be enforced fully within 90 days of its announcement in late September.