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California Governor Vetoes
Kirpan Bill
WSN Bureau
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The Bill's earlier passage through the Assembly had raised hopes
and reiterated Sikhs' faith in California's
law makers' determination to sensitize officers about Sikh kirpan.
The latest step only underlines the need for the community to build
its political muscle even further. |
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SACRAMENTO: In a
surprise blow to the Sikh community, California Governor Arnold
Schwarzenegger has vetoed a bill that would have made it mandatory
for law enforcement officers to be educated about Sikh kirpans.
The Governor’s
decision came as a shock to dozens of organizations, individuals and
lawmakers who supported the bill.
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Unfazed Furutani
determined to re-introduce Bill
LOS ANGELES:
In a latest development, Assembly member Warren Furutani who had
originally moved the AB 504 Bill has said he remains committed
to the cause and will re-introduce the bill "at the earliest."
"I am committed to carrying this legislation again until this or
any other governor signs it. I urge the Sikh community to stand
with me as we continue this fight," Furutani said.
Earlier,
Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, while vetoeing the Bill, had
said: "It is the policy and practice of the commission to
periodically review and update existing course curricula. If the
commission determines that training on the kirpan is warranted,
it can create a programme without this measure." |
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The veto that
came Sunday night was particularly surprising given the unanimous,
bipartisan votes in favor of the bill through both houses of the
legislature (77-0 and 36-0 in the Assembly and Senate respectively).
“This loss for
the Sikh community is a reminder of our serious lack of political
clout in this state. After months of hard work and 100% support from
our lawmakers, the Sikh voice was still not strong enough to
overcome the whim of one man. We have been here for over 100 years.
We need to learn to exercise our political muscle. It’s a shame that
we haven’t been able to get even a basic education bill passed,”
said Prabhjot Singh, the Sikh Coalition Board Chairman.
The Bill
AB 504 was
introduced in February 2009 by Assembly member Warren Furutani
(D-Long Beach) to use education to help stem the arrests of Sikhs
for carrying their kirpans in California. Over the last few years,
there has been an increase in the arrests of Sikhs nationwide for
carrying kirpans. Police mistakenly believe them to be in violation
of concealed weapons laws. Such arrests violate Sikhs' rights, waste
taxpayer money, and have a traumatic effect on the person arrested.
AB 504 was the
first serious and concerted attempt to change this. Though the bill
did not touch on the legality of the kirpan, it asked that police
officers be trained about who Sikhs are and learn about the
significance of the kirpan, in the hope that religious understanding
would decrease arrests. While some police and sheriff’s departments
have recognized the need for this type of training and have already
been conducting it on an ad hoc basis, this law would have
standardized and mandated the process state-wide. The bill would
have been the first law of its kind.
What Happened?
 The Governor
vetoed the bill as “unnecessary.” The veto came despite the bill’s
broad endorsement by groups ranging from the Los Angeles County
Sheriff’s Department and party consultants from both sides of the
aisle, as well as several religious and civil rights groups.
Sikh
organizations suspect that the final veto was the result of law
enforcement’s strong desire to avoid promoting the acceptance of
Sikhs with kirpans.
In the lead up
to the veto by the Governor, Sikh activists engaged dozens of
lawmakers about the bill. Every single
California
legislator was in favor of the proposed law. However, numerous
efforts by Sikh community members to outreach to the Governor’s
office prior to the bill’s consideration were greeted with no
response from the Governor.
Given his
historic support of similar bills and the Governor’s unwillingness
to speak with Sikhs about the bill, his veto is considered to be a
direct rejection of California’s Sikhs. Governor Schwarzenegger is
no friend of the Sikhs.
“The Governor’s
response is very disappointing. It shows his lack of support for
promoting religious understanding in
California,”
said Neha Singh, Western Region Director of the Sikh Coalition. “It
is an utter shame that he does not understand the value of educating
our law enforcement agencies on the diverse communities they are
policing.”
