E-Paper
Rajasthan govt allows Sikh religious symbols during exams
The Rajasthan government has allowed Sikh candidates to appear in exams while wearing the five Sikh articles of faith (kakars), after outrage from the Sikh community over an Amritdhari girl being denied entry to the exam hall for wearing ‘kakars’, including ‘kirpan’.
The Rajasthan government has allowed Sikh candidates to appear in exams while wearing the five Sikh articles of faith (kakars), after outrage from the Sikh community over an Amritdhari girl being denied entry to the exam hall for wearing ‘kakars’, including ‘kirpan’.
Reacting to this, president of the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC), Harjinder Singh Dhami, stated that the government should have taken this step long ago.
He appealed to the Rajasthan chief minister to make special arrangements to allow Sikh candidates, who were unjustly barred from the exam, an opportunity to reappear in the exam.
Dhami said that under the Constitution, Sikhs already have the full right to wear a ‘kirpan’, and according to the Sikh ‘rehat maryada’ (code of conduct), no Amritdhari Sikh can be separated from the five ‘kakars’. There are specific legal provisions for this, which are often ignored.
He pointed out that despite widespread awareness of this, in the recent past, Amritdhari Sikh students have been forced to remove religious symbols at several places, and when they resisted, they were denied entry to the exams.
The SGPC president also appealed to the central government to issue directives to state governments to safeguard the constitutional rights granted to Sikhs and to prevent such injustices against Sikh students. He stressed that clear instructions must be issued to examination authorities regarding Sikh ‘kakars’ during exam procedures.
He said that strict action should be taken against officials who harass Sikh students in violation of the Constitution.
