SGPC to approach int’l court against Italian court ruling

Gagan K Teja

Tribune News Service

Patiala, May 17

Annoyed over the Italian Supreme Court’s ruling of turning down a plea put up by a Sikh migrant seeking permission to wear his kirpan, the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) has decided to approach the International Court of Justice (ICJ) to safeguard the right of Sikhs to wear religious symbols across the world.

SGPC President Kirpal Singh Badungar today said the committee had already taken up the matter with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the External Affairs Ministry to initiate talks with the Italian government and press upon them to ensure that religious rights of the Sikhs were protected.

Badungar said it was the moral responsibility of every government to respect the religious sentiments of people residing in their country and ensure that every resident was free to follow his religion and its code. “Most of the countries across the world, including Muslim countries, have people from different religions living there and all these countries are highly respectful of all religions. However, it is condemnable that the Italian government is forcing Sikhs to stop wearing their religious symbols.”

Meanwhile, Badungar said the SGPC panel had met President Pranab Mukherjee with a memorandum seeking release of Sikh prisoners, who had completed their jail term and clemency for Balwant Singh Rajoana, assassin of former CM Beant Singh.