Italian Supreme Court's ban on 'kirpan' unfortunate: DSGMC

The Delhi Sikh Gurudwara Management Committee (DSGMC) today termed as "unfortunate" the the Italian Supreme Court's ban on carrying the 'kirpan', a dagger considered sacred in Sikhism.
DSGMC general secretary Manjinder Singh Sirsa said the organisation will urge External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj to raise the issue with the Italian government.
These issues have cropped up in countries where the governments are not aware of the importance of such "articles of faith" for the Sikhs, said Sirsa who has recently been elected to the Delhi Assembly on a BJP ticket.
The Italian High Cassation Court yesterday ruled against a Sikh Indian migrant who wanted to carry a kirpan, even as it was against the Italian law, the Italian news agency ANSA reported.

The court said migrants who choose to live in the Western world have an obligation to conform to the values of the society they have chosen to settle in, even if its values differ from their own.