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Kirpan, elsewhere
WSN Network
LONDON: Lack of
awareness about Kirpan has been repeatedly rankling the Sikh
community. In fact, a few months ago, top Sikh organisations skipped
a meeting with Pope during his visit to Washington because the
community representatives were asked not to carry kirpans to the
event. All pleas to the effect that the kirpan was integral to the
faith went unheeded even though the National Council of Churches in
the US had supported the Sikh view point.
In a case of charges against an American Sikh driver because
he was wearing a kirpan had to be dropped by the prosecutors later
in California after the Sikh American Legal Defense and Education
Fund (SALDEF) brought out the facts regarding kirpan's relationship
with any Sikh. The driver was stopped for a normal traffic violation
but after a police officer spotted the kirpan underneath his
clothing, he arrested him for violating the State’s concealed weapon
law.
SALDEF alone has received and resolved scores of cases
involving Sikhs who faced criminal charges for wearing their kirpans.
British Sikhs are allowed by law to wear a kirpan. Now, 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. A
crisis meeting at the Houses of Parliament between ministers, the
All Party Parliamentary Group of UK Sikhs and several other British
Sikh groups has already been held to resolve the new problems being
faced by UK Sikhs. The government says it is still working on a code
of practice to remove any flaws in the law. Association of Chief
Police Officers and Sikh community representatives have already
discussed the issue.
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.
4
March 2009
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