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Concertgoers who had tickets to see an Indian music superstar have been offered a refund after refusing to leave their Sikh dagger at the gate. On Sunday night, 25,000 people saw megastar Diljit Dosanjh's first stadium show in Australia in Western Sydney's Parramatta. Many in the crowd were from Dosanjh's Punjabi and Sikh community, some of whom wear the religious symbol in the shape of a small dagger known as a Kirpan. Director of advocacy group Australian United Sikhs NSW Randeep Singh Grewal said the Kirpan had deep religious significance and Sikhs were not allowed to remove it under any circumstance. Baram Bimwal and his wife Sona paid $200 each for their tickets to attend Dosanjh's concert. The 50-year-old with a spinal injury said he fought through the pain to attend, but when security used a wand metal detector on him at the stadium's entrance, he was asked to step aside. "It's really disappointing to be here, and we were told right at the entrance to move aside," he said. Mr Bimwal's Kirpan had triggered the device, and he was asked to remove it, place it in a box and was promised it would be given back to him after the show. He said it felt "very disrespectful and hurtful". "This is not a knife that I've picked up from my kitchen, and I've decided to break the law. It's an article of faith." Kirpans not allowed in NSW venues NSW Police said venue security asked officers to speak to a concertgoer who "refused to cloak a Kirpan". The police statement said "no offences were identified". "Officers spoke with the male patron who declined to cloak the Kirpan. He was then directed from the stadium and left without incident," it read. A spokesperson for Venues NSW, which owns and operates Parramatta Stadium says Kirpans are not permitted inside its venues. "We offer a secure, respectful and free cloaking service. This has been standard practice across the Venues NSW network for the past decade." Venues NSW said it acknowledged Kirpans as an important article of faith to the Sikh community. It said five people opted to use the "cloaking service" and the venue promised to refund the tickets of one patron who refused to remove his Kirpan. Under NSW law, carrying a knife in public is illegal with a few exceptions, including for "genuine religious purposes". 'We won't be compromising our faith' Ms Bimwal said this was the first time she had been refused entry somewhere on account of her husband's Kirpan. "We have gone to several public places, footy games, we work at schools … and there's never been an issue," she said. "The fact that we've been stopped seems hurtful because this is a concert where the artist is of the Sikh faith and for this to have happened is heartbreaking." The couple decided in the end to miss the concert and go home. "If I'm not allowed in with the article of faith, we won't be entering or compromising our faith … we'd rather lose the money because it takes effort to follow what you believe in," Mr Bimwal added. Paravinder Singh and his friend Manmohen Singh faced the same issue. "In our Sikh culture, we cannot remove it [the Kirpan] from the body," Manmohen Singh said. "It's not fair. Diljit is also from the Sikh community." Paravinder Singh said it was not made clear when they were purchasing the tickets that they would not be able to enter with their Kirpans. "They should've mentioned it before we bought the tickets. If it's a private venue, they should mention it," he said. Mr Grewal said the Kirpan was not a weapon. "That's one of the bigger misconceptions," he said. He compared it to the mace in parliament, saying it represented authority. "The Kirpan is a Sikh article of faith … that symbolises the solemn duty to defend the weak and oppressed, uphold justice and stand for righteousness."
