Fabricated Kirpan Case Haunts Sikh Community Two Years Later

Friday 13th of February 2009

Panthic Weekly News Bureau

TORONTO, Canada (KP)— Another kirpan case has reached the court in Montreal, and this time a thirteen year old Sikh student is accused of allegedly using his kirpan to threaten his classmates. It is believed that the case should follow precedent set in the case filed earlier in 2006, which was awarded in favor of another Sikh Student.

Renowned lawyer Julius Grey, who successfully defended Gurbaj Singh in 2006, has again taken up the kirpan case this year. Julius Grey believes that the Sikh student has been framed in this case and he has not violated the law in any way. He denied the allegation of the Sikh Student pulling out his kirpan, saying that the Sikhs are barred from unsheathing the kirpan in public.

Grey held that the only time the Sikh Student had unsheathed the kirpan was when asked by the police and when school officials forced him to show it after the alleged incident took place. In contrast, the school is pushing the case as a clear incident of assault.

Julius Grey said that the two classmates who were blaming the Sikh student wanted to teach him a lesson as they held a personal grudge against him. The story was clearly fabricated and then reported to the principal who, without investigating the case, reported it to the police.

Observers say that xenophobia has steadily been on the rise in Quebec. Some in the province are still getting used to the influx of immigrants, other Canadians and non-French speakers. Customs and religious beliefs that they do not understand are often shunned and outlawed without an attempt to create understanding and cross-cultural communication.

The Sikh community stands united with the young Sikh Student. They are condemning the case and seeing it as a fabrication by the police to “get back to the Sikhs” as they lost the landmark case in 2006 against Gurbaj Singh, alleged Manjit Singh, a local, well renowned leader of the Sikh community.