Amritsar: January 17, 2025: Amritdhari Sikhs taking international flights from airports in India, including Sri Guru Ramdas Ji International Airport in Amritsar and Delhi International Airport, are being prevented from wearing the religious symbols Kirpan-Khanda tied to a thread and worn around their necks.
Fly Amritsar Initiative, which is striving for the development of Amritsar International Airport and more flights, and Amritsar Vikas Manch, a social service organization dedicated to the all-round development of Amritsar, and prominent members of the Sikh community living abroad, have written a letter to the Aviation Minister of the Government of India, Shri Ram Mohan Naidu, Union Minister S. Hardeep Singh Puri, President of Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee S. Harjinder Singh Dhami, Chairperson of the National Minorities Commission S. Iqbal Singh Lalpura, President of Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee S. Harmeet Singh Kalka, National Secretary of BJP S. Manjinder Singh Sirsa and other Sikh leaders and have appealed to them to immediately address these restrictions.
Recently, a video of an Amritdhari Sikh passenger went viral, in which he was seen outside the Amritsar airport terminal saying that he was not allowed to board the plane during security screening because he refused to remove the kirpan, which is less than 1-inch long, worn around his neck.
Fly Amritsar Initiative Global Convener and Overseas Secretary of the platform Sameep Singh Gumtala and Initiative Convener Anantdeep Singh Dhillon expressed deep concern that Sikh passengers are being asked to remove religious items such as kirpan, khanda and kange, which are only one inch long, worn around their necks on a thread, during security screening for international flights. Sikh passengers arriving in India from foreign airports like the US, Canada and the Netherlands do not face any problem in wearing these symbols, but at Indian airports like Amritsar and Delhi, they are forced to remove them on their return.
In their letter to Minister Naidu and others, these leaders stressed that these small kirpans worn around the neck are not worn in a bag or around the waist like the large kirpans carried on domestic flights in India, but are worn around the neck with a thread.
Gumtala said, “Many Amritdhari Sikh passengers travelling internationally from Amritsar and Delhi airports have approached us and told us that being forced to remove these small religious objects is a violation of their religious freedom. The government should issue guidelines to resolve this soon.”
Dhillon expressed his disappointment, saying, “This problem is only happening at Indian airports. “We have therefore appealed to Minister Naidu to intervene as the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS) department, which formulates such aviation security policies, works under the Ministry of Aviation.” The forum leaders have also appealed to the SGPC and Sikh leaders to advocate for the religious rights of Sikh passengers and respect their religious freedom. They stressed that although there should be no compromise with airport security, this should not infringe on the religious freedom of Sikhs as enshrined in the Indian Constitution.
