Karachi: After having failed to persuade the Pakistan government to allow Sikhs to wear kirpan in public places, the Sikhs have decided to move court for their religious rights.
While interacting with the media Raj Singh , vice-president of Sri Guru Nanak Sant Sangh Sabha, Gurdwara Aaram Bagh (Karachi), said “Like our previous legal battle, we will also win this basic right.” The home department of Punjab (Pakistan) government informed that they had not issued any notification for allowing Sikh persons to wear kirpan as it had “only symbolic significance and should remain as such.”
Moving forward on this issue section officer of the Sindh home department Ahmed Ali Sheikh , in his letter written to the commissioner of Karachi,reportedly stated that there was no need to issue notification regarding wearing of Kirpan by Sikhs in public places.
“Today we held a meeting of representatives of the Sikhs and decided to file a petition in court on May 15,” Hira said. Advt Hira Singh, who successfully got ‘Sikh’ category included in the census forms through a long drawn legal battle, said that Sikhs in Pakistan were not legally permitted to wear kirpan openly adding that many a times police file cases against them for wearing their religious symbol in public places. They will move court stating that Kirpan, one of five kakars (articles of faith), was compulsory for an Amritdhari (baptized) Sikh, reads a quote from the report published in Times of India.
Furthermore while talking to a print reporter over phone on Wednesday Advocate Hira Singh, the president of Sri Guru Nanak Sat Sangh Sabha stated that home department of Sindh province of Pakistan had rejected their plea regarding this.He said Sindh government had asked Punjab (Pakistan) government where a large number of Sikh live regarding issuance of any notification for allowing Sikh to publicly wear Kirpan.