The ruling of Judge Mestemaker at the Hamilton County Municipal Courts located in Cincinnati, Ohio, USA on September 20, 1995 are of grave concern to all the Sikhs. In the case of State of Ohio vs. Harjinder Singh, the Judge ruled that, a Kitpan is a deadly weapon as a matter of law, and wearing or carrying a kirpan under one’s clothing or otherwise concealed is a criminal act and the fact that it is a religious requirement for the Sikhs to wear a kirpan is no defense, As per this ruling, all practicing Sikhs will be considered Criminals.
On April 13, 1999, the entire Sikh Nation is planning to celebrate its 200th birth anniversary in a big way. In 1699 ‘on this day the father of Sikh Nation Guru Gobind Singh formalized the Code of Conduct for the Sikhs, which included the wearing of Kirpan as one of the five Kakkars, On this day millions of Sikhs are getting ready to get themselves initiated into the order of the Khalsa by taking “Khandey di Pahul” and thus strengthen the hands of Khalsa Panth.
‘The Sikh institutions and concerned Sikhs are duty bound to get this hurdle out of the way well before the great celebration day, We must appeal this ruling in the court of appeals as it violates not only the Sikh Code of Conduct but also the First Amendment to the US Constitution and the Religious Freedom Restoration Activist in the best interest of the Sikhs to len support at this critical juncture. We request you to please extend Your moral and financial support in this matter, Will you please be Kind enough to fill in the following form, make your checks payable to Sikh Youth Federation Kirpan case Defense Fund at your cattiest convenience and mail it to Sikh Youth Federation, USA, 6863 Cloister Road, Toledo, OH 43617 In the Service of Guru Panth Kuldeep Singh Please treat this appeal as an urgent matters the deadline for filing the appeal is fast approaching. Your contribution will help us in continuing this struggle. Please send us whatever you can at this time and also encourage others to Gonate. Thank You.
Article extracted from this publication >> October 27, 1995
Article extracted from this publication >>
