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Disallowing ex-jathedar board Metro with ‘kirpan’: SGPC expresses condemnation
The Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) on Friday strongly condemned denying Takht Damdama Sahib former jathedar Giani Kewal Singh boarding metro train in Delhi with kirpan, one of the five articles of Sikh faith
The Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) on Friday strongly condemned denying Takht Damdama Sahib former jathedar Giani Kewal Singh boarding metro train in Delhi with kirpan, one of the five articles of Sikh faith. The incident happened with the ex-jathedar on Thursday evening at Metro Station Sector 21 Dwarka. When he began to board the train, he was stopped from doing it by the staff for carrying the kirpan. He was carrying a three feet long kirpan. Taking a serious note of the denial, the SGPC chief Harjinder Singh Dhami said, “Giani Kewal Singh is an honourable personality of the Sikh community. Debarring him from carrying a kirpan in metro train is very unfortunate. It is unfair to prohibit anyone from wearing articles of his or her faith in his or her own country”.
“Indian constitution allows all to exercise their religious freedom. Under this freedom, an Amritdhari Sikh has the right to wear a kirpan irrespective of its size. According to his stature in Sikh Panth, Giani Kewal Singh always carries a kirpan which is blessed by Guru Sahib. Debarring him from carrying it is direct attack on religious freedom of the Sikhs. The persons responsible for this kind of treatment must be punished. Prime Minister of the country should issue clear instructions to protect the religious rights of the followers of all the faiths, so that no such incident happens in future”, he added.
Sikh bodies take up issue with National Commission for Minority Affairs, New Delhi
Meanwhile, Advocate Jaswinder Singh, former SGPC member and co-convenor of Sikh bodies’ coordination committee ‘Panthic Talmel Sangathan, Sukhdev Singh Bhaur, former General Secretary of the SGPC and Advocate Navkiran Singh, human rights activist and senior lawyer of Punjab and Haryana High Court, raised the issue with National Commission for Minorities. They wrote a letter to the commission to take up the issue. “The Sikhs are being deprived of exercising their religious freedom enshrined in Article 25 of Indian constitution at the time when the country is celebrating 75th anniversary of Independence Day. Such denial is clear violation of the constitution. The authorities must take notice of it and stringent action against those responsible”, they said in the letter.
