Denied entry to match, Sikh man alleges bias in US

New York, March 16

A Sikh man has claimed that he was denied entry to a basketball match in the US because he was carrying a ‘kirpan’. Mandeep Singh had gone to watch NBA team Sacramento Kings in California. Sharing his photos from outside the venue from his Twitter handle, Singh said he spoke to multiple people regarding the issue, which he called “religious discrimination”, but to no avail.

“Unfortunate experiencing religious discrimination and being denied entry at the @SacramentoKings game tonight b/c Im #Sikh. Wouldn’t let me in bc of #kirpan. Spoke w/ multiple people up the security chain and none seem to understand. Been a fan since 96. Not so much anymore,” he tweeted on Tuesday..

Singh’s tweet invited sharp reactions from Twitter users with one of them saying: “It will never be our land and their rules will always stand.”

“I would hope the Kings don’t discriminate based on religion. I’ve seen the Kings represent Sikhs with Sikh Heritage Night and I think it’s great. I think the Kings didn’t allow your Kirpan in for public safety reasons, not because of religious discrimination,” another user wrote. — IANS