Some are calling it a clash of culture and corporate policy.Calgary police were summoned Sunday night when several dozen people were turned away from the Telus convention centre from a concert by Gurdas Maan, a popular Punjabi folk artist.Security officials wouldn't allow entry to many who had paid $100 per ticket because they were wearing kirpans, ceremonial daggers of religious significance to Sikhs.Officials with the convention centre says they have a no-weapons policy, though many in the crowd were upset at having the kirpan characterized as a weapon.When the argument between concertgoers and security guards got heated, police were called in.One concertgoer says the same show was staged in Toronto and Vancouver with no problems, and he couldn't understand why it was a problem in Calgary.
CALGARY — The show will go on this afternoon for Punjabi singing superstar Gurdas Maan, whose concert was stopped amid controversy in Calgary on Sunday night.
Promoter Nirmal Dhaliwal said Maan will perform an open-air make-up performance beginning at 3 p.m. at Prairie Winds Park in northeast Calgary.
Ticketholders from Sunday night's aborted show will get priority seating inside the venue being set up at the park, but walk-up crowds are also welcome to watch and listen from outside the fence, Dhaliwal said.
"We will try to do everything the best we can," the promoter said in an interview this morning.
Hundreds of upset concertgoers spilled onto the streets around the Telus Convention Centre Sunday night after Maan's show was shut down mid-performance.
Dhaliwal said the trouble started when convention-centre security guards refused entry to patrons who were wearing the kirpan — a ceremonial dagger carried by some observant Sikhs.
Despite explanations from Dhaliwal and others that the kirpan isn't considered a weapon, convention-centre officals refused to budge.
Dhaliwal said at the time there were about 10 Sikhs — mainly older men — who were initially denied entry. The promoter said he even offered to personally assume responsibility for their conduct and escort them to seats backstage but the venue's general manager wouldn't agree.
"They were stubborn — they wouldn't listen," Dhaliwal said.
Dhaliwal admitted that emotions ran high at the doors when the group was told they couldn't get in, but even so, he said, that was no reason to end the concert in progress.
"They had no right to pull the plug on the show when inside the hall wasn't a problem," he said.
Considering Maan's Punjabi heritage and his wide popularity in India and abroad, some concertgoers were incredulous that security staff wouldn't have been better educated about the kirpan's importance to Sikhs.
"They should have expected this, and accepted this," said Bhola Singh Chuahan.
Wearing the kirpan is considered a central requirement of the Sikh faith and it is meant to symbolize courage, dignity and a follower's readiness to defend the weak and oppressed.
"We respect Canadian laws," said Amarjit Singh, who was wearing a kirpan underneath his blazer.
Singh said he couldn't understand why kirpans were being barred from the convention centre when Sikh parliamentarians have long been allowed to wear them inside the House of Commons.
"This is part of our religion," he said, likening it to a Christian wearing a crucifix.
Maan, often called "India's Michael Jackson," attracted a family-heavy crowd made up parents, children and grandparents.
Security staff were turning away "ladies, even kids. We tried to talk to them, but nobody listened." said Ranbir Singh Parmar.
At about 9:30 p.m., the show was ended and police were called to help empty the concert hall.
Parmar, like hundreds of others milling around the street outside, waited for relatives who had already made it inside the concert to make their way out.
"This is a Punjabi show. People can go to Stampede with a kirpan; why not here?" asked Parmar.
Police officers ringed the entrances to the convention centre, and the HAWCS helicopter circled overhead.
The crowd dispersed largely without incident, but officers were seen making arrests.
jvanrassel@theherald.canwest.com
Promoter Nirmal Dhaliwal said Maan will perform an open-air make-up performance beginning at 3 p.m. at Prairie Winds Park in northeast Calgary.
Ticketholders from Sunday night's aborted show will get priority seating inside the venue being set up at the park, but walk-up crowds are also welcome to watch and listen from outside the fence, Dhaliwal said.
"We will try to do everything the best we can," the promoter said in an interview this morning.
Hundreds of upset concertgoers spilled onto the streets around the Telus Convention Centre Sunday night after Maan's show was shut down mid-performance.
Dhaliwal said the trouble started when convention-centre security guards refused entry to patrons who were wearing the kirpan — a ceremonial dagger carried by some observant Sikhs.
Despite explanations from Dhaliwal and others that the kirpan isn't considered a weapon, convention-centre officals refused to budge.
Dhaliwal said at the time there were about 10 Sikhs — mainly older men — who were initially denied entry. The promoter said he even offered to personally assume responsibility for their conduct and escort them to seats backstage but the venue's general manager wouldn't agree.
"They were stubborn — they wouldn't listen," Dhaliwal said.
Dhaliwal admitted that emotions ran high at the doors when the group was told they couldn't get in, but even so, he said, that was no reason to end the concert in progress.
"They had no right to pull the plug on the show when inside the hall wasn't a problem," he said.
Considering Maan's Punjabi heritage and his wide popularity in India and abroad, some concertgoers were incredulous that security staff wouldn't have been better educated about the kirpan's importance to Sikhs.
"They should have expected this, and accepted this," said Bhola Singh Chuahan.
Wearing the kirpan is considered a central requirement of the Sikh faith and it is meant to symbolize courage, dignity and a follower's readiness to defend the weak and oppressed.
"We respect Canadian laws," said Amarjit Singh, who was wearing a kirpan underneath his blazer.
Singh said he couldn't understand why kirpans were being barred from the convention centre when Sikh parliamentarians have long been allowed to wear them inside the House of Commons.
"This is part of our religion," he said, likening it to a Christian wearing a crucifix.
Maan, often called "India's Michael Jackson," attracted a family-heavy crowd made up parents, children and grandparents.
Security staff were turning away "ladies, even kids. We tried to talk to them, but nobody listened." said Ranbir Singh Parmar.
At about 9:30 p.m., the show was ended and police were called to help empty the concert hall.
Parmar, like hundreds of others milling around the street outside, waited for relatives who had already made it inside the concert to make their way out.
"This is a Punjabi show. People can go to Stampede with a kirpan; why not here?" asked Parmar.
Police officers ringed the entrances to the convention centre, and the HAWCS helicopter circled overhead.
The crowd dispersed largely without incident, but officers were seen making arrests.
jvanrassel@theherald.canwest.com
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