A judge has decided a Sikh man can testify at a trial later this month by video conference for religious reasons after he was refused entry to court for wearing his kirpan.

Court of Queen's Bench Justice Bryan Mahoney made the ruling after hearing an application from Crown prosecutor Beverly Bauer on Friday.

Bauer said defence lawyer Patrick Flynn agreed to what is essentially a compromise.[Link]

A 13-year-old Sikh boy in Canada pleaded innocent to charges he threatened two classmates with a ceremonial dagger.

Appearing in Montreal Youth Court this week, the unidentified teenager said he didn't use a ceremonial kirpan to threaten two classmates in an alleged incident Sept. 11 and has asked the court to grant him a speedy trial, The Gazette said Friday.

Montreal police have accused the teen of responding to an argument with two classmates by threatening them with the religious dagger.

One of the boy's defense lawyers has accused the Marguerite-Bourgeoys school board of targeting the Cavelier de LaSalle secondary school student because of his religion.

"I'm a great admirer of Quebec, but on this issue there's dissonance. Quebec is so obsessed with kirpans. There's something unhealthy about it," lawyer Julius Grey, whose client's trial begins on Oct. 29, told the Globe & Mail. [Link]

Parents of students attending a high school in LaSalle are outraged after a 13-year-old Sikh boy pulled his kirpan on another student this week.

Montreal police say the boy became frustrated with two other students during recess on Thursday, and waved the ceremonial dagger at them in a threatening gesture.

Police have pressed charges.

In March 2006, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled that Sikh students are allowed to wear kirpans to school for religious reasons. [Link]

A man with a knife while trying to board a Boston-bound airliner at Syracuse Hancock International Airport was detained before the knife was taken and he was allowed to go, Syracuse police said.

Gurnam S. Virk, 55, of Merrimack, NH., had a four-inch lock-blade knife under his shirt, police said. Virk told police he is a member of the Sikh religion and he carries the knife as part of his religion, police said. He had forgotten he had the knife on him, he told police.

Virk . . . was not charged and was given a receipt for the knife when police confirmed his story. [Link]

Last week, prosecutors dropped criminal charges against Mr. Sahadur Singh, a Sikh American truck driver, who was arrested for wearing his kirpan (a religious article of faith) in California. The charges were dismissed after the Sikh American Legal Defense and Education Fund (SALDEF) . . . intervened on behalf of Mr. Singh.

Last December Mr. Sahadur Singh, a Utah resident, was driving in Kern County, California, when a police officer stopped him for a normal traffic violation. The police officer spotted the kirpan underneath Mr. Singh’s clothing and immediately arrested him for violating the State’s concealed weapon law and for resisting arrest when Mr. Singh tried to explain the significance of the kirpan.

On the way to the police station, Kern County officers reportedly screamed at Mr. Singh asking him, “Are you a terrorist?”, “When was the last time you went over there, Taliban?” and “Did you ever send money to the Taliban?”

At the request of Mr. Singh, SALDEF contacted the prosecutor in the case, sending information detailing the religious significance of the kirpan along with a list of case law documenting the dismissal of similar charges against other Sikhs across the country.

SALDEF is currently assisting Mr. Singh in obtaining his kirpan from the local authorities. SALDEF is also working with local Kern County officials regarding the alleged racist comments made by the Kern County police officers after the incident took place. [SALDEF Press Release]

Jasmit Singh’s religion means he must wear five articles of faith, including a sheathed sword.

Luckily his school is understanding.

The New Zealand-born Pakuranga College student is a practising Sikh.

Sikhs believe in one supreme being, which has no gender.

To become a Sikh, the 16-year-old had to undergo the amrit-initiation ceremony, which he did when he was 10.

They must wrap their unshorn hair and a comb in a turban, wear an iron bangle for a constant reminder to do good and knee-length breeches to encompass living under strict discipline of self-control, and to carry a sword to signify commitment to always stand up for the cause of justice.

Sikh Council of New Zealand chairman Verpal Singh says the problem with the sword is that it gives the impression it is a weapon, "but it is not, it won’t cause any harm. It is a two-inch blunt sword."

Jasmit says his school accepts the need for Sikhs to wear their five articles of faith.

Some schools insist on enforcing a rule that comes directly in conflict with the Sikh practices, says Mr Singh.

"The usual problem is forcing children to wear a cap, or asking children to take off their head garment.

