New Delhi : The “Santa Banta” jokes on Friday came under the lens of the Supreme Court which has agreed to hear a PIL seeking direction to ban websites displaying cracks on ‘Sardars’ and projecting them in a poor light. “This (Sikh) community is known for a great sense of humour and they also enjoy such jokes. You must have gone through the jokes of Khushwant Singh… This is only an amusement. Why do you want it to be stopped…Prepare your case well. We will hear you” a Bench comprising Justices T S Thakur and V Gopala Gowda said.
The apex court was hearing a PIL filed by a woman lawyer, Harvinder Chowdhary, who said that there are more than 5,000 websites which display jokes on ‘sardars’ projecting the members of the community in poor light. Chowdhury has sought direction to Telecom Ministry to filter websites which target the Sikh community as it is a violation of sections 153A and 153B of the Indian Penal Code. “All the jokes relating to the Sikh community should be stopped. My children are humiliated and feel embarrassed and they don’t want to suffix Singh and Kaur after their name,” Chowdhury said. Referring to a recent comment by Prime Minister Narendra Modi during the Bihar assembly poll campaign — that all Biharis are intelligent people — the lawyer said it seemed to suggest that other communities were not intelligent. To this the bench said, “Don’t worry. When he will go to Punjab he will say Sikhs are intelligent.”
SANTA BANTA may not necessarily be Sardars. How will even SC decide on that.
– ASHWANI ARORA ?@ANI1945 ,
