Free Republic

Italy’s Court of Cassation ruled on Monday that a Sikh man was not allowed to carry a knife considered sacred by his religion in public. Migrants have a duty to conform to local values in the society they choose to move to, the court said, even if those values are different from in their home country. The kirpan, a small knife or sword, is one of five religious articles many Sikhs carry with them at all times. But the legality of carrying the curved knife in public has been debated in several countries where Sikhs are a minority. Denmark became...

A judge has made an important decision in a sexual assault case that is not only the correct one, but one that hopefully others will follow. The decision was not on the guilt or innocence of the men charged, but on the complainant’s desire to wear a niqab while testifying. The woman, known only as N.S., had taken her fight all the way to the Supreme Court, which chose not to choose. The Supreme Court ruled that it was up to each individual judge to determine on a case-by-case basis if the wearing of the religious cloth – essentially the...

Sikh athletes and spectators will be able to wear ceremonial daggers around the London 2012 Olympic sites, organisers said Sunday. Security will be tight at all Games venues, with Britain prepared to deploy surface-to-air missiles to protect London during the event, Defence Secretary Philip Hammond said Monday, shortly after the government rejected reports of US security fears. However, Sikhs will be allowed to take in a sheathed kirpan as long as it is worn beneath their clothing and if they can prove that they are adhering to four other articles of faith, The Sunday Times said. In a bid to...

KIRPAN (THE SIKH SWORD) Author : Unknown The sword has a special place in the history of various religious, cultures and nations. For a Sikh, "Kirpan" is an article of faith. For an initiated Sikh, wearing of a Kirpan is obligatory. An initiated Sikh, not wearing a Kirpan, would be in breach of his faith. Although its form has undergone several changes, sword has been part of the history of the world since pre-historic periods. References pertaining to sword can be found in the history of the Jews, the Christians, the Muslims, the Sikhs, the Japanese, and other national and...

A MEXICAN couple were recovering separately after a marital spat got out of control and saw them firing guns, throwing knives and hurling homemade bombs, Mexican daily Milenio said yesterday. In scenes taken straight out of hit romantic comedy Mr and Mrs. Smith starring Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie, Juan Espinosa and Irma Contreras fought until their house blew up in a homemade gasoline bomb explosion, the paper said. Police called to the home in the indigenous Mayan Indian town of Oxkutzcab in the southeastern state of Yucatan arrested Mr Espinosa. Ms Contreras was taken to hospital with third-degree burns....

Sikhs in B.C. are cheering the Supreme Court of Canada's decision that upholds the right of Sikh children to wear a ceremonial dagger to school. The case involved a Montreal student who wasn't allowed to wear his kirpan to school. Schools in B.C. have long permitted orthodox Sikh students to wear the ceremonial dagger. In its 8-0 judgment, the Supreme Court ruled on Thursday that a total ban infringed on Gurbaj Singh's guarantees of religious freedom under the Charter of Rights.

The Supreme Court of Canada has ruled that Sikh students can carry ceremonial daggers to class and that doing so does not pose an undue danger to others in the schools. The top court overturned Thursday morning a Quebec Court of Appeals ruling that had barred the kirpan from schools in the province. The Quebec court had said a limit on religious freedom was reasonable, given the safety concerns from carrying the daggers to school. "Religious tolerance is a very important value of Canadian society," the top court judges wrote in their decision. "A total prohibition against wearing a kirpan...

DETROIT -- A Detroit judge said Wayne State University police should not have arrested a student for carrying a knife. The knives are part of his Sikh religious beliefs. Sukhpreet Singh Garcha was arrested in August for carrying a 10-inch knife, known as a kirpan, on his hip. Police said the knife violated the city's weapons laws. Carrying a kirpan at all times is a basic tenet of Sikhism, an Indian-based faith with an estimated 25 million followers worldwide. The judge ruled last month that the knife ordinance is intended to apply to people carrying a weapon for some unlawful...