Weapons seized at Leamington Spa Sikh temple ‘ceremonial’

Source: BBC

All but one of the “bladed weapons” seized after 55 people were arrested at a protest at a Sikh temple were ceremonial, police said.

Armed officers surrounded the Gurdwara Sahib in Leamington Spa after reports men entered the building in a row over inter-faith marriages.

The Sikh Federation pressure group said the Sikh community had concluded Warwickshire Police had “overreacted”.

Officers “assessed the situation and responded accordingly,” the force said.

Read more news for Coventry and Warwickshire

A statement from Sikh Youth UK said its members were peacefully protesting against an inter-faith marriage that was to be carried out as a Sikh marriage at the temple.

Ceremonial weapons

Fifty-five men, aged between 17 and 39, were arrested on suspicion of aggravated trespass.

One of them – a 39-year-old from Birmingham – was also arrested for causing racially aggravated fear or provocation of violence by words.

Warwickshire Police said a “significant number of bladed weapons” had been seized.

Gurdwara in Leamington SpaImage copyrightGOOGLE
Image captionPolice said they got reports of a group of masked men forcing their way into the temple in Leamington Spa

The force later confirmed the majority of these were Kirpans – one of the five physical symbols of faith worn by Sikhs.

A Warwickshire Police spokesman said it responded to a report a group of masked men, initially thought to be about 20, who had forced their way into the temple.

He said: “These were reported to be carrying a range of bladed items, some of which were initially described as not being for ceremonial use.

“Blades seized so far have been ceremonial. Another non-ceremonial weapon was seized.”

He said police would be investigating the initial claim that other weapons were involved.

Read more

1 reply

  1. A Muslim is not allowed to marry a non-Muslim.

    Marriage is as important to the future of the nation as climate change and poverty, a senior family lawyer said yesterday. Baroness Deech said the growing numbers of families without fathers was doing more harm to the next generation than other factors such as smoking, alcohol, poor diet and lack of exercise. And she warned that a conspiracy of silence surrounded the issue because political leaders were afraid to say married families were better for children than cohabiting families or single parent families. Children of single mothers have greater problems than those of cohabitee parents, and children of cohabitees have greater problems than those of married parents. Without both a mother and a father children don’t get the whole package when they are growing up and don’t develop the whole gamut of emotions. Children deserve natural parents who are prepared to make the act of commitment and aspiration found only in marriage, in order to demonstrate to those children that they intend to be there for them, without question, as they grow up.

    The wedding ceremony highlights the fact that marriage is the strongest bond ever invented to link together two people and two families, for now and posterity – intimately, legally, politically, religiously, civilly and publicly. God gave us instructions to follow so that we would live properly. Religion is pushed aside. It’s ok now to have children outside marriage. It’s ok to be homosexual. You don’t get punished properly for coming crime. It’s ok to sleep around and do what you want… Take God out of the equation and the world goes to rack and ruin. Just look at the world getting worse over the years. Oh, and before someone says religion causes war… Religion doesn’t cause wars. It’s mans own greed that twists religion to suit his need that causes war.
    IA
    http://www.londonschoolofislamic.sorg.uk

Leave a Reply