A Sikh couple says they were subjected to questioning in a movie theater in the San Francisco Bay Area and then ejected for wearing a religious symbol known as a kirpan, reports Sikh 24.
A kirpan is a deeply sacred ceremonial sword that has drawn comparisons to the cross in Christian religions.
Manjot Singh and his wife Ikman Kaur have asked the AMC Theater in Emeryville to change its discriminatory policies, apologize for the humiliation, and turn over surveillance video of the incident.
“AMC has made a statement claiming that Singh was asked to leave after brandishing his kirpan in the lobby, which is absurd,” said attorney Harmeet Kaur Dhillon. “Singh and a vast majority of Sikhs wear their kirpan underneath their clothes, and the staff never saw Singh’s kirpan. He was singled out by the staff merely because of his appearance as a turban-wearing, bearded Sikh who apparently made the theater manager uncomfortable.”
You can read the couple’s remarks about the incident in Sikh 24.