On April 2 a crowd of about 150 people unruly people outside a Sikh temple in Brampton caused even a larger disturbance when one man, Sukhwant Singh grabbed a kirpan and stabbed Manjit Mangat in the abdomen. For those unfamiliar, a kirpan is a blade anywhere from 2 -8 inches in length that must be worn at all times according to Sikh religion.
Controversy around the blade came about 9 years ago when Gurbaj Singh Multani, then a 12-year-old student in Montreal, accidentally dropped his 8-inch ceremonial dagger at school. Legal battles ensued to allow the child and other children to continue brandishing the blade as it is never meant to be used for violent means and for religious purposes must be worn at all times. In 2006, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled 9-0 in favour of Mr. Multani.
When do we say enough is enough?
Defenders of this religious right make the comment that such incidents are isolated and rare but is one incident too much? Having teenagers that are legally not responsible when a crime is committed, hence the Young Offenders Act, brandishing a knife doesn’t instill me with confidence that they one day won’t have an isolated incident of their own.
If I was to start my own religion (it isn’t as hard as you may think) and part of my doctrine was that followers were allowed to carry guns, would people then be allowed to walk around with firearms? In the U.S., their own constitution allows the right to bear arms but common sense has prevailed banning weapons from being carried around without mountains of documentation.
I respect the Sikh religion as well as other religions, but public safety should always come first and it is time for the law to step in and say “no” to the kirpan.
