Sikh group wants law to ban racial, religious jokes

The Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee (DSGMC) on Monday demanded a law to put an end to jokes on racial, religious and regional lines in the country.

The Sikh organisation's representatives will soon meet union Minister of State for Home Affairs Kiren Rijiju to seek his support for a complete ban on such jokes, DSGMC president Manjit Singh G.K. said in a statement here.

The demanded law should be formulated on the pattern of the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes Act in force in the country as well as the anti-bullying law in various European countries, he added.

The DSGMC leader said a battery of top lawyers in the country would be hired to fight the case in the Supreme Court to seek a ban on Sikh jokes.

A Supreme Court bench headed by Chief Justice T.S. Thakur on Monday admitted a petition filed by advocate Harvinder Chaudhary that sought a ban on Sikh jokes, he said.

The DSGMC has sought the services of legal luminaries like Ram Jethmalani and R.S. Suri and retired justice R.S. Sodhi for effective presentation of the community's case before the apex court.

"The Sikh body has approached communities facing ridicule due to such jokes in the country so as to forge a grand alliance for fighting the case in the Supreme Court," Manjit Singh added.