Religious freedom hindered: Sikhs face problems while carrying kirpans in city

Security personnel should check ID cards, let people carry important part of faith

PESHAWAR: Display of solidarity with the white part of the Pakistan flag seems difficult in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa due to security reasons. The region that has seen many operations against militancy has become so keen on preventing them in future that it has failed to realise that Sikhs can no longer practice all aspects of their religion freely.

Kirpan, a small dagger, is part of the five elements or ‘k’s of Sikhism— kesh (uncut hair), kanga (wooden comb), kara (iron bangle), kachha (undergarments) and kirpan—which every baptised Sikh must wear. Without them, the religious faith for Sikhs is deemed incomplete. However, since carrying weapons or objects that can harm people is seen as a threat to security, Sikhs carrying kirpans in K-P is seen more from the point of view of defence rather than of religion.

Persistent barricades

Whenever we visit any government office or Cantt area, security personnel ask us so many questions about the dagger,” Radesh Singh Tony told The Express Tribune.

“At one time I was invited to an important event of interfaith harmony but security personnel stopped me outside because of my kirpan,” he said.



Radesh added, “Our Guru Gobind Singh ordered us to keep this with ourselves so if someone wants to change our religion forcibly, it will help protect our faith.” He said if he abandons the kirpan, it will be synonymous to abandoning part of Sikhism.  Another Sikh, Sahib Singh said, “We face problems while entering Peshawar airport.” He said while the dagger was allowed at Lahore airport, it created many problems for Sikhs at Peshawar airport.

“The constitution allows us to wear kirpans up to three inches,” Sahib said, adding, a Sikh cannot abandon this since it was requirement of his religion. “A knife or dagger is not a bad thing – its use depends on the person who holds it and Sikhism always teaches us to use it for the purpose of spreading peace,” he said.

Possible resolutions

Many areas in K-P do not allow Sikhs to carry kirpans freely. While security dilemma coerces imposition of restrictions, many Sikhs believe security personnel should know about important tenets of all faiths.

Talking to The Express Tribune, Charanjeet Singh, a member of the Sikh community said, “Anyone in our disguise can become dangerous but it is important that security personnel properly check identity cards of every Sikh and let him carry it.”

He said Sikhs have never become a security threat to the country and security personnel should be trained in a way that they respect religious rituals of every faith. “They must possess knowledge about every religion so they do not stop anyone for carrying religious elements,” Charanjeet said.

When contacted, SSP Operations Abbas Majeed Marwat said, “Sikhs do face problems carrying kirpans but it is mostly because junior police officials are not so aware about Sikh rituals and for them averting security threats is a priority.” He added the matter does get resolved when it reaches high ranking officials.

The background

The kirpan is a religious sword that is kept in a sheath and can be worn over or under clothing. Most Sikhs wear it near their waist.

In Sikhism, it is necessary for every Sikh to wear it since a mandatory commandment was given by Guru Gobind Singh. It symbolises spirituality, defence, gallantry and is also a metaphor for God.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 28^th, 2016.