TORONTO (RNS) The kirpan, the ceremonial dagger worn by devout Sikh men, is back in the news in Canada after a man was stabbed with one.

The April 2 incident outside a Sikh temple in Brampton, a Toronto suburb, has ignited fresh controversy over Sikhs’ right to wear the ceremonial dagger.

Witnesses to the scuffle outside the Sikh Lehar Center said at least two men brandished unsheathed kirpans. Moments later, 53-year-old lawyer Manjit Mangat, president of the temple, was lying on the ground with a five-inch wound to his abdomen.

Mangat survived and is recovering at home. He suffered other stab wounds to his legs.

A Sikh man in his early 50s has been charged with attempted murder and aggravated assault.

“We are fighting for two symbols all over the world — turban and kirpan,” Gurdev Gill, who witnessed the attack on Mangat, told the Toronto Star. “They have both been misused in front of everyone. Why would people listen to us when we now say that it (the kirpan) is ceremonial in nature … not meant to kill people?”

The kirpan is banned in Denmark and France and there have been several court cases in the U.S. involving the legality of wearing the dagger in public places. In Canada, it is allowed in most public places, including schools.

In a landmark ruling in 2006, Canada’s Supreme Court upheld the right of a Montreal student to wear the kirpan to school.

A year ago, a Montreal judge found another Sikh student guilty of threatening his classmates with a hairpin used to secure his turban.

The editor of a local weekly Punjabi newspaper published in Brampton said it is time for Sikh clergy to examine the issue of how to make the kirpan safe. He said a very small dagger may be worn around the neck, which would address security concerns.

Mangat, who wears a kirpan, told the Star: “These people have used religious emotions and symbols to attack others. It does not mean all Sikhs are violent.”