U.S. Court Backs Sikh Pupils’ Right to Wear Ceremonial Knives to School

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.