How Abu Dhabi trip landed elderly Sikh man in jail

An elderly Sikh man hailing from Kaithal in Haryana was allegedly forced to remove his kirpan and turban while on a tourist visa to Abu Dhabi and was subjected to humiliation during his 20-day detention.

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The victim, Dalvinder Singh, an Amritdhari Sikh, had travelled to Abu Dhabi on a tourist visa as part of a group tour on April 21, 2025. His son Manpreet Singh, who stays in New Delhi, has complained to the Indian Government alleging harassment.

The trouble started when the group visited the Bochasanwasi Akshar Purushottam Swaminarayan (BAPS) temple. Manpreet claimed the Abu Dhabi police stopped his father as they got suspicious about his kirpan. Despite efforts by the tour guides and the temple management, the local police couldn’t be convinced about the religious significance of the kirpan, said Manpreet.

“My father was taken into custody and blamed for arguing with the police even as he didn’t understand the local language or English. During his detention, he was kept in inhumane conditions. His turban, kada and kanga were forcibly removed. He was mentally harassed and not even allowed to change clothes inside the prison,” he said.

Manpreet alleged that during his final days of detention, Dalvinder was shifted to Vathva jail and made to stay among detainees who smoked. “Despite being a vegetarian, he would be served meat. After his release, he was deported bareheaded without a turban, causing humiliation during the return flight to India,” he said.

When Manpreet visited Abu Dhabi to locate his father, the local police “refused to cooperate and didn’t disclose in which prison he had been kept”. “It was only after the Indian embassy’s intervention that the Baniyas jail authorities admitted to his arrest. Despite court orders, his eviction was delayed by 15 days. I wasn’t allowed to meet him…. My father is in shock and he now mostly stays indoors,” he said, recounting the ordeal.

Manpreet has appealed to the Indian Government and the global Sikh diaspora to take up the issue of official recognition of the Sikh religious symbols with the UAE authorities so that such incidents were not repeated.