The National Secular Society has urged the Government to review religious exemptions to knife laws following the murder of a young man with a ceremonial dagger.
Writing to Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood, the NSS called for an urgent review of the Criminal Justice Act, which includes “religious reasons” as a potentially lawful defence for carrying a knife.
In the letter, NSS chief executive Stephen Evans said that the right to freedom of religion or belief “should not extend to exemptions from generally applicable laws designed to protect public safety”.
The letter comes following the murder of 18-year-old student Henry Nowak in Southampton. Nowak was fatally stabbed by 23-year-old Vickrum Digwa using a Sikh ceremonial dagger, which was viewed by Digwa as part of his faith. Knives, known as ‘kirpan’, are carried by some Sikhs as an expression of religious identity.
It is illegal in the UK to carry a knife with a bladed edge exceeding three inches in length. However, exemptions to the law mean that a larger blade can be carried if the owner has a “good reason” to do so, such as when the knife is required for use at work.
Section 139 of the Criminal Justice Act 1988 lists “religious reasons” as one such justification for carrying a larger blade.
Writing to the Government, the NSS said: “We recognise the importance many Sikhs attach to the kirpan as an expression of religious identity and duty. However, accommodating religious practices need not require exemptions from safety laws which should apply equally to all”.
The letter cited Hampshire Police and Crime Commissioner Donna Jones, who has called for a review of the law by saying: “If that knife was not legal on 3 December 2025, I am certain that Henry Nowak would still be alive today”.
In a statement, Henry Nowak’s family said “people should not be able to walk openly through the streets of Britain carrying a 21cm blade”, a statement Evans described as “plainly correct”.
Some Sikhs choose to carry a kirpan which has been made unusable as a weapon, by being blunted or welded into a sheath. The NSS said such approaches “demonstrate that it is entirely possible for religious practice to adapt in order to be consistent with legal standards intended to protect the public”.
The NSS added that religious exemptions to laws undermine social cohesion by weakening the principle of one law for all and eroding public confidence in equal treatment under the law. There has been social unrest in Southampton following Digwa’s conviction and the release of police bodycam footage.
The NSS campaigns for one secular law for all, which treats everyone equally regardless of religion or belief, as essential to democracy and community cohesion.
The letter urged the government to undertake a review of the exemption with “a view to ensuring that freedom of religion or belief is protected without creating exemptions from generally applicable laws”.