The Akal Takht has once again questioned the Haryana government over the incident of a baptised Sikh youth being debarred from taking the written examination conducted by the Haryana Staff Selection Committee (HSSC) after he refused to take off his ‘kirpan’, a religious symbol worn by all ‘amritdhari’ Sikhs.
The incident took place at an examination centre in Haryana last Sunday. The candidate, Jagdeep Singh, has sent a written representation to Takht jathedar Giani Gurbachan Singh and has sought justice.
Commenting on the incident, the jathedar has asked the Haryana government to give due justice to Jagdeep Singh by allowing him to take the examination again. “It is the question of the future of Jagdeep, and he must get another chance,” the jathedar said here on Tuesday.
Noting that a number of such incidents had occurred in Haryana over the past two years, the Jathedar said it mounted to violation of the right to worship of an individual.
“I can understand rights violations or cases of hate crime occurring on foreign soil, but definitely not in India,” he said.
Pointing out that there were no such restrictions on baptised Sikh parliamentarians and state legislators, the jathedar asked the Haryana government to order an inquiry into Jagdeep’s case. “I wonder in which era the Haryana government is living, as now even a number of international air carriers are allowing baptised Sikhs to travel on their flights,” said the jathedar.
{{/usCountry}}Pointing out that there were no such restrictions on baptised Sikh parliamentarians and state legislators, the jathedar asked the Haryana government to order an inquiry into Jagdeep’s case. “I wonder in which era the Haryana government is living, as now even a number of international air carriers are allowing baptised Sikhs to travel on their flights,” said the jathedar.
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