"We have judgements of courts in Canada, the UK, the United States and other countries available which uphold our right to wear the five articles of faith on our body at all times," he says.

To neglect to wear one or more of the five items represents a serious lapse in the Sikh religion.

Jasmit began wearing his five articles of faith last December.

"The first time I wore a turban I was kind of nervous. I thought I’d be asked a lot of questions, but people were really understanding," he says.

As part of the practice, cutting your hair or shaving is forbidden because it is a gift from God, "mine comes down to my waist," Jasmit says.

Both his parents and his sister wear turbans.

"Our forefathers preferred to die rather than cut their hair or remove their turban. A Sikh with unshorn hair appearing without their turban in public is akin to an average person appearing in public in their under garments," Mr Singh says.

"New Zealand society has been very accepting of our unique appearance and very accommodating of our specific needs. Some sporadic instances are unavoidable," he says. [Link]

Followers of a major Indian religion have been frozen out of an upcoming interfaith meeting with Pope Benedict XVI because of the group's insistence on wearing ceremonial daggers.

The meeting, scheduled for April 17 at the Pope John Paul II Cultural Center near Catholic University, originally included Sikhs, as well as Hindu, Jewish, Muslim and Buddhist guests. But a guest list released yesterday by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops substituted followers of another India-based religion — the Jains — in place of the Sikhs.

According to Sikh leaders, at issue was the Secret Service forbidding the wearing of the "kirpan," a dagger that is required dress for all Sikhs. Its followers liken its importance to their faith in the same way Orthodox Jewish men are required to wear a yarmulke.

Anahat Kaur, secretary general of the World Sikh Council/America Region near San Francisco, said Pope John Paul II met with kirpan-bearing Sikhs at the Vatican in January 2002.

"We were pretty disappointed," she said. "At an event meant to promote understanding between faiths, we would have had to renounce a fundamental tenet of our faith to attend. The Secret Service had every opportunity to investigate and vet the people coming and see whether we were safe to be there. We thought that would be enough."

Kirpans are only used in self-defense as a last resort, she added. Because kirpans are not allowed on airplanes, she said, many Sikhs will drive instead of fly. Numbered at more than 20 million adherents, Sikhism is the world's fifth largest religion. It has about 250,000 members in the United States. [Link]

Blunt religious object about as dangerous as a crucifix

A guy goes to court to testify in a trial.

He gets stopped at security because he's a Sikh carrying a kirpan.

The religious dagger carried by Sikhs is one of the tenets of their faith.

Generally, kirpans are little and dull.

If you wanted to take a life with it, you'd probably be better off with a spoon.

In our security-mad world -- thanks, Osama -- we've become excessively paranoid, which is one of the things 9/11 was supposed to accomplish.

The Sikh in question, Tejinder Singh Sidhu, asked if a sheriff could escort him to and from court and was refused, so he walked without testifying.

Sidhu's got a valid point -- which is something a kirpan doesn't.

You can spend a lot of time in newspaper archives and on the Internet and not find a single incident of a Sikh using a kirpan to stab somebody. [Link]

Banned from entering courthouse wearing ceremonial dagger

Banned from entering the Calgary courthouse wearing a Sikh ceremonial dagger, Tejinder Singh Sidhu is calling on the province to adopt a court-security policy that respects religious freedoms and traditions.

The 25-year-old arrived at court Monday to testify as a Crown witness to a fatal crash.

When he reached the metal detector, a court sheriff told him he had to remove his three-inch long kirpan -- one of five articles of faith baptized Sikhs wear at all times.

Sidhu said he hasn't taken off his kirpan since he received it at his baptism as a child.

"It just seems very derogatory... and it's seen as being very offensive," he said.

"This is something that we keep on us at all times ... I bathe with it, I sleep with it."

After Sidhu's suggestion a sheriff to escort him to and from the courtroom was rejected, he left without testifying....

Andy Weiler, spokesman for the Alberta solicitor general, said the sheriff was following policy.

"Our policy clearly states that kirpans are an unauthorized item that are not permitted in the courthouse," he said. [Link]

A Sikh man says his Charter rights were violated when he was not allowed to take his ceremonial dagger into the Calgary courthouse.

Tejinder Sidhu, 25, had been summoned to court Monday by subpoena to testify as a witness to a fatal car accident.

