ABSTRACT
Sikhs may be found in various parts of the world, and as such they are amenable to the global reconsideration of the assimilation/integration debate that was provoked by September 2011. This chapter looks at how some of the relatively smaller players on the world stage have responded. Generally, it appears that several Western nations have empathized with the French position, and accordingly have threatened the wearing of religious articles of faith. To be sure, not all Western nations have responded to the terrorist activity and subsequent concern for the spread of fundamentalist Islam by clamping down on visible religious identities. In 2007, Italy instituted a Charter of Values, Citizenship and Immigration in response to the 'growing debate in Europe over integration standards for Muslim minorities'. The charter is a non-binding document asserting that immigrants should leave behind certain non-Italian practices, learn and speak the Italian language, and know 'the essential elements of the national history and culture'.
