Aftab Ahmad may lose his job if he doesn't shave his beard. He joined the Air Force as corporal seven years ago when he was 17.
Three years ago, the Air Force permitted him to grow a beard but a month later, Aftab was told to shave it off as per air force regulations.
Another person Zubair too had a similar story. Both moved the Punjab and Haryana High Court and got a stay.
But now, the court has decided the case in favour of the Air Force.
''The honorable judge has given a reasoning that it is not essential for a Muslim to keep a beard but now the question is that the regulation say that a true Muslim, if wants to keep a beard he should be permitted to keep a beard,'' says Navkiran Singh, lawyer for Aftab and Zubair.
In 2003, the Air Force issued an instruction that said all Muslims who had beard at the time of recruitment and who joined the Force before the 1st of January 2002 can sport a beard. But there was a restriction on its length.
Elders in the Muslim community are not amused.
''Beard is must in Islam. Muslims should have beard without even to offer Nimaz,'' says Maulana Mohd Ajmal Khan, Imam, Jama Masjid, Chandigarh.
The two Air Force men are not giving up. They will continue their fight in the court. And if they fail to get any relief they say they are willing to sacrifice their job and not their beard.
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