NRI Sikh wearing ceremonial kirpan ( dagger) denies entry Calgary Courthouse

Calgary Jan. 16 2008
Satinder Sungh

On Monday, NRI Tejinder Singh Sidhu, 25, was supposed to testify as a witness in a case involving a car accident but he was told that he couldn't enter the building unless he left his three-inch kirpan with security.

Tejinder told media after this incedent:

• I've been born and raised in Calgary but this is really the first issue that's come up. The reason why the public needs to know is so that this doesn't happen to another individual.
• I carries the kirpan at all times as a symbol of my religious beliefs. I havn't taken off my kirpan since I he received it at baptism as a child.
• It's sad that Canada, being the greatest country in the world and we're still dealing with this in 2008
• The security was unwilling to compromise, even after I suggested them, they escort me in to the courtroom while I testified.
• The courthouse rules restricted me from performing my civic duty
• This is something that we keep on us at all times ... I bathe with it, I sleep with it

The wearing of a kirpan in public places has been an issue for more than a decade in Canada. Greyhound does not allow travellers to wear them and airlines have also banned them.

Weiler, spokesman for the Alberta solicitor general, said the sheriff was following policy. Our policy clearly states that kirpans are an unauthorized item that are not permitted in the courthouse.

The Supreme Court handed down a unanimous and landmark ruling in 2006 that Sikh students have the constitutional right to carry ceremonial daggers to school.

Tejinder Singh Sidhu was refused to enter Calgary Courthouse