The U.K. government has passed an amendment that allows Sikhs to carry kirpans and use them during religious and cultural functions. The new Offensive Weapons Bill, aimed at combating rising knife crime in the UK, after receiving Queen Elizabeth II's Royal Assent has completed its passage through Parliament and has become an act of law.
Following a spike in fatal knife attacks and acid attacks in the UK, the bill aims to reduce violent crime by strengthening the laws that govern the possession, supply, and sale of dangerous knives, corrosive substances, and firearms.
Late last year, a change was made to the bill to make sure it wouldn't impact the British Sikh community's right to supply and possess kirpans, or religious swords.
The Sikh community was concerned that the law would prevent them from keeping their ceremonial daggers: Kirpan at home. The U.K. Home Office spokesperson said, “We have engaged closely with the Sikh community on the issue of kirpans. As a result, we have amended the Bill to ensure that the possession and supply of large kirpans for religious reasons can continue.”
Since small kirpans are already protected in UK law, the new legislation does not apply to them.
Member of Parliament Preet Kaur Gill said, "The bill would have meant that Sikhs who possessed a 50cm kirpan in the home would be committing a criminal act and subject to a year’s imprisonment so I am grateful for the minister's intervention to amend the justification for a Sikh possessing a kirpan from the narrow 'religious ceremonies' to 'religious reasons. This was a fundamental change to protect the rights of Sikhs to purchase and possess a kirpan. With this amendment, the Sikh community has been given a clear commitment by the government that they will not be penalized."
When the bill was first introduced it had said the defense to possession of a dangerous knife could be "the person's conduct was for the purpose only of participating in religious ceremonies". Gill told TOI: "When the amendment said religious ceremonies that did not cover you taking it back to your house after a wedding ceremony."
She stated that Sikhs from the All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) for British Sikhs had led a delegation to the UK Home Office to meet with the minister and the team drawing up the bill to change it. This was done to ensure that the kirpan remains exempt when the new bill becomes law.
"The government then tabled an amendment to change it to 'religious reasons' to cover marriages, Nagar Kirtan gatka, Akhand Paths, etc.," she said.
When the bill reached the House of Lords that defense was changed to "show that the person possessed the weapon for religious reasons only".
Narinderjit Singh, general secretary of the Sikh Federation (UK), said: "The Sikh Federation (UK) picked this up before the third reading in the House of Commons and approached MPs belonging to the APPG on UK Sikhs. Over 200 MPs were lobbied in November 2018 and home secretary Sajid Javid was persuaded with the help of Preet Kaur Gill and other MPs to change the wording on legislation that only referred to 'religious ceremonies', i.e. shift from Sikh weddings to the much broader term 'religious reasons. The explanatory note supporting the bill published on November 29, 2018, for the first time mentioned the kirpan by name."
The explanatory note now states: "Religious reasons would include large kirpans which are supplied and possessed for religious reasons."
"Some campaigned in the Lords through opposition peers to have the kirpan legally recognized... but were unable to convince home office ministers and officials" Singh added.
Lord Singh of Wimbledon then tabled a further amendment in the House of Lords creating a defense to the offense of supply and possession of weapons, allowing a person of the Sikh faith to present another person with a curved sword longer than 50 cm in a religious ceremony or other ceremonial events. This was also passed meaning Sikhs can continue to legally possess curved swords to present them to others at a ceremony and for the recipients, whether Sikh or non-Sikh, to possess swords that have been presented to them.
Preet Kaur Gill, Chair of the APPG for British Sikhs said, "I am pleased to see the government amendment...which reflects the importance of not criminalizing the Sikh community for the sale or possession of large kirpans." Therefore, the new law would continue to protect the sale, possession, and use of large kirpans legally.
Sikh MP Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi also intervened during the Offensive Weapons Bill debate to seek "assurances about the kirpan, given the Sikh community's serious concerns”.
In gurdwaras and during religious ceremonies involving the traditional Sikh martial art, kirpans with blades over 50 cm are used by the community. Without the now-accepted amendment, they would have been in violation of the new law regarding the possession of large blades.
The Offense Weapons Act
The Offensive Weapons Act covers new offenses around possession of certain offensive weapons in public and enforces new restrictions on the online sales of bladed articles and corrosive products in an attempt to crack down on rising knife and acid-related attacks in the country.
The act aims to strengthen existing legislation on offensive weapons, with an emphasis on corrosive substances, knives, and some types of firearms. It brings in new laws to ban the sale of corrosive substances to anybody under the age of 18, to target those in possession of acid, to make it more difficult for anyone under the age of 18 to purchase knives online, and to prohibit the sale of certain types of firearms.
According to the Sikh faith, the kirpan is not an offensive weapon, but rather a part of their religious uniform as specified by Guru Gobind Singh, the tenth Sikh Guru. The term "kirpan" literally translates to "weapon of defense"—"kirpa" means "mercy" and "aan" means "honor" and "encapsulates an initiated Sikh's solemn vow of courage and self-defense".
*Based on an article by Naomi Canton/TNN / Mar 28, 2019