 The Sikh
Coalition, the forum taking the lead in pushing the Act, has said it
will continue to engage with POST in the coming months to encourage
the training that was recommended in the bill. "In addition, we hope
to work with Assembly Member Furutani to reintroduce the bill in
next year’s session," it said.
"I am committed
to carrying this legislation again until this or any other governor
signs it. I urge the Sikh community to stand with me as we continue
this fight,” said Assembly Member Furutani.
The Sikh
community has thanked Assembly Member Furutani and all of the AB 504
co-sponsors, and has also appreciated attorney Nitasha Sawhney,
Nirinjan Khalsa, and the American Civil Liberties Union for their
tireless efforts to shepherd this legislation through the bill
process.
The Hopes Dashed
The Bill's
earlier passage through the Assembly had raised hopes and reiterated
Sikhs' faith in California's law makers' determination to sensitize
officers about Sikh kirpan at a time when even the Indian Government
is not cooperating with the Sikh community to ensure their religious
rights are protected at all times.
 Such a measure,
if introduced, will also go a long way in establishing the separate
identity of the Sikhs in American people's minds who, because of
their lack of knowledge, often end up confusing the community with
Arabs or Muslims. Kirpan is one of the five articles of faith that
any baptised Sikh is required to carry at all times. In hundreds of
years, there has never been a single incident of a baptised Sikh
misusing his integral symbol of kirpan in any untoward activity, a
fact grudgingly acknowledged even by detractors of the community.
“The Sikh
community, who are a vibrant, peaceful and law abiding part of our
state, should not live in fear of arrest by law enforcement for
carrying the “kirpan”, which is an integral part of their religious
faith,” Furutani had said while introducing the Bill earlier this
week.
The widespread
acceptance of the Sikh article of faith is clear from the fact that
only a couple of weeks ago, Sikh students enrolled in 61 schools run
by the National Heritage Academies (NHA) in the US were allowed to
carry ‘kirpan’, a symbol of their faith, subject to certain
restrictions. NHA runs its schools in the states of Michigan, Ohio,
Colorado, Indiana, North Carolina and New York. The NHA restriction,
of course, includes a duty to inform the school before wearing
kirpan.
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What the Bill said?
Bill Number AB
504 introduced by Assembly Member Furutani would have added
Section 13515.45 to the Penal Code, relating to peace officers,
and would have required "the commission to create and make
available to all law enforcement agencies as part of basic
training a training component on how to recognize and interact
with persons carrying a kirpan, as specified. This bill would
define a kirpan as a blade that resembles a sword and is
required to be carried as an
integral part
of the practice of the Sikh faith."
It also
acknowledged that "in the years since the attacks of September
11, 2001, Sikhs have experienced an unprecedented increase in
prosecutions for carrying the kirpan" and that "(i)t is the
responsibility of the Legislature to protect religious freedoms,
while ensuring public safety."
"Keeping those
obligations in mind, it is the Legislature's goal to promote
education and awareness of the carrying of the kirpan by Sikhs
in California when its possession is in accordance with an
integral part of the recognized religious practice of the person
carrying it and there is a benign intent in carrying it."
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Kirpan
in UK
British Sikhs
are allowed by law to wear a kirpan. VIA Rail's has already
allowed the community members to travel with their articles of
faith intact. But despite the fact that UK Sikhs have the law on
their side, they are often denied entry into public places by
security guards because of heightened concerns after 9/11 and
7/7. Kirpan in Britain's Offensive Weapons Act is exempt because
it is an article of faith.
British
ministers, the All Party Parliamentary Group of UK Sikhs and
several other British Sikh groups are currently working to
resolve new problems being faced by UK Sikhs and also working on
a code of practice to remove any flaws in the law. Three
separate cases had gained prominence in UK in recent times.
Firstly, involving a Sikh’s ability to wear the kirpan in a
London school, secondly at a theme park and thirdly at a British
Embassy in Portugal.
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14
October 2009
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