WINNIPEG Canada: Two Sikhs created a history in North America by fasting for twenty days for their religious faith. The fast was undertaken to preserve the honour of their religious symbol Kirpan. A brief background! Of the whole case extending over a period of two years is given below.
Immediately after the attack on the Golden Temple Amritsar in June 1984 first a protest meeting and then a protest procession were organized by the Sikh residents of Winnipeg Province of Manitoba Canada Shortly after these two events Mr. KP Fabian the acting High Commissioner for India in Canada visited the city of Winnipeg. An incident took place as a result of which five Sikh youth (S. Joginder Singh Khalsa S. Baljinder Singh S. Dilbag Singh S. Gurtej Singh and S) Gureshwar Singh) were charged by the police for making a common assault on Mr. K.P. Fabian. One of the Sikhs namely S. Joginder Singh Khalsa happened to be a baptised Sikh Who carried a kirpan on his person On December 17 1984 the first day of hearing of the case in the Lower court the judge objected to the entry of S. Joginder Singh in the courtroom on the ground that he was wearing weapon (kirpan) On the other hand S Joginder Singh took the stand that Kirpan being an essential element Of his religion he had every right to wear it wherever he goes. The hearing of the case was halted till the time the issue of kirpan was decided upon by the higher provincial court known as the Court of Queen’s Bench.
The Court of Queen’s Bench ruled in February 1985 that the kirpan being a weapon it cannot be taken inside the courtroom.
The decision of this court was further appealed to the court known as the Court of Appeal. On June 21 1985 this court upheld the decision of the lower court.
All the provincial legal avenues were exhausted by the defendants. There was left only one course open to them namely an appeal to the Supreme Court located in Ottawa. The appeal to the Supreme Court involved heavy expenses but the defendants decided to take their case to the highest court of the land.
In January 1986 the case was heard by judges of the Supreme Court. This Court too did not rule in favour of taking kirpan into the courtrooms by the baptized Sikhs. While rejecting the appeal the earned judges however did not make any comment. It is rather unusual on the part of the Court to do so.
There was no higher avenue open to the defendants to which they could tum to In June 1986 the case again came up for hearing before the lower court. On the first day of hearing for reasons best known to it the Crown dropped charges against S Gureshwar Singh The other four Sikhs were tried. While the three non-baptized Sikhs entered the courtroom S Joginder Singh did not think it right to remove his kirpan from his body and enter the courtroom. On all the days the case went on he preferred to sit outside the threshold of the courtroom while his lawyer pleaded his case to the judge in his absence.
In cases of common assault the usual punishment is probation or at the most a fine. However in the present case on July 4 1986 the judge pronounced one month’s jail term for all the four Sikhs. In doing so he referred! to international political implications of this case. He also stated that the main consideration of imposing the stiffer sentence was that it should act as a deterrent to others
All the four Sikhs were immediately taken to the provincial jail known as Headingly Corrections Centre There in the prison S. Joginder Singh’s kirpan was removed from his person. S. Joginder Singh explained to the prison authorities that being a baptized Sikh kirpan is an essential part of his being and he wanted to keep it on his person The jail authorities paid little attention to his plea. The Singh in turn protested by taking resort to hunger strike Politely but firmly he conveyed to prison officials: “The kirpan I received from my Guru is dearer to me than my fife { will not eat anything unless and until I get back my religious symbol”.
As soon as this news came to S Kewal Singh another baptized Sikh he too in sympathy with S. Joginder Singh took a vow of hunger strike.
In order to work out a solution of this issue S. Joginder Singh’s lawyer held consultations with the jail officials and higher authorities including the minister in charge of the Corrections portfolio. The authorities made an offer of a wooden or a plastic replica of Kirpan to S Joginder Singh. The offer was rejected by the latter on the ground that kirpan was a Kirpan and no other token object could take its place.
