A New Delhi family is demanding answers after an Amritdhari Sikh tourist was allegedly subjected to religious humiliation and harsh detention conditions during a recent trip to Abu Dhabi. According to his son, the elderly man was forced to remove sacred articles of faith and was held for 20 days before being deported without the dignity afforded to religious garments.
Dalvinder Singh, a 68-year-old resident of Kaithal district in Haryana, travelled to the United Arab Emirates on April 21 as part of an organised group tour. During a visit to the Bochasanwasi Akshar Purushottam Swaminarayan (BAPS) Temple in Abu Dhabi, local police reportedly stopped him at the temple entrance and demanded he surrender his kirpan—a ceremonial dagger that baptized Sikhs are required to carry.
Despite repeated assurances from tour guides and temple officials, who emphasised that the kirpan is a non-threatening, religious symbol, authorities allegedly remained sceptical and placed Dalvinder Singh under arrest. “They would not listen, even when our guide explained that a kirpan is an article of faith,” said Manpreet Singh, the victim’s eldest son, in an interview.
Dalvinder Singh, who does not speak Arabic or English, was accused of arguing with police, a charge that Manpreet refutes. “My father neither knows the local language nor English, so how could he have had a dispute with them?” he asked. The court documents, according to Manpreet, made no mention of any altercation.
During his detention, Dalvinder was reportedly held in Baniyas Jail in unsanitary conditions, where his turban, metal bracelet (kada), and wooden comb (kanga) were forcibly removed. “Leaving him bareheaded was a severe affront to his faith,” Manpreet said. The absence of these vital religious articles, customary for an Amritdhari Sikh, compounded the mental anguish of isolation in custody.
After several weeks, prison authorities transferred Dalvinder Singh to Al Wathba Central Jail. There, custodial staff allegedly served him non-vegetarian meals, in contrast to his lifelong vegetarian diet. “He felt degraded every time he was given food that went against his beliefs,” Manpreet added.
Throughout this period, efforts by the family to determine his whereabouts reportedly met with bureaucratic roadblocks. When Manpreet and his father-in-law inquired at Baniyas Jail, officials initially denied ever having detained Dalvinder Singh. It was only after the Indian Embassy intervened that jail authorities acknowledged holding him. Even then, although a court order demanding his release was issued, prison officials delayed complying by 15 days, the family claims.
Upon deportation, Dalvinder Singh was not permitted to don his turban for the return flight, heightening the sense of humiliation endured throughout his journey. Father and son were finally reunited at Indira Gandhi International Airport in Delhi, but the emotional scars linger. “He was broken when he came back. The ordeal has affected him deeply,” Manpreet said.
In a formal plea to New Delhi, Manpreet Singh has urged Indian authorities to take up the matter with their UAE counterparts. “We need assurances that no other pilgrim or tourist will face such blatant disrespect for their faith,” he stressed. The family hopes that government intervention will lead to clearer guidelines regarding the religious articles of visitors at places of worship, as well as stricter oversight of detention conditions for foreign nationals.
Representatives from the Indian Ministry of External Affairs confirmed that they are “looking into the matter” but declined to provide further details, citing ongoing diplomatic correspondence. Officials in the UAE Ministry of Interior did not respond to requests for comment by press time.
For now, Dalvinder Singh is recovering at home in Kaithal, where he has resumed his daily prayers but remains unsettled by memories of confinement. “He keeps asking why his faith was not respected,” Manpreet said. Meanwhile, Sikh advocacy groups in India have rallied behind the family, calling for a joint dialogue between Indian and UAE authorities to safeguard the rights of religious minorities traveling abroad.
