arnisador
11-24-2006, 03:23 PM
Sikhs learn to live with security regulations
(http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chicago/chi-0611240247nov24,1,6915719.story)
Consider the Sikhs, whose religion requires them to always wear a dagger.
The centuries-old requirement has collided with beefed-up, post-Sept. 11 rules that no longer allow people to leave legal weapons and other banned items with security guards working in such buildings as courthouses and federal offices. In two dozen cases in the last two years, Sikhs have been arrested, threatened with arrest or harassed in disputes with guards over the ceremonial kirpan, according to the Sikh American Legal Defense and Education Fund.
In an effort to bridge the culture-security gap, the Homeland Security Department and the Sikh legal group this week unveiled a poster meant to help screeners through these interactions.
The poster, which will be distributed to federal facilities nationwide, shows photos of different kirpans, ranging from a symbolic necklace some women wear to the more common 3- to 6-inch daggers, as well as full-on swords.
It's a shame to see a legitimate religious belief collide with the realities of the post-9/11 world. It's yet another custom that is a victim of terrorism.
Danish Court Rules Against Sikhs' Daggers (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/10/27/AR2006102701283_pf.html)
(Scroll to the bottom of the page.)
A Danish court has upheld a lower court ruling that Sikhs cannot carry knives for religious reasons.
Denmark's Eastern High Court on Tuesday confirmed a decision by Copenhagen City Court that Ripudaman Singh had violated a Danish arms law that prohibits carrying knives with blades longer than 2.8 inches in public places.
Singh repeatedly carried a ritual dagger known as a kirpan in his waist band, a tradition that is a basic tenet of Sikhism, an India-based faith with more than 20 million followers worldwide.
(http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chicago/chi-0611240247nov24,1,6915719.story)
Consider the Sikhs, whose religion requires them to always wear a dagger.
The centuries-old requirement has collided with beefed-up, post-Sept. 11 rules that no longer allow people to leave legal weapons and other banned items with security guards working in such buildings as courthouses and federal offices. In two dozen cases in the last two years, Sikhs have been arrested, threatened with arrest or harassed in disputes with guards over the ceremonial kirpan, according to the Sikh American Legal Defense and Education Fund.
In an effort to bridge the culture-security gap, the Homeland Security Department and the Sikh legal group this week unveiled a poster meant to help screeners through these interactions.
The poster, which will be distributed to federal facilities nationwide, shows photos of different kirpans, ranging from a symbolic necklace some women wear to the more common 3- to 6-inch daggers, as well as full-on swords.
It's a shame to see a legitimate religious belief collide with the realities of the post-9/11 world. It's yet another custom that is a victim of terrorism.
Danish Court Rules Against Sikhs' Daggers (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/10/27/AR2006102701283_pf.html)
(Scroll to the bottom of the page.)
A Danish court has upheld a lower court ruling that Sikhs cannot carry knives for religious reasons.
Denmark's Eastern High Court on Tuesday confirmed a decision by Copenhagen City Court that Ripudaman Singh had violated a Danish arms law that prohibits carrying knives with blades longer than 2.8 inches in public places.
Singh repeatedly carried a ritual dagger known as a kirpan in his waist band, a tradition that is a basic tenet of Sikhism, an India-based faith with more than 20 million followers worldwide.