Actor wearing 'kirpan': SGPC initiates legal action against makers of 'Yaariyan 2' movie; dissatisfied with their clarification

Tribune Web Desk

Chandigarh, August 29

The Shiromani Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee (SGPC), the apex religious body of the Sikhs, has taken strong objection to actor Meezaan Jafri allegedly wearing a 'kirpan' -- a symbol of Sikh faith -- in a song in the upcoming movie ‘Yaariyan 2’.

The directors of the film, Radhika Rao and Vinay Sapru, claimed the actor is wearing a 'khukri' (a curved knife) and not a 'kirpan' and that they have no intention to offend or disrespect any religious beliefs.

pic.twitter.com/weK4r4T9WH

— Radhika & Vinay (@SapruAndRao) August 28, 2023

"We would like to address the concerns regarding the visuals in the song - 'Saure Ghar' from our recent film 'Yaariyan 2'. We would like to clarify that the actor in the song is wearing a 'khukri' and not a 'kirpan'. In fact the dialogues in the film make it explicitly clear that it is a khukri," they said, adding their intention was not to offend any religious beliefs.

The SGPC, however, is dissatisfied by the clarification and is now initiating legal action against the makers. As per a tweet by the Sikh body, SGPC president Advocate Harjinder Singh Dhami has ordered the SGPC officials to take legal action in this regard.

SGPC initiates legal action against Yaariyan-2 film for anti-Sikh scenes
-Film hurting Sikh sentiments will not be allowed to release: @SGPCPresident
Amritsar:
The Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) has initiated strict legal action against the film 'Yaariyan-2' for… pic.twitter.com/Ifkz59VslN

— Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (@SGPCAmritsar) August 29, 2023

The SGPC stated that the clarification is illogical and the makers have not agreed to take down the song on the request of the SGPC.

The Sikhs very well know the shape of a 'Kirpan' and a 'Khukri', and the way both are worn on one's body. We are not satisfied with your illogical clarification. Therefore, we are initiating the process of legal action in this case, as the concerned video song is still in public… https://t.co/rlTyXWkYGH pic.twitter.com/LsxsvK5G24

— Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (@SGPCAmritsar) August 29, 2023

In a tweet on X, the SGPC stated: “The Sikhs very well know the shape of a 'Kirpan' and a 'Khukri', and the way both are worn on one's body. We are not satisfied with your illogical clarification. Therefore, we are initiating the process of legal action in this case, as the concerned video song is still in public view and continuously hurting religious sentiments of Sikh community.”

The SGPC stated that the actor is wearing the kirpan on a gatra, which only initiated Sikhs are authorised to wear.

“The Khukri is worn like a pistol on a belt by a person (mostly Gorkha soldiers) authorized to do so, and similarly, the Sikh Kirpan is worn on a Gatra (belt) like the actor has done in your Saure Ghar video song. Only initiated Sikhs are authorised to wear Kirpan as per mandate of Sikh Rehat Maryada (code of conduct) of Sri Akal Takht Sahib and the right under the Constitution of India,” the SGPC statement read.

On Monday, the SGPC had raised strong objection to the scene and asked the makers to remove those from the movie.

We raise our strong objection to these visuals filmed, published in 'Saure Ghar' song of 'Yaariyan 2' film directed by Radhika Rao & Vinay Sapru @SapruAndRao, as actor is seen wearing Sikh Kakaar (symbol of Sikh faith) Kirpan in a highly objectionable manner which cannot be… pic.twitter.com/FZXooNMsoH

— Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (@SGPCAmritsar) August 28, 2023

“We raise our strong objection to these visuals filmed, published in 'Saure Ghar' song of 'Yaariyan 2' film directed by Radhika Rao & Vinay Sapru  @SapruAndRao, as actor is seen wearing Sikh Kakaar (symbol of Sikh faith) 'Kirpan' in a highly objectionable manner which cannot be accepted," the SGPC said on 'X'.

The apex gurudwara body of the Sikhs had also warned to take up the matter with the government.

“This video song is public at the official @YouTube channel of @TSeries, which must take it down with immediate effect. If any other platform is used to publish this video song with the said objectionable scenes must also take it down. We are immediately raising this objection through all channels to the Government and digital platforms,” it said.

The Jathedar of the Akal Takht, the highest temporal seat of the Sikhs, Giani Raghbir Singh has also directed the SGPC to take a strict legal action in the matter.

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