Current Events
Whac-a-Mole, India Style:
Now, College Tries To Bar Kirpan-Wearing Sikh
by MIHIR RAY
EDITOR'S NOTE: Whac-a-Mole is an arcade game popular at country fairs in North America. A typical Whac-a-Mole machine consists of a large, waist-level cabinet with five holes in its top and a large, soft, black mallet. Each hole contains a single plastic mole and the machinery necessary to move it up and down. Once the game starts, the moles will begin to pop up from their holes at random. The object of the game is to force the individual moles back into their holes by hitting them directly on the head with the mallet, thereby adding to the player's score. The more quickly this is done the higher the final score will be. [Wikipedia]
Ignorance and prejudice in India constantly pop up at random across the country, in whac-a-mole fashion, and have to be regularly hit on the head with the proverbial mallet. Here's the latest:
Rourkela, Odisha, India
Tension prevailed for hours in Rourkela College on Thursday, April 5, 2012, after college authorities barred a Sikh student from appearing in the university examination for carrying his kripan.
Three other non-Sikh community students also did not appear in the
examination, protesting the decision of the college authorities, while hundreds of Sikhs assembled in front of the college, protesting against the incident.
The Sikh young man and three of his friends were finally allowed to take the examination about three hours later after several senior district administration officials rushed to the spot and intervened in the matter.
A written apology was also submitted by the principal of the college to the Sikh community.
According to sources, when Harwinder Singh, a third year student of Rourkela College, was entering the examination hall, a group of college staff noticed his kirpan hanging on a gaatra under his shirt and asked him to leave the weapon outside the hall.
Harwinder tried to explain that the Sikh article of faith was to be worn on the person at all times, but the college authorities were adamant on their stand and refused to allow him to enter the examination hall with the kripan.
Naveen Jain, Ashok Mohanty and Bimal Mallick - three of his
classmates - also boycotted the examination, showing solidarity with Harwinder Singh.
Sikh community members tried to reason with the college principal,
informing him about a Supreme Court of India order that Sikhs are allowed to carry their kripan even in tight securities areas such as aircraft and airports.
"We tried our best to convince the principal and staff of the college but they were rigid on their stand and there was no sympathy for the career of Harwinder Singh and the other three boys," said Gurmeet Singh, President of Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee.
Finding no other alternative, members of the community staged a
demonstration to draw the attention of the district administration, following which senior district officials like Sub-Collector S.B. Mishra and Rourkela Additional Superintendent of Police Sudarsan Sethi reached the spot.
The matter was also brought to the knowledge of the Examination
Controller of Sambalpur University, who granted a special permission to the four students to appear in the examination, after about three hours of the scheduled examination starting time.
Pradeep Kumar Jena, Principal of the College, was forced to submit a written apology to the Sikh community for his ignorant and unprofessional behaviour.
"I had no intention of hurting the sentiments of the Sikh community but the problem occurred due to inadvertent interpretation of the examination law for which I am extremely sorry," the chastised principal stated in his apology letter.
The Sikh community thanked the district administration for their
intervention and support.
[Courtesy: TNN. Edited for sikhchic.com]
April 8, 2012
Conversation about this article
1: Sunny Grewal (Abbotsford, British Columbia, Canada), April 08, 2012, 12:38 PM.
One could at least understand to an extent when something like this happens in the West. But for something as stupid as the actions of this principal to happen in India, where Sikhs are well known by the entire population, is just ridiculous.
2: Gurwinder Singh (Hyderabad, India), April 08, 2012, 11:24 PM.
I want to thank and congratulate yhe three gentleman - Naveen Jain, Ashok Mohanty and Bimal Mallick - who stood with courage beside their friend in time of need, against injustice. This kind of courage and solidarity is much needed to safe guard each other's human rights. Kudos to these three heroes!
3: Jaswinder Kaur (Germany), April 26, 2012, 11:24 PM.
We honour the three friends of Harwinder Singh: Naveen Jain, Ashok Mohanty and Bimal Mallick. With more young men and women like them in India, it would be a better country indeed. No politicians would then dare to sponsor murders in the name of religion.