Allow 'Kirpan' on domestic flights for Sikhs arriving in India from abroad, Minority body

National Commission for Minorities urges civil aviation ministry to allow international flights to be treated as a domestic flight once it lands in India so Sikh passengers can carry the 'kirpan,' reports PTI.

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To allow Sikh passengers travelling domestically to carry 'kirpan,' the National Commission for Minorities (NCM) has urged the civil aviation ministry to treat international flights as domestic ones after they land in the country and proceed to another destination. Explaining the problem being faced by some Sikh travellers, NCM chief Iqbal Singh Lalpura told PTI that when an international flight lands in Delhi and has to proceed to Amritsar, those boarding here are not allowed to carry the 'kirpan' as international flight rules apply.

He said once the flight has landed in Delhi or any other airport in the country it should be treated as a domestic flight in terms of those boarding it to go to another destination within the country and allow that person to carry the 'kirpan' as it is allowed on domestic flights.

In a letter to Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia dated May 23, Lalpura made an appeal to the minister to do away with what he called a "discriminatory rule."

(With inputs from PTI)