Kirpan

The Sikh Coalition assists Sikhs who have been discriminated against or are being criminally prosecuted because they wear a kirpan, a Sikh article of faith. Representative cases include:

Kawaljeet Kaur v. United States (Kirpan in Employment)

Houston, TX (January 8, 2009) - The Sikh Coalition filed suit against the federal government this week to protect a Sikh employee's right to wear her kirpan to work. The lawsuit alleges that the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and Federal Protective Service (FPS) discriminated against Kawaljeet Kaur Tagore by prohibiting her from carrying a kirpan, a mandatory article of faith, on her job as a revenue agent at the Mickey Leland Federal Building in downtown Houston. Ms. Tagore was fired from her job in July 2006 because she refused to remove her kirpan.Learn More »

Maninder Singh (Criminal Kirpan)

Hayward, California (March 27, 2008) - Prosecutors in Alameda County, California decided to drop criminal charges against Maninder Singh, a Sikh who was arrested for carrying his kirpan. The charges were dismissed as a result of a collaborative effort between the Sikh Coalition and Singh's defense attorney.Learn more »

AT&T (Kirpan in Employment)

Brecksville, Ohio (October 24, 2007) - An AT&T office in Brecksville, Ohio has reversed its workplace ban against kirpans. Harcharan Singh (Sandhu), an IT consultant from India will be allowed to continue consulting for AT&T and will not be sent back to India. AT&T reversed its decision one week after the Sikh Coalition's intervention. Learn more »

Harvard University (Kirpans on Campus)

Cambridge, Massachusetts (July 31, 2006) – Harvard University has returned a Sikh student’s kirpan as a result of the Sikh Coalition’s intervention. The student, Navdeep Singh, had voluntarily given his kirpan to a University administrator who requested that the administration be able to keep it while the university determined whether he would able to wear it on campus. The student’s kirpan was returned to him within hours after the Coalition’s intervention.Learn More »

 

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