TORONTO: The four years old saga of religious discrimination by the Peel Board of Education against the Sikh teachers and students for wearing their sacred kirpan was brought to end Aug.12 Toronto by the Ontario Court of Appeal.
Its three judges decided unanimously that the Peel Board of Education cannot appeal and must observe the decision which was made by the general division on April 2 this year. At the today’s court of law it upheld their earlier ruling together with the Ontario Human Rights Commission and rejected teh fresh appeal by the Peel Board of Education.
An elated and joyous Harbhajan Singh Pandori ex-teacher of a school in Peel Board of Education and former president of Ontario Khalsa Darbar Gurdwara who was wrongfully sacked by the Board for wearing kirpan in the school said I am happy and relieved that it’s all over and our sacred kirpan is allowed in the Peel Board today. We are living in a land where justice prevails.
Pandori is an M.A in Economics and a computer analyst also on the other hand all the Sikh students in the Peel Board will be allowed to wear their kirpan also.
Said Jasbir Singh the father of young student Paramjit Singh who was also disallowed to wear kirpan in his school and was greatly victimized that we had suffered in the past over the Peel Board’s discrimination and had to remove Paramjit to another school board where kirpan is allowed.
Today’s decision overwhelmed the Sikhs in Ontario who praised profusely the Ontario court and justice system whereas the Peel Board of Education spent over $250000 in the legal fees and had their trustees sharply divided over the kirpan case Pandori spent nothing as the cases was fought by the Ontario Human Rights Commission who paid the bill. I was prepared to go all teh way to pay and stopped the efforts by a few Sikhs who were collecting large sums of money and my behalf and kirpan case some time ago (Courtesy Sikh Press)
Article extracted from this publication >> August 16, 1991
