U.S. Court Backs Sikh Pupils’ Right to Wear Ceremonial Knives to School
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SAN FRANCISCO — Sikh youths should be allowed to wear ceremonial knives, as their faith dictates, at school if other students can be protected from possible harm, a federal appeals court ruled Friday.
The U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals said a California elementary school must make all reasonable efforts to accommodate the religious beliefs and practices of three youngsters who have not attended school since January.
Two brothers and a sister, ages 7, 8 and 10, were barred from their elementary school in Livingston, near Merced, after students saw one of the knives and told a teacher. The Sikh family sued the district, charging that the policy placed an unlawful burden on their freedom of religion.
The knives, or kirpans, which usually have four-inch blades, are worn by Khalsa Sikhs in sheaths under their clothes after baptism, one of five symbols of devotion to God. Sikhism is a Hindu religious sect founded in northern India.
The court suggested that the kirpan be blunted and sewn or locked into its sheath.
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