A heated argument broke out between three Sikh men dressed in Nihang attire and carrying giant swords and the manager of a Zudio outlet in Imphal, Manipur, on Saturday (21st February). The incident happened after the Sikh men entered the clothing store with their weapons, to which the guard at the store objected. The guard asked the Sikh men to leave their weapons outside before entering the store for safety purposes. However, the Sikh men were adamant about carrying their weapons inside the showroom. A video of the incident has gone viral on social media.
According to Dainik Bhaskar, the Sikh men came to the clothing store to buy clothes after visiting a local Gurudwara in Imphal. As they entered the showroom, the guard spotted their swords. He asked them not to carry the weapons inside the showroom. But the men refused to part with their weapons, after which the guard called the manager of the showroom to deal with them.
The manager of the showroom also asked the Sikh men to leave their weapons outside the showroom. This led to a heated argument between the manager and the Sikh men, who accused him of disrespecting their religion. They told the manager that their religion requires them to carry a kirpan (dagger) at all times. To this, the manager said that he does not have a problem if they carry a dagger, which is much smaller than a sword. He said that many Sikhs visit the showroom carrying small daggers, and they are allowed entry. However, the Sikh men refused to listen to him.
Subsequently, the manager said that he would call the police if they did not leave their weapons outside the showroom. This further angered the Sikh men, who threatened to take legal action against the manager. The argument went on for about 40 min before the manager ultimately apologised to the Sikh men, requested them to continue shopping and left. However, they refused to purchase anything from the showroom, alleging that their religion was disrespected by the manager. They accused the manager of targeting them because of their religion and warned that they would not tolerate an attack on their identity or religion.
