**Of course, the kirpan is a dagger!**

The establishment line is that the kirpan, curved dagger worn by many make Sikhs is a "ceremonial" object. Actually, it's a dagger made of steel, not some representational rubber tloyh. Over the past 20 years, there've been a number of incidents of volatile Sikhs hauling out their "ceremonial" knives and stabbing and jabbing at each other in communal disputes.

On April 2, a dispute outside a Sikh gurwara or temple resulted in the stabbing in the stomach and legs of a Sikh leader. "The incident happened on April 2 outside of the Sikh Lehar Centre. ... Manjit Mangat, 53, a prominent lawyer and president of the temple, was stabbed in the abdomen with a kirpan, resulting in a 12-centimetre wound. Witnesses told police at least two men brandished unsheathed kirpans outside the centre, where around 150 people had gathered. Peel police have charged Brampton’s Sukhwant Singh, 52, with attempted murder and aggravated assault. He is expected to appear in court later this week. The incident presents the kirpan in a negative light, Amanpreet Singh Bal, regional co-ordinator of the World Sikh Organization, told CBC." (CBC News, April 7, 2010)

As the CBC spun the story, the big worry was not the assault with the supposedly "ceremonial" knife, but the fact that Canadians might wake up to the fact they have been gulled for the past 20 years, as our courts, drunk on multiculturalism, have given Sikhs special privileges to weat their weapons in schools and other places where there is a a ban on weapons. Joey or Jean-Pierre my be forbidden to carry a Swiss Army knife or a penknife to school -- they are weapons -- but Rajinder can pack his "ceremonial" blade.

"Singh Bal said he fears the incident will rouse objections once again over the right to wear the religious symbol in public. 'The concern in the community is that is it going to draw unnecessary attention and it's going to make us spend unnecessary funds and energy to educate Canadians, he said. 'We've made so much progress and then an incident like this has happened, throwing us decades back.'

The kirpan is banned in France, Denmark and some U.S. states. It is allowed in most public places throughout Canada, including schools.The right for a student to wear a kirpan in school was upheld in 2006 after the Supreme Court of Canada struck down a Montreal school board's ban of the wearing of the ceremonial dagger in school.

Kirpan attack in Brampton renews concerns

Last Updated: Wednesday, April 7, 2010 | 3:09 PM ET Comments455 Recommend101

CBC News

An attack in Brampton, Ont., last Friday involving a kirpan has renewed discussion within the Sikh community over the right to wear the ceremonial dagger.

An attack in Brampton, Ont., last Friday involving a kirpan has renewed discussion within the Sikh community over the right to wear the ceremonial dagger. (Chris Wattie/Reuters)

The incident happened on April 2 outside of the Sikh Lehar Centre on Bramsteele Road, near Highway 410 and Steeles Avenue West, east of Toronto.

Manjit Mangat, 53, a prominent lawyer and president of the temple, was stabbed in the abdomen with a kirpan, resulting in a 12-centimetre wound.

Witnesses told police at least two men brandished unsheathed kirpans outside the centre, where around 150 people had gathered.

Peel police have charged Brampton’s Sukhwant Singh, 52, with attempted murder and aggravated assault. He is expected to appear in court later this week.

The incident presents the kirpan in a negative light, Amanpreet Singh Bal, regional co-ordinator of the World Sikh Organization, told CBC.

Violence with kirpan 'not normal'

"Violence with or without a kirpan is not normal in this day and age … it's contrary to Canadian values," Singh Bal said.

The four- to six-centimetre kirpan is one of the five articles of faith for baptized Sikhs. Singh Bal said it is to be worn dull and sheathed under the clothes.

Singh Bal said he fears the incident will rouse objections once again over the right to wear the religious symbol in public.

"The concern in the community is that is it going to draw unnecessary attention and it's going to make us spend unnecessary funds and energy to educate Canadians," he said.

"We've made so much progress and then an incident like this has happened, throwing us decades back."

The kirpan is banned in France, Denmark and some U.S. states. It is allowed in most public places throughout Canada, including schools.

The right for a student to wear a kirpan in school was upheld in 2006 after the Supreme Court of Canada struck down a Montreal school board's ban of the wearing of the ceremonial dagger in school.

Canada First

Sunday, April 11, 2010