Soon after the consultation process ended an emergency meeting of representatives of different Sikh Societies of the city of Winnipeg was called to chalk out the next course of action. Following decisions were taken at this meeting:1 Start rotating Akhand Paths in the three Gurdwaras in the city with the view to pray to the Almighty God to grant the power and strength to the fasting Sikhs to fulfill the resolve they had undertaken 2 Start issuing statements to the media giving full facts of the case. 3. Make representations to the provincial and federal governments with the aim to explain to them the importance and significance of kirpan for the baptized Sikhs.
All the above measures were adopted. In addition the prominent Sikh individuals and Sikh organizations in Canada were apprised of the delicate situation arising out of the hunger strike of the Winnipeg Sikhs.
The Community on Trial: S. Joginder Singh was considered as a political prisoner by the Sikhs of Manitoba It was not only. he or S. Kewal Singh that was suffering from taking recourse 10 hunger strike Their immediate family members and relatives were also going through a great ordeal As a matter of fact the entire Sikh community of the city of Winnipeg found itself put on trial By the end of first week of the hunger strike it became clear that the provincial government was not going to provide kirpan to S. Joginder Singh in jail. At the same time it was made clear by S. Joginder Singh that come what may he was not going to give up his fast unless and until he gets back his religious symbol. His position was: “I will better give up my life than to give up my resolve”.
The second week of the hunger strike was the most difficult distressing and suspenseful for the Sikhs of Winnipeg. They were all in dark as to what would happen next what will be the outcome of this ordeal? Most of them were asking themselves the question: “Will these two Sikhs succeed in fulfilling the vow they have undertaken?”
By contrast the hunger strikers had no doubts whatsoever in their minds. They were in high spirits (Chardi Kala). Their confidence their cheerfulness and their optimism were all contagious. One never heard a weak pass through their lips everyone who met with them got the feeling that these two sons of Guru Gobind Singh fulfilling their resolve will come out victorious out of the hard test they were in.
As the days went by the self-confidence of the two hunger strikers went on increasing rather than decreasing. By the end of the second week of the strike their faces were shining red. They were seen more confident and cheerful than before. At that point even the most pessimistic among us was convinced that these two Sikhs were not ordinary people. They were graced by the Almighty God to complete twenty days of their hunger strike with honour and dignity. And so they did to the joy and satisfaction of us all.
S Joginder Singh and his three companions were awarded 30dayssentence As their conduct in the prison was good according to the provincial law they were released after serving two third of their prison sentence. At the time of his release S. Joginder Singh got his kirpan back from the prison authorities. That was a moment of great relief and joy for the whole community. Follow up Action:
Because of the lack of correct knowledge on the part of the Federal and provincial governments of Canada pertaining to the significance of Sikh religious symbols the Sikhs are being subjected to many hard and unnecessary restrictions. A large number of jobs are denied to them simply because they wear hair and turbans. S Ranjit Singh the first Sikh to complete successfully his training in the Canadian Army in 1986 was released from service in July 1986 for his refusal to wear a helmet even though at the time of his recruitment he was given an assurance that his religious beliefs would be fully taken care of. In all Canada except for the solitary exception of the province of Manitoba the Sikh motorcyclists in Construction Industry are required to wear helmets in place of their turbans. But for the metropolitan city of Toronto the turbaned Sikhs in all the cities of Canada are not allowed to enter neither neither the police force nor are they permitted to work as drivers of city buses.
There is a need for a concerted action on the part of all the national Sikh organizations in Canada to take up the case of Sikh religious symbols including the kirpan with the Federal Government. It is a question of the rights of humans to practice their religion the right which is guaranteed by the Canadian Charter of Human Rights and Freedoms.
The two Winnipeg Sikhs who subjected themselves to an ordeal extending over a period of twenty days had nothing personal to gain from their act. They did it all for larger interests of the community. Through their historic act they have in fact laid down a very solid foundation to work with. It’s left to the general community to work on this foundation. Our national organizations especially the Federation of Sikh Societies of Canada and the World Sikh Organization should follow up this case for the poor of all the Sikhs.
Article extracted from this publication >> September 12, 1986
