Gursikh girl with ‘kirpan’ not allowed to appear for judicial exam in Rajasthan

Amritsar, June 23

Hours after a Gursikh candidate, Armanjot Kaur of Jalandhar, wearing a ‘kirpan’, was not allowed to appear for a judicial examination conducted by the Rajasthan High Court in Jodhpur today, SGPC chief Harjinder Singh Dhami asked Rajasthan Chief Minister Bhajan Lal Sharma to make special arrangements to conduct exam of the law graduate.

After the incident, Armanjot’s father Baljit Singh brought the matter to the notice of the SGPC. Dhami said it was a violation of the Constitution to deny permission to a candidate due to her religious symbol.

He added that staff of the examination centre, which was ignorant of the law, allegedly tried to ruin the career of the Gursikh student. The SGPC chief said the Sikh body would stand with Armanjot and ensure that her career does not gets affected.

SAD chief Sukhbir Badal termed the incident “shocking”. He said: “Wearing ‘kirpan’ is one of the five kakars and is part of the Sikh ‘rehat maryada’. This is an outrage against our religion.