Sardarji joke
Sardarji jokes or Sardar jokes are a class of
Origin
Some of the dominant traits of the Sardar jokes include the Sardar being shown as naïve, inept, unintelligent, or not well-versed with the
The researcher Jawaharlal Handoo associates some traits of the Sardar jokes with the stereotype of Sikhs being associated with jobs where physical fitness is more important than knowledge of the English language or intellect.[1] He also states that "In my opinion, the 'success-story' of the Sikh-community as a whole has taken the form of a deep-rooted anxiety in the collective minds of the non-Sikh majorities especially the Hindus of India....Sikhs are a very prosperous and successful people ....this may have threatened the Hindu ego and created the anxiety which in turn seems to have taken the form of various stereotypes and the resultant joke cycle."[1] Soumen Sen states that these jokes perhaps reflect the anxiety of the non-Sikh Indian elite, who may have suffered from a sense of insecurity due to the growing competition from the enterprising Sikhs.[6]
Some of the Sardar jokes, self-deprecatory in nature, were made up by the Sikhs themselves.
Joke cycles
Santa and Banta are two popular names for the stock characters in the Sardar jokes.[16]
A category of Sardar jokes is the "12 o'clock jokes", which imply that Sikhs are in their senses only at night. Preetinder Singh explains the origin of the "12 o'clock joke" as follows:
In jest, the people would say that the Sikhs are in their senses only at night. This later became the trait of a widespread category of derisive jokes. Singh opines: "people started referring to the relatively neutral 12 o'clock, rather than midnight" to avoid annoying the armed Sikhs, and the "final result was the safe, bald statement, 'It is 12 o'clock' shorn of all reference to its very interesting history.....When people crack this joke, they are oblivious to the fact that had the Sikhs not intervened, their womenfolk would have been dishonoured and taken into exile".[17]
Reaction from the Sikh community
Protests by Sikh groups
In recent years, there have been several cases of Sikh groups protesting against the Sardarji jokes. In Folk Narrative and Ethnic Identity: The 'Sardarji' Joke Cycle, Jawaharlal Handoo notes that the Sikh members in a group generally do not seem to enjoy a Sardarji joke, although they may pretend to enjoy the humour of the joke by smiling or joining the group laughter.[1]
In 2005, some Sikhs protested against a scene in the Pritish Nandy Communications (PNC) film
An organisation called The Sikh Brotherhood International wrote letters to the PNC, the Central Board of Film Certification, and the National Commission for Minorities (NCM), saying that the film had hurt the sentiments of the Sikh community. The Pritish Nandy Communications Limited tendered a written apology, stating that they respect the Sikh community and hold it in high esteem, and they had no intention of ridiculing anybody.[19] The Censor Board issued directions to delete the objectionable scenes in the film.[20]
Complaint by National Commission for Minorities
On February 25, 2005, journalist
On March 2, 2005, The NCM filed a complaint against the Hindustan Times with the Press Council of India, stating that "the tone, tenor and the content of the article in question has a tendency to hurt the sentiments of Sikh community."[22] The Hindustan Times responded by stating that the article was not aimed to ridicule the Sikh community in any manner, and was a criticism of the NCM, justifiable under the right of free speech under the Constitution of India. The NCM decided not to proceed with the matter, and the case was closed as withdrawn.[22]
Complaints to police and court cases
Though some jokes were created by the Sikhs themselves, now it has gone out of hand.
— P. S. Pasricha, the second Sikh police commissioner of the Mumbai Police.[23]
In March 2007, around 25 Sikh youths from Sikh Media and Culture Watch (SMCW) demanded arrest of Ranjit Parande, a Matunga-based book seller, for stocking the Santa and Banta Joke Book, a collection of Sardarji jokes. Based on a complaint filed by a Sikh businessman, the Mumbai Police arrested Parande under section 295 of the Indian Penal Code, for "hurting religious sentiments."[23] The SMCW members alleged that several of the Sardarji jokes border on the obscene, and have begun to have a demoralising effect on the Sikh youths.[23]
They later requested the cyber cell department of the
In December 2007, India's second biggest mobile operator Reliance Communications and its head Anil Ambani were charged by Lucknow police with "insulting a religion or faith", after Reliance sent a Sardarji joke as its "joke of the day".[25] Many Sikhs in Meerut staged violent protests.[8] The joke originated from the website santabanta.com, and was supplied to Reliance by OnMobile, a third party supplier. Reliance stated that it was not responsible for content provided by OnMobile, but apologised its subscribers and the Sikh community in Uttar Pradesh. OnMobile also issued a public apology.[8]
In 2013, Atul Kumar was arrested in
See also
References
- ^ OCLC 23274712.
- ^ "Sikhs ask cops to ban 'Sardar' jokes on Net". The Times of India. 2007-03-19. Archived from the original on 2012-11-04. Retrieved 2009-08-09.
- OCLC 2296948.
- ISBN 81-8419-190-1.
- ISBN 81-89182-65-X.
- OCLC 56096400.
- OCLC 9555744.
- ^ a b c Connor, Ashling O (December 4, 2007). "Sikhs fail to see funny side of phone jokes". The Times. London. Retrieved 2008-01-14. (archived)
- OCLC 35223049.
- )
- ^ K P S Gill. "VI. Looking For A New Star". Punjab: The Knights of Falsehood. South Asia Terrorism Portal. Retrieved 2007-10-29.
- OCLC 5776368.
- OCLC 20422938.
- OCLC 9829681.
- ISBN 81-288-0571-1.) Several of the books in the series contain Sardarji jokes and feature Sikhs on the cover page:
- The Unofficial Joke Book of India (8128805800)
- The unofficial Joke Book of Smart Couples (8189182471)
- The Unofficial Joke Book of Canada (8128805711)
- The Unofficial Joke Book of UK (8128805576)
- OCLC 7671455.
- ^ Indian Express. Archived from the originalon 2013-07-31. Retrieved 2009-02-11.
- ^ a b Vir Sanghvi (February 27, 2005). "Free Speech and the Sardarji Joke". Hindustan Times.
- The Tribune. February 19, 2005. Retrieved 2007-10-29.
- ^ "Censor Board snips scenes in Shabd". The Times of India. February 25, 2005. Archived from the original on November 4, 2012. Retrieved 2007-10-29.
- ^ "Science gets the last laugh on ethnic jokes". NBC News. 6 October 2005.
- ^ a b "The National Commission for Minorities vs. The Editor, Hindustan Times (File No. 14/580/04-05-PCI)" (PDF). Press Council of India. March 2, 2005. Retrieved 2007-10-29.
- ^ a b c d "Sikhs ask cops to ban 'Sardar' jokes on Net". The Times of India. March 27, 2007. Archived from the original on November 4, 2012. Retrieved 2007-10-29.
- ISBN 978-81-222-0376-9.
- ^ "Indian businessman on joke charge". BBC News. December 4, 2007. Retrieved 2008-01-14.
- ^ "Man jailed for cracking offensive Sikh jokes". Yahoo! News. 2013-09-25.
- ^ "BEWARE: Think twice before forwarding Santa-Banta jokes!". Dainik Bhaskar. 2013-09-24.