Fans miss Diljit Dosanjh’s concert over dagger ban in Western Sydney, netizens say “need to follow rules…”
Singer-actor Diljit Dosanjh fans from the Sikh community were denied entry to the Western Sydney concert as they were sporting their religion dragger (kripan)
Fans of singer-actor Diljit Dosanjh from the Sikh community were denied entry to his Western Sydney concert because they were wearing their religious daggers (kirpans). Despite having valid tickets, they were offered the option to leave their kirpans at the gate. Upon refusing to do so, they were offered a refund, ABC News reported.
The Punjabi singer is currently on tour to Australia where he has become the first Indian artiste to headline stadiums in Sydney, Melbourne along with arena shows in Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth.
The incident happened at the first stadium show in Australia in Western Sydney’s Parramatta Stadium. The members were from the Punjabi and Sikh community and were denied entry for wearing the religious symbol in the shape of a kripan after it was detected by the metal detector during the security check.
As reported, Paramvir Singh Bimwal (50) and his wife Sona paid $200 each for their tickets to attend the concert. He said that he fought through the pain to attend with a spinal injury but was asked to step aside after the security check. “It’s really disappointing to be here, and we were told right at the entrance to move aside,” he said that they were offered to put it in a box with a promise to return back after the show but he denied and returned saying it’s “very disrespectful and hurtful”.
The NSW Police statement read: “Officers spoke with the male patron who declined to cloak the Kirpan. He was then directed from the stadium and left without incident.” Under NSW law, carrying a knife in public is illegal with a few exceptions, including for “genuine religious purposes”.
However, Bimwal claimed that no refunds were made nor anyone communicated with them.
It was further reported that Harman Singh and his friend Manmohan Singh faced the same issue. “In our Sikh culture, we cannot remove it from the body. It’s not fair. Diljit is also from the Sikh community,” Manmohan said.
Advocacy group United Sikhs Australia, NSW branch director, Randeep Singh Grewal said the Kirpan had deep religious significance and Sikhs were not allowed to remove it under any circumstance.
On Reddit, a string of people came in support of the restriction. “Rules and regulations of the country need to be followed first," wrote a user while another added, “You can’t bring a knife to a festival?”.
