Sacramento, CA (October 11, 2009)

In a surprise blow to the Sikh community, Governor Schwarzenegger last night vetoed a bill that would educate law enforcement officers about Sikh articles of faith, including the kirpan. The Governor's decision came as a shock to dozens of organizations, communities and lawmakers who supported the bill. The veto was particularly surprising given the unanimous, bipartisan votes in favor of the bill through both houses of the legislature (77-0 and 36-0 in the Assembly and Senate, respectively).

"This loss for the Sikh community is a reminder of our serious lack of political clout. After months of hard work and 100% support from our lawmakers, the Sikh voice was still not strong enough to overcome the whim of one man. We have been here for over 100 years, but as a community, we need to learn to exercise our political muscle and our voting power," said Prabhjot Singh, the Sikh Coalition Board Chairman.

The Bill

AB 504 was our first attempt to change this dynamic. Though the bill did not touch on the legality of the kirpan, it asked that police officers be trained about who Sikhs are and learn about the significance of the kirpan, in the hopes that religious understanding would decrease arrests. While some police and sheriff's departments have recognized the need for this type of training and have been conducting it on an ad hoc basis, this law would have standardized and mandated the process state-wide. The bill would have been the first law of its kind in the United States.

The Governor vetoed the bill as "unnecessary." His message read, "It is the policy and practice of the Commission to periodically review and update existing course curricula. If the Commission determines that training on the kirpan is warranted, it can create a program without this measure."

The veto came despite the bill's broad endorsement by groups ranging from the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department and party consultants from both sides of the aisle, as well as several religious and civil rights groups. Every single California legislator was in favor of the proposed law. However, numerous efforts by Sikh community members to outreach to the Governor's office prior to the bill's consideration were greeted with no response from the Governor. We suspect that the final veto was the result of law enforcement's strong desire to avoid promoting the acceptance of Sikhs with kirpans.

"The Governor's response is very disappointing. It shows his lack of support for promoting religious understanding," said Neha Singh, Western Region Director of the Sikh Coalition. "It is an utter shame that he does not understand the value of educating our law enforcement agencies on the diverse communities they are policing."

Kirpan - The Sikh Sword

The Kirpan is an article of faith that was revealed to the last Sikh prophet, Guru Gobind Singh, and made mandatory by him for all initiated Sikhs on March 29, 1699. Attempts to change the nature of the Kirpan or to restrict it from the Sikh uniform have always been resisted by Sikhs in the past, just as impositions against wearing of the Cross are likely to be resisted by baptized Christians. A Sikh upon his or her initiation into the Sikh faith agrees to follow the Sikh Rehat Maryada, the Sikh code of conduct. The code of conduct calls to wear a "strapped Kirpan" that is suspended near one's waist. The original language of this document is in Punjabi. An English translation of the requirement in Article XXIV, (d) states:

". . . The person to be baptized must have taken a bath and washed his or her hair and must wear all five K's - Kesh (unshorn hair), strapped Kirpan (sword), Kachhehra (prescribed shorts), Kanga (Comb tucked in the tied up hair), Karha (Steel bracelet) . . ."

The original Punjabi version of this requirement is explicit. It states that the Kirpan is to be worn using a gatra (a strap that enables a kirpan to be suspended near one's waist or tucked inside one's belt). The implication of this explicit requirement is that the Kirpan cannot be worn as a symbol. To neglect to wear one or more of the Five Ks represents a serious lapse in the Sikh religion.

The nature or the definition of Kirpan cannot be changed and The Sikh Coalition has successfully challenged all such attempts.