being a sikh i belive it is my duty to reply to the above posts.
please do not compare such religious practices such as sharia islam with sikhism which is a peaceful equality based religion.
the kirpan means selfless service and righteousness, i.e only to be used in times to protect ones honour (usually anothers) such as a women being attacked etc. not for a pub brawl might i add.
not all sikhs wear kirpans only baptised ones, suggesting that they meditate for atleast 3 hours in the morning ridding one of such animal feelings of anger.
regarding the knife culture in europe (stabbings) i implore those who feel otherwise how many incidents where a sikh kirpan was used (illegally or otherwise) i am sure they are more incidents of snooker chalks being used
Also regarding "moderation in india" this is a very strange assertion giving india's size sikhs only make less than 3% of the population there so to categorize and make an assumption is unfair
i would like to remind my fellow enthusiasts that sikhs deserve their religious allowances especially in europe "With only voluntary recruitment into the army, young Sikh men helped to swell the Indian army from 189,000 at the start of the war to over 2.5 million at the end of the war." over 200 hundred thousand were injure with many killed in world wars of europe which sikhs voluntarily participated in due to injustice.
i respect all your opinions, my sincere apologies for any offences taken,