Sidhu was stopped at the airport-style security screening, which greets all visitors to the Calgary Courts Centre that opened last fall. An Alberta sheriff told him he would have to leave his kirpan at security or he couldn't enter the building.

Baptized orthodox Sikh men carry the small ceremonial dagger under their clothes as a symbol of their religious beliefs.

Sidhu offered to be escorted in to testify if he could keep his kirpan, but that was rejected.

"I don't feel that I should be asked to remove it — especially being a witness to a case — I'm being basically denied my civil duty or my civil right … to testify in court," Sidhu told CBC News.

"So after basically debating for about five, 10 minutes, basically, I just left the courthouse and was unable to fulfil my civic right or my civic duty." [Link]

SIKH students in Victoria have been given the green light to carry small daggers to school under a plan that has outraged teachers and principals.
A Victorian parliamentary committee has also given the green light for Muslim students to wear hijabs in the state's classrooms.

The inquiry into uniforms found all schools should accommodate clothing or other items that are religiously significant.

The Education and Training Committee report recommended that schools should work with the Sikh community to allow male students to carry a kirpan - a small, curved ornamental steel dagger carried by all initiated Sikh men.

The committee found there were concerns from principals and teachers about students carrying the kirpan - which is hidden under the school uniform - but the item was important to the Sikh community. [Link]

An AT&T office in Brecksville, Ohio has reversed its workplace ban against kirpans. Harcharan Singh (Sandhu), an IT consultant from India will be allowed to continue consulting for AT&T and will not be sent back to India. AT&T reversed its decision one week after the Sikh Coalition's intervention.

Harcharan Singh is an amritdhari Sikh employed by called Tech Mahindra. As mandated by his faith, he carries a kirpan. Tech Mahindra sent him from India to Brecksville, Ohio in May of 2007 to provide IT consulting services for AT&T. Shortly after Harcharan Singh started, he voluntarily disclosed to Tech Mahindra and AT&T that he carried a kirpan. Over the course of the summer the two companies discussed the issue of whether Mr. Sandhu should be allowed to carry his kirpan while working at AT&T. [Sikh Coalition Press Release]

The Sikh Coalition recently filed a 41 page opposition brief in a historic case involving the right of an Internal Revenue Service employee to carry her kirpan to work. The Coalition previously wrote about this case in March 2006.

To the Coalition's knowledge this is the first time that a Sikh has fought for the right of a federal employee to carry the kirpan to work. The Coalition is committed to litigating this matter in order to ensure that America is a friendly place for the Sikh way of life. Kawal's workplace is replete with thousands of objects more dangerous than her kirpan. It make little sense to restrict her religious freedom in this context.

Ultimately the Coalition believes that it is standing up not only Sikh rights, but American values and basic human rights. [Sikh Coalition Press Release]

RELIGIOUS items such as crosses, hijabs and skullcaps should be banned in state schools, a parliamentary inquiry into uniforms has been told.

Sikh turbans and ceremonial kirpan swords also have no place in classrooms, according to the Atheist Foundation of Australia and the Secular Party of Australia.

The opposition comes as state school parents have raised concerns about uniform costs.

Atheist Foundation of Australia president David Nicholls said school dress codes should reflect Australia's secular status.

The Secular Party of Australia warned that allowing school children to wear crosses, hijabs, skullcaps or turbans was "unnecessary and undesirable".

But Equal Opportunity and Human Rights Commission CEO Helen Szoke said the submissions did not take into account Australia's diversity and the right to express religious faith.

"Things like crucifixes and the hijab and so on should be accommodated within the context of a school uniform," she said. [Link]

A VICTORY for the religious faithful has been won by a Sikh man who was refused entry to passport offices while wearing the holy Kirpan.

Tarsem Singh, 27, always wears the Kirpan, a symbollic three inch dagger, as it is one of the five K's which he is required to wear as an initiated Sikh, and he was offended by the way he was treated when he went to the Identity and Passport Service buildings in London Victoria to change his passport picture.

He said he was humiliated by security guards who perceived him as a threat and insisted he could not enter the building without removing the dagger.

He said: "I felt like they were talking down to me and didn't look at me as a British citizen even though I was born here. It made me feel very small and it was really disheartening.

"Before I became seriously religious, people saw me as more a part of the community, but now because I was wearing a turban people looked at me as if I am a part of Al-Qaeda and that is a horrible experience."[Link]