Sikh 'barred from Birmingham jury service' for religious sword (www.bbc.co.uk)

submitted 1 year ago by Chariotwheel@kbin.social to c/unitedkingdom@feddit.uk

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Jatinder Singh, from Smethwick, was summoned to serve as a juror at Birmingham Crown Court on Monday

But, he said, a security guard refused him entry at the court over his kirpan, the sword carried by all Sikhs.

The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) said Mr Singh was released from his duties as there was a surplus of required jurors.

Meanwhile, His Majesty's Courts and Tribunals Service (HMCTS) has apologised to Mr Singh.

Khalsa Sikhs carry the five Ks with them at all times, as a symbol of their faith.

These include Kesh or uncut hair; Kara which is a a steel bracelet; the Kanga, a wooden comb; Kacca or cotton underwear and the Kirpan

Mr Singh, who has served as president at Guru Nanak Gurdwara in Smethwick and as secretary general of the Sikh Council UK, said this was the second time he has been summoned for jury service, the first passing with no issue.

On this occasion, he entered the morning session with no problems, but when he tried to return to the court after lunch was pulled aside by a security guard and told he could not go in.

"The security guard said I could take [my kirpan] off and leave it with him and collect it at the end of the day," he said.

"I felt like a child who has gone to school and taken something they shouldn't and had it confiscated.

"To have that happen to me, I felt embarrassed, I felt discriminated against, I didn't expect it to happen to me."

He called for the (MoJ) to work with Sikh and other religious organisations to create easily accessible guidelines that can be provided to staff.

Dabinderjit Singh, the principal adviser to the Sikh Federation UK said it had written to Justice Minister Alex Chalk asking him to condemn the treatment of Mr Singh.

The MoJ said members of the Sikh community wishing to enter a court building could bring in a Kirpan which was not more than six inches long (15cm) and with a blade no more than five inches (12cm) in length - which Mr Singh said his was.

A spokesperson for HMCTS added: "We have apologised to Mr Singh for any distress caused and have reminded our contracted security officers of the correct steps to take to prevent this incident from happening again."

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[-] HerbalGamer@lemm.ee 23 points 1 year ago

"This is my emotional support sword"

[-] funkless_eck@sh.itjust.works 22 points 1 year ago

I mean Sikhs have a special dispensation in law explicitly to carry the kirpan to court. It does suck for someone to have a specific law saying "you can definitely do this in this place" and have a rent-a-cop claim his personal decision is more important than the law of the country and a lifetime of religion and culture.

Especially as most kids learn about the 5 K of Sikhism in school.

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[-] LinkOpensChest_wav@beehaw.org 11 points 1 year ago

It's actually an important part of their religious and cultural practices, and according to the article it appears that this man did follow the restrictions placed on these ceremonial blades by the court, so he should not have been denied entry.

[-] HerbalGamer@lemm.ee 10 points 1 year ago

It’s actually an important part of their religious and cultural practices

that should -imho- never be relevant. Religions shouldn't have any more legal meaning than a book club. but here we are.

[-] LinkOpensChest_wav@beehaw.org 13 points 1 year ago

I tend to agree, but the place to start isn't by targeting minority religions.

[-] HerbalGamer@lemm.ee 3 points 1 year ago

just wait until we invent actual lightsabers and the jedi start showing up

[-] LinkOpensChest_wav@beehaw.org 3 points 1 year ago

The younglings: "Here we go again!"

Seinfeld slap bass

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[-] Empricorn@feddit.nl 1 points 1 year ago

"What task has it been trained to help you with?"

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[-] HeartyBeast@kbin.social 20 points 1 year ago

I thought it was pretyt well understood that Sikhs carry these. I'm surprised the security guard hadn't been properly briefed.

[-] JJROKCZ@lemmy.world 19 points 1 year ago

Maybe in the UK, as an American I didn’t even know Sikhs existed until I was 20 and met one while trying to move to a city. I didn’t even know about the 5 Ks until today at 30, I thought the turban and suit/vest thing they wear were then major religious adornments. Then again the only Sikh I see regularly is the Canadian politician Jagmeet Singh

[-] mannycalavera@feddit.uk 13 points 1 year ago

MFW Americans realise this is how they get to carry guns into schools.

[-] Pulptastic@midwest.social 13 points 1 year ago

This is an interesting problem. On the one hand, the rules were clearly defined and he followed them. On the other, I feel that religious exemptions are a slippery slope that could enable poor behavior. Though his behavior was not poor, others could use that as an opportunity to act poorly.

Ideally I'd love a policy that meets our needs when applied uniformly, but in this case I don't see an alternative to individual review of religious exemption requests. But who reviews the reviewers? It is a laborious bootstrap problem and would ultimately need a certifying body like we have NIST for measurement standards.

[-] ThrowawayPermanente@sh.itjust.works 8 points 1 year ago

The Mandalorians are going to have a field day with this one

[-] Biohazard@feddit.uk 6 points 1 year ago

It is birmingham. You can't be too careful :P

[-] DeathWearsANecktie@lemm.ee 3 points 1 year ago

"BIRMINGHAM IS A FUCKING SHITHOLE! I HATE THE FUCKING PLACE!" - Danny G

[-] autotldr@lemmings.world 3 points 1 year ago

This is the best summary I could come up with:

A Sikh man said he felt "embarrassed and discriminated against" after being prevented from taking part in jury service due to his religious sword.

These include Kesh or uncut hair; Kara which is a a steel bracelet; the Kanga, a wooden comb; Kacca or cotton underwear and the Kirpan

On this occasion, he entered the morning session with no problems, but when he tried to return to the court after lunch was pulled aside by a security guard and told he could not go in.

He called for the (MoJ) to work with Sikh and other religious organisations to create easily accessible guidelines that can be provided to staff.

The original article contains 430 words, the summary contains 185 words. Saved 57%. I'm a bot and I'm open source!

[-] darklypure@kbin.social 1 points 1 year ago

Attacking

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this post was submitted on 30 Oct 2023

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