Sikh woman barred from exam over kirpan

IT’S VIOLATION OF CONSTITUTION, SAY AKAL TAKHT, SGPC AND SAD

- Surjit Singh

A Sikh woman candidate was reportedly not allowed to enter an examination hall in Rajasthan’s Jaipur as she was allegedly asked to remove her religious articles, including a kirpan.

The candidate, Gurpreet Kaur, a resident of Pheloke village in Tarn Taran district, had to appear in the Rajasthan Judicial Services examination. The episode has drawn condemnation from the Akal Takht, the SGPC and the SAD.

The Akal Takht secretariat issued a video of Gurpreet Kaur in which she is seen protesting over being denied entry to the examination hall. She was seen asking the authorities to show the instructions regarding ban on the kakars (five articles of Sikh faith).

In a statement, Akal Takht acting jathedar Giani Kuldeep Singh Gargaj termed the incident a grave violation of the Constitution and an act of discrimi nation. Questioning the BJP-led Rajasthan government, he said Amritdhari Sikhs wear kirpan as a mandatory article of faith. “Similar instances occurred during the same recruitment process last year in Jaipur and Jodhpur. Despite a written communication from the SGPC and other Sikh bodies to the state government, the same episode has been repeated,” he mentioned.