Written by Don Byrd
A young Sikh student in Auburn, Washington, will be allowed to wear a small sheathed dagger under his school clothes, as required by the Sikh faith. Like most school districts, Auburn’s has a “zero tolerance” policy for weapons, but officials made an exception to accommodate him.
District administrators . . . say there are plenty of Sikhs, both students and staff, who have carried Kirpans to school for years without incident.
In this case, the knife is to be kept under the child’s clothes at all times.
“The knife can’t come out. It can’t be shown around. It needs to be underneath their clothing,” said Auburn Assistant Superintendent of Schools Ryan Foster. “That allows them to express their religion without jeopardizing anyone’s feeling of safety. If there are any problems, we will take it to the family, but we don’t expect any.”
Meanwhile, a trial is underway in Houston in a Sikh woman’s lawsuit against her former employer, the IRS, for refusing to allow her into the building with her kirpan. Despite a judge’s order allowing her to wear it during the trial, she was pinned, and had it was forcibly removed by guards as she tried to enter the courthouse, according to The Daily Signal.
To learn more about the kirpan and its religious significance to Sikhs, you can find a helpful introduction page at sikh.org here.
