Amritsar: A court in Quebec province of Canada has upheld the right of national assembly to prohibit Sikhs from entering its building wearing a kirpan (ceremonial dagger), one of the five religious symbols of Sikhs. Following an incident of four Sikhs being barred from entering the legislature building by the head of security in 2011, Quebec’s governing Liberals had voted against taking of kirpan to the assembly hall.Balpreet Singh, legal counsel of World Sikh Council of Canada (WSO), said on Wednesday that he and Harminder Kaur were part of a WSO delegation that had been invited to make a presentation at the Quebec national assembly on Bill 94 which would deny essential government services and public employment to individuals who wear facial coverings.“The WSO team was excluded from the hearing before the Committee on Institutions because they were wearing the kirpan,” he said, adding that the Sikh faith required initiated men and women to wear the five Sikh articles of faith, including the kirpan, at all times.WSO president Mukhbir Singh said, “While we are disappointed by the Quebec Court of Appeal’s decision, we aren’t surprised by it. Even the Multani case, which secured the right of Sikhs to wear kirpan in Canada, was not successful at the Quebec Court of Appeal and had to be argued at the Supreme Court. In Canada, the Quebec national assembly and prisons are the only two places with absolute prohibitions on kirpan. It is unfortunate that the issue of kirpan has been highly politicized in Quebec and is no longer about human rights and security, but about identity politics.”They were reviewing the Quebec Court of Appeal’s decision and considering moving the Supreme Court, he added.

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