The brutal stabbing murder of British university student Henry Nowak by a Sikh man with a religious knife has reignited calls to make carrying the blades illegal in Australia.
Mr Nowak, 18, was stabbed multiple times by convicted murderer Vickrum Digwa, 23, with a 21cm ceremonial dagger called a shastar in Southampton on December 3 last year, with Mr Digwa sentenced on Monday to life imprisonment with a minimum of 21 years for the stabbing of Mr Nowak.
The killing of Mr Nowak has sparked fury across Britain, with the release of a three-minute bodycam video of the arrest of Mr Nowak showing British police ignoring Mr Nowak’s pleas for help and handcuffing him instead because Mr Digwa had told police that Mr Nowak was a racist.
WARNING: Incredibly distressing footage.
The bodycam footage has finally been released of Henry Nowak’s last moments.
He was the victim, but treated like a criminal.
“I can’t breathe” he says, over and over again.
Instead of helping him the police arrest him on false… pic.twitter.com/tt1tBfKUwp
— Robert Jenrick (@RobertJenrick) June 1, 2026
Mr Nowak’s death and the conviction of Mr Digwa has brought forth accusation of ”two-tier” and “antiwhite” policing in Britain, with Reform UK leader Nigel Farage declaring that “White lives matter too” and making a national address to the country on the “shocking case” of Mr Nowak.
The British case has sparked global anger, including in Australia where many are calling for our own ban on Sikh daggers such as the currently legal kirpan and other religious knives used in incidents like the one involving Mr Nowak.
Political commentator and anti-Islam activist Harris Sultan said that there should be “no special privileges for anyone”, and that we should “ban the kirpan everywhere”.
Another popular political commentator. Rob Smith. said “strike me pink, knives in schools” in relation to similar incidents involving kirpans in schools in Australia, and that he was “fed up with this county being tuned into some sort of 3rd world sh*tter”.
A Sikh boy using his kirpan is rare, but it’s not the only instance. It happened in Australia a few years ago too.
No special privileges for anyone. Ban the Kirpan everywhere pic.twitter.com/6kj6wvY18W
— Harris Sultan (@TheHarrisSultan) June 1, 2026
The Supreme Court of Queensland overturned a law banning children from bringing “knives” to school for religious reasons. This will allow Sikh students, parents, and teachers to carry daggers.
In NSW a Sikh student stabbed another students on school grounds with one of these… pic.twitter.com/2HIWqqUhmU
— Rob Smith (@Ausbobsmit) June 2, 2026
Australia has banned countless cultural weapons over the years but somehow the kirpan gets a free pass. In Qld it’s even allowed in schools. How’d we get to a point where kids can’t take nail clippers to class, but a blade is fine? It’s a safety disaster waiting to happen. https://t.co/nsQSXuVSht
— NellShel (@NellShel) June 2, 2026
🇦🇺 Australia faced a similar kirpan stabbing – just like the Nowak murder in the UK
In May 2021, a 14-year-old Sikh stabbed 16-year-old Jake Arakelian with a kirpan in a NSW school fight, causing serious back, stomach, & organ injuries. NSW banned kirpans in schools temporarily,… pic.twitter.com/EGa4WhqeJK
— Allen Hampton (@Hamp_Allen) June 1, 2026
“Australia has banned countless cultural weapons over the years but somehow the kirpan gets a free pass. In Queensland it’s even allowed in schools. How’d we get to a point where kids can’t take nail clippers to class, but a blade is fine? It’s a safety disaster waiting to happen,” said an Aussie X user.
“Allowing religious daggers in public places is dangerous non-regulation. We need one law for all,” said another.
The calls come after a series of recent incidents in Australia involving the kirpan, including in May 2021 where 16-year-old student Jake Arakelian was stabbed in a schoolyard fight at Glenwood High School in northwest Sydney by a 14-year-old Sikh student, leaving him with serious back, stomach and organ injuries.
The stabbing caused a temporary ban on the religious knife in NSW schools, only for it to be reversed three months later after consultations between the NSW Education Department and the Sikh community.
In October last year members of Sydney’s Sikh community complained after not being able to take their kirpans into a Punjabi singer’s pop concert in western Sydney.
After being banned from bringing their religious daggers into the concert, members of United Sikhs Australia said Sikhs were not allowed to remove their kirpans under any circumstances due to their deep religious significance, calling them an “article of faith … that symbolises the solemn duty to defend the weak and oppressed, uphold justice and stand for righteousness”.
Sikhs are currently legally allowed to carry and wear kirpans for religious purposes in all states and territories in Australia under their respective laws, while carrying the kirpan in schools is only expressly allowed in NSW, Queensland and South Australia.
Header image: Left, Henry Nowak (supplied). Right, a Sikh wearing a kirpan (Wikipedia: Skielor – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, Link).
