The University of North Carolina has allowed Sikh students to come to campus wearing a kirpan. This decision has been taken after a video went viral.
Image Credit source: PTI
A prestigious university of America has made a big announcement regarding Sikhs. The university has said that it will allow students of Sikh religion to wear the sacred object of their religion i.e. kirpan in the campus. In fact, two months ago a video went viral in which a student of the University of North Carolina at Charlotte was detained for possessing a saber. Ever since this video surfaced, there was a demand for change. there, now University of North Carolina Has started the change.
According to a statement issued by the University of North Carolina, students are allowed to carry sabers on campus. But the length of the blade should be less than 3 inches and it should always be kept in a sheath and worn close to the body. The decision is effective immediately, according to a statement released by Chancellor Sharon L. Gerber and Chief Diversity Officer Brandon L. Wolfe.
Sikh organizations welcomed the decision
The university said in a statement, ‘The Office of Diversity and Inclusion also organized an awareness training with our police department this week with the help of Institutional Integrity. It will continue to expand our cultural education and training opportunities across all of our campuses.’ It further said, ‘Permission to wear other religious items, such as a large kirpan, may be sought from the Office of Civil Rights and Title IX. Each case is evaluated one by one.
At the same time, this decision taken by the university was justified and welcomed by many organizations including non-profit organizations The Sikh Coalition and Global Sikh Council.
What was in the viral video?
In fact, in September, a video went viral on the social media platform Twitter, in which a boy was seen being handcuffed by a police officer. According to the video, the police handcuffed the boy because he was not giving his saber to the officer.
I wasn’t going to post this, but I don’t think I will receive any support from @unccharlotte , I was told someone called 911 and reported me, and I got cuffed for resisting because I refused to let the officer take my kirpan out of the miyaan. @CLTNinerNews pic.twitter.com/Vk9b0Tspvm
— امآن وڡائچ (@thatsamaan) September 23, 2022
The victim student had tweeted the video and said, ‘I was not going to post it. But I don’t think I will get any help from the university. I was told that someone called 911 to report me. I have been handcuffed only because I did not allow the officer to remove the saber from my sheath.
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