Auckland, June 13 : The Sikh community here has been offended by claims being made that a widow can’t remarry. A community source, on the condition of anonymity, said that the assertion that a member of the Sikh community can’t remarry was an old-fashioned myth.

The controversy arose over the widow of one Navtej Singh, who was killed a couple of days ago in Auckland. A section of the Sikh community had said that she can’t remarry.

“This has nothing to do with reality, Sikhs have always allowed remarriage,” the stuff. co. nz quoted the unnamed source as saying.

Singh's widow Harjinder Kaur has been left with her three daughters, all aged under five, and her aging grandparents. In Sikhism, the 'Anand Sanskar' sets out the religions matrimonial ceremony and conventions of the ceremony known as Anand Karaj. It states: “If a woman's husband has died, she may, if she so wishes, finding a match suitable for her, remarry. For a Sikh man whose wife has died, similar ordinance obtains,” says Anand Karaj and adds that the second marriage can be solemnised in the same way as the first Anand marriage.

The one prescription on it is that "generally, no Sikh should marry a second wife if the first wife is alive”. Other rules say that Sikhs should marry without "giving thought to the prospective spouse's caste and descent".

It also says that a Sikh’s daughter must be married to a Sikh, and that a marriage between a Sikh and a non-Sikh appears to be permitted but cannot have the Anand Karaj.

Other provisions Sikhs follow include a tenet that “no Sikh should accept a match for his/her son or daughter for monetary consideration.” (ANI)