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European Parliament launches voice
for Sikh causes
Tejinder Singh
 BRUSSELS: On 10
November, Liz Lynne, British member of European Parliament today
launched the All- Party Sikh Interest Group in the European
Parliament amidst controversy of whether to allow Kirpan-wearing
Sikhs access to the main parliament building.
In a press
statement, the European Parliamentarian said, "This new
Parliamentary group is intended to look in particular at how Sikhs
are treated within
Europe.
Unfortunately it would seem that we do not have to go very far to
find examples of the discrimination that many Sikh's face
everyday."
MEP Lynne, who
is also a member of the European Parliament's Sub-Committee on Human
Rights said, "I am deeply disappointed that the European
Parliamentary authorities refuse to recognise the right of Sikh
people to wear the Kirpan. The Kirpan is not a weapon, it is a
religious symbol. This is not a question of security but one of
religious freedom."
Citing the case
of United
Kingdom, one of the 27 member states of the European Union, MEP
said, "In the UK the right to wear the Kirpan is enshrined in law.
This includes allowing Sikh's wearing the Kirpan to enter the
Palace
of
Westminster.
Therefore I do not see why the rules should be different in the
European Parliament."
MEP Lynne, whose
initiative it was to launch the new interest group lamented that
they had hoped to hold the first meeting within the parliament but
parliamentary authorities refused to allow Sikh members entry,
adding, "I very much hope that now we have this all party interest
group on Sikh issues that a number of problems facing this community
across the EU can be addressed."
This is the
third time that leading Sikhs wearing Kirpan have been denied entry
to the Parliament.
Tejinder Singh
is the editor of New
Europe-the
European Weekly and member of the International Press Association.
World Sikh News is pleased to announce that Tejinder Singh’s
reportage from Brussels will regularly appear in the World Sikh
News.
12 November
2008
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