Kirpan-wearing Sikh detained at US university

A Sikh student at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte was detained on the campus for donning a Kirpan, one of the five Sikh Kakars, according to reports.

The student who first posted the incident’s footage on Twitter claimed that the police had handcuffed him because he had refused to allow the officer remove his Kirpan from the miyaan.

I wasn’t going to post this, but I don’t think I will receive any support from @unccharlotte. I was told someone called 911 and reported me, and I got cuffed for “resisting” because I refused to let the officer take my kirpan out of the miyaan.”

Harjinder Singh Dhami, the head of the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC), denounced the occurrence and brought it up with Taranjit Singh, the Indian ambassador to the United States. Additionally, he requested S Jaishankar, the foreign minister, to guarantee Sikhs in the US their right to freedom of religion.

Bharatiya Janata Party leader Manjinder Singh Sirsa wrote in the tweet, “Despite numerous global campaigns to create awareness about Sikh Kakars, it’s disheartening to see the Campus Police at University of North Carolina detain a Sikh youth for his Kirpan. I condemn the discriminatory attitude of University authorities towards Sikh students”.

I must appreciate the Sikh student who explained the significance of Kirpan with such faith. We demand an apology from @unccharlotte admn on this racial attitude. I also urge @DrSJaishankar Ji to address the issue of discrimination faced by Sikh students at global level,” he added.