Tensions over a Sikh boy who took a religious sword to an elementary school have prompted a public meeting Thursday night to introduce the Sikh religion to metro Detroiters.
Last month, controversy erupted after a fourth-grade boy at Bentley Elementary in Canton, Mich., was found with a 3- to 5-inch saber.
After they are baptized, Sikh males are expected to carry the religious symbol, called a kirpan. The principal initially decided to allow the boy to have it, since it had a blunt edge and was a religious item. The district did not identify the boy.
But after concerns expressed by parents and a legal review, the Plymouth-Canton Community Schools district decided to ban the kirpan because it violated local, state and federal policies against carrying weapons or items that look like weapons to school.
That concerned some Sikh parents, who say the kirpan is a nonthreatening item that symbolizes their commitment to fighting against evils, such as greed. Similar disputes have erupted in other parts of the U.S.
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