Sikh staff barred from wearing kirpan at airport, govt to review decision

Amritsar: Bureau of Civil Aviation Security of the ministry of civil aviation has sought details of all baptized Sikh airport employees across the nation who wear kirpan to take a policy decision on the issue on whether they can wear the kirpan at the airside of the airport.
Many airports allows baptized Sikh employees to wear the kirpan at the airside while others have imposed a ban.
The ministry swung into action after TOI's report on the issue. Central Industrial Security Force had prevented a baptized Sikh employee of Air India, Nirmal Singh, who was posted at Sri Guru Ram Das International Airport from working at the airside.
Following the ban on kirpan, various Sikh organizations, prominent among them Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee and United Sikhs, raised objections on airport security force's decision and demanded the Prime Minister direct the force to revoke the orders since it had hurt the Sikh's religious sentiments.
Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee president Avtar Singh Makkar has now given one week time to the government to revoke the kirpan ban order or else the airport will be gheraoed.
17/05/11 Yudhvir Rana/Times of India

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Categories: Airports May 2011