Should
a boy scout walking around with a Swiss-army knife be considered
dangerous? Should Swiss-army knives be banned altogether? Well, for the
Italian interior minister, if the small knife is carried for religious
reasons, then the answer is yes.
Last
May, after years of court cases and appeals, the interior minister
announced that it was refusing to recognize Sikhism as a religion, on
the grounds that the kirpan, the small ceremonial dagger that Sikhs must carry at all times, is dangerous.
The
announcement was a great disappointment for the Italian Sikh community.
“We are sad. Obviously we respect Italy and its laws, but after all
these years of honest work in this country, we were hoping for a
positive outcome,” says Harwant Singh, president of the Italian National
Sikh Dharam Parchar Committee.
“I’m
surprised that legal status is denied to a community which is a symbol
of integration. They are the pillars of the production of the Parmesan
cheese, just to give an example,” says Andrea Sarubbi, a member of
parliament with the center-left Democratic Party, who is trying to find a
solution to the dispute.
The
first Sikhs arrived in Italy in the 1980s. They moved to northern and
central Italy, where they worked hard without complaining, glad to
create their own Italian families. Today, there are 60,000 Sikhs in
Italy. “We wanted to live and stay here forever,” says Singh. “We have
always followed the rules. We are a peaceful community, but we wish
others respected our religion too.”
Despite being founded in the 15th
century and being the fifth-largest religion in the world, today in
Italy, the Sikh religion has no legal existence. It is just an
association like any other.
Traditions and rules
Sikhs
have to follow many rules. Men cannot cut their hair and must cover
their heads with turbans. They also have to carry a comb, which is a
sign of cleanness, traditional pants, a steel bracelet -- and the much
disputed kirpan dagger.
The
turban has also been an issue in the past. The Italian Interior
Ministry only authorized its use in official ID photos in 1995. Even if,
once in a while, there are some problems at airport security checks,
the issue of the turban is considered settled.
But
this is not the case for the ceremonial dagger. After a first refusal
from the interior ministry, Italy’s main administrative and judiciary
body, the state council, confirmed that the kirpan was illegal
in June 2010. In August 2011, Sikhs appealed, pointing out that the
dagger was only carried under the belt, and could not be drawn. Moreover
their religion does not require a specific length and so the knife can
be shorter than 4 centimetres – so as not to be considered a weapon.
Last May, the ministry rejected these objections.
“Now we have to think about our next move, but we’ll fight the
decision,” says Singh. “We have 60 days to appeal the administrative
authority or 120 days for an extraordinary appeal to the Italian
president,” he adds.
Before
his next appeal, the president of the Sikh community in Italy is due to
meet up with representatives of the government, to see if there is room
for a new decision. “It is important for us. Many people see us as
Talibans. We have to make them understand that we are totally different.
But we also want our religion to be respected in all its aspects,”
Singh says. “A multicultural society has to face the dimension of the
different faiths. They are difficult challenges but they cannot be
avoided. They exist and need solutions,” says Sarubbi.
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Published on La Stampa by Flavia Amabile, July 27, 2012