Rochester/ New York (June 14, 2013): “With Judge Mathew A. Rosenbaum, Supreme Court Justice in State of New York, delivering his verdict on Friday (June 07), a ban that restricted the carrying of the ceremonial sword -‘kirpan’ – at Gurdwara at Rochester in New York has been lifted”, News East West (NEW) has reported on June 10, 2013.
“It was alleged that certain trustees in the gurudwara had submitted affidavits in court which barred Sikhs from wearing kirpans within the premises of the Gurdwara. The matter was brought to the notice of Akal Takht Sahib which had formed a special committee to investigate the matter. Based on the reports of the special committee, the 5 Singh Sahibs had given an ultimatum to the Rochester Gurudwara Committee to clarify the matter”, Sikh24.Com news reads further.
According to NEW: “[a]fter protests by Sikhs in the US and elsewhere against the ban on their religious right to wear the kirpan, the Akal Takht – the supreme spiritual institution of the Sikhs in Amritsar – appointed a seven-member committee in the US to get the kirpan ban removed …”.
It is important to note that while lifting the complete ban on Kirpan at Gurdwara of Rochester, Judge Rosenbaum referred to Sri Akal Takht Sahib as the supreme Sikh authority and acknowledged its influence over Sikh affairs around the globe.