Santa-Banta are not funny

Santa-Banta jokes have been doing rounds for years now. But the Sikh community at the receiving end is anything but amused.

Some of the community members are demanding that the jokes be banned. “It's sheer humiliation. Think of the psychological impact such jokes have on a Sikh child,” says Businessman Jaswinder Singh Bajaj.

“We teach our children about our community, but when everyone else makes fun of it, they don't think much of it too,” says Preeti Bajaj.

People say laughter is the best medicine. But for the Sikh community laughter has turned into a bitter pill. In Mumbai, the Sikh community is enraged at joke booklets that are mocking at their community. “What are they trying to say with books like these? That we are jokers? How can we find it funny?” asks Swaranjit Singh Bajaj Vice-President, Sikh Media and Culture Watch.

Sick and tired of being made”butt of joke” members of the Sikh community are now saying the joke has gone too far. They have now approached the state's Minorities Commission with an appeal to ban such joke books.

“Their complaint is that such jokes that are going on for years now, cause them pain. There are fools in every community. We have written to the police commissioner and are awaiting action from them under Section 295 (A),” says Abraham Mathai Vice-Chairman, State Minorities Commission.

“I get very annoyed, I'm sick of it,” says one Sikh Avtar Singh.

The community says if no further action is taken, they will take their complaint to the courts.