TAKHT REJECTS BLUNT KIRPANS BY ITALIAN FIRM

AMRITSAR: The Akal Takht on Thursday rejected samples of blunt, harmless kirpans (daggers) made by an Italian company, which offered to manufacture these in view of Italy’s ban on carrying kirpans.

Representatives of the company Kirpal Legal Worldwide had approached the temporal seat of Sikhs on June 26, seeking approval for manufacturing kirpans with material that bends when it contacts anything. They had presented samples to jathedar Giani Gurbachan Singh.

After a meeting of the five Sikh high priests on Thursday, it was decided that such a kirpan fails to serve the “purpose”, said the jathedar, without elaborating. “We have gone through references in history and scriptures. Such a kirpan is not as per Sikh ethos... As for the ban in Italy, Sikh organisations should make joint efforts to ensure that it is lifted.”

ERRORS, BOYCOTT

The jathedar also said the Akal Takht has found spelling errors in Guru Granth Sahib’s bir penned down by Jaswant Singh Khosa, installed at Takht Damdama Sahib. He directed action on manager Jagjit Singh and other employees, besides summoning Khosa for “hurting Sikh sentiments”.

Saying that Sikh scholar Harjinder Singh Dilgir has also hurt sentiments by his “objectionable” writings on maryada, the jathedar called for a complete boycott of the scholar and his books.

ON SERAI ARRESTS

Taking serious note of the incident in which three SGPC employees were held with a sex worker in a serai of Takht Damdama Sahib, the jathedar directed the SGPC to make “strict arrangements” at serais.