Ban on carrying Kirpan is 'highly unacceptable': Former SGPC chief

Condemning the Italian Supreme Court's move to ban Sikh migrants to carry 'Kirpan' (Dagger) in public, former Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) president Avtar Singh Makkar on Tuesday said every religion has its own decorum, adding banning such traditions is highly unacceptable.

"Each and every religion has its own decorum and conducts. Following that, the people practice the rituals. Banning this tradition and upholding this decision is very condemnable," Makkar told ANI.

He further said that for 'Amaldhari Sikhs' it is mandatory for them to wear Kirpan and Katar.

"This is an order from our god. This is being imposed by a country which has been saved by the Sikh community during World War I and World War II. Doing injustice to such a big community and attacking its dignity is condemnable," he asserted.

 

Makkar added that the Italian Government can make laws regarding this considering the sentiments of the people of this community.

"Our Indian Government should also make attempts together with the Italian Government," he said.

The Supreme Court of Cassation, the highest court in Italy has banned Sikh migrants to carry 'Kirpan' in public and ruled that migrants in the western world must conform to the values of the society they have chosen to settle in.

The Italian High Cessation Court has ruled against the Sikh Indian migrant who wanted to carry a Kirpan, a dagger considered sacred in Sikhism, even as it was against the Italian law, Italian news agency ANSA reported.

An attachment to one's own values, even if they are lawful in the country of origin, is intolerable when it causes violating the laws of the host country," the court said.

"The multi ethnic society is a necessity, but it can't lead to the formation of conflicting cultural groups of islands according to the ethnicities they-re made up of, precluding the unity of the cultural and judicial fabric of our country, which identifies public safety as an asset to defend and as such bans carrying weapons and objects aimed at injury," the court added.

The court's ruling came after a Sikh man appealed against another court's decision ordering him to pay a 2,000 euros in fine because he had been caught leaving his home in Goito, northern Italy, armed with a knife.