Tribune News Service

Amritsar, August 8

The SGPC has taken stern notice of ‘Amritdhari’ Sikh candidates being forced to remove ‘kirpan’ before taking the examination for patwari post at a college in Sector 32, Chandigarh, on Sunday.

SGPC president Bibi Jagir Kaur demanded strict action from the Chandigarh administrator against the officials concerned and also asked the Chief Minister to intervene as such a decision “could never be tolerated in the Punjab capital”.

“India is a multi-religious country whose Constitution allows everyone to live according to their own faith. In such a situation, forcing Sikh candidates to remove ‘kirpan’ to sit for the exam has hurt the sentiments of the community,” said Bibi Jagir Kaur.

The SGPC president alleged it seemed all this had been done intentionally as after protest by candidates, they were allowed to sit for the test by putting tapes on their ‘kirpans’ to cover them.