SGPC condemns stopping of Sikh youth wearing kirpan at Delhi metro

A purported video of a Sikh youth being asked to remove his kirpan and show it to a police officer in a metro station has gone viral triggering a sharp reaction from Shiromani Gurudwara Prabandhak Committee (SGPC).

Amritsar: A few weeks after the Centre allowed Sikhs to carry kirpan on domestic flights, a purported video of a Sikh youth being asked to remove his kirpan and show it to a police officer in a metro station has gone viral triggering a sharp reaction from Shiromani Gurudwara Prabandhak Committee (SGPC). Kirpan is a short sword or knife with a curved blade, worn (sometimes in miniature form) as one of the five distinguishing signs of the Sikh Khalsa.

Harjinder Singh Dhami, Principal Advocate, Shiromani Gurudwara Prabandhak Committee, said the incident amounted to a "violation of the constitution of the country". "It is not proper to prevent the Amritdhari youth from entering the metro station. Action should be taken against the metro employee who did this. Time and again, incidents denoting the belittlement of Sikhs and their religious beliefs are coming to the fore. What is more regrettable is that the government is not taking any exemplary action against these people," Dhami said in a press conference on Friday.

"Within the Constitution of India, every citizen of the country has the freedom to guard his religious beliefs. But in spite of this, questions are being raised about the religious symbols of the Sikhs. A few days ago, a notification was issued by the Aviation Ministry to ban Amritdhari Sikh employees from wearing kirpans at airports, which was withdrawn by the ministry after protests by the Shiromani Committee," he said. While the identity of the Sikh youth was not known immediately, the video seemingly is from Thursday.

"A large number of Sikhs reside in Delhi and no resident of the capital is confused about the religious symbols of Sikhs. In this regard, a letter would be written on behalf of the Shiromani Committee to the Ministry of Home Affairs of India and the Delhi state government, so that in future no one can raise questions on the religious symbols of Sikhs", he noted.