Sikh man detained for carrying kirpan in UK’s Birmingham; video viral

Tribune Web Desk 
Chandigarh, August 9

A police officer of UK’s Birmingham city detained a Sikh man for carrying a kirpan in public on Thursday. 

The incident took place on Bull Street in Birmingham and was shared by several people on social media. A Facebook page, ‘British by paper - Punjabi by nature’, posted the video and wrote: 'Police arrest Sikh man for carrying a kirpan.'

In the video, the man can be heard telling the officer: “I'm a Sikh. I can carry this if I want to.”

The viral clip show the Sikh man, wearing a blue traditional dress with a kirpan strapped around his waist. The officer is seen requesting for back-up. 

The officer explains the situation to other officers and the Sikh man is heard asking: “Why, why, why?”

The policeman then talks into his radio again, saying: “He's a little bit aggro with me”.

After a few seconds, the Sikh man points at a bus driver and asks the officer: “Could you call that bus driver, he goes to my temple.”

A woman is then heard saying: “They are arresting him for no reason for wearing a kirpan”.

The Sikh man then walks towards the bus driver, and the officer tries to stop him. The officer says: “Sir I need you to not wander around while I've got you detained.”

The officer can be seen holding onto the Sikh man's arm as a crowd gathers around.

The video has been viewed over 30,000 times and has divided many in the comments.

In 2018, the UK government made an exemption to the 2018 Offensive Weapons Bill to allow Sikhs to carry kirpans for religious reasons.