Offended by Jay Leno's religious joke
Written by VISHNU BISRAM
Thursday, 02 February 2012 22:00
A JOKE on the Jay Leno Show has offended Indian nationals and Guyanese in Richmond Hill and in the US and India. The Golden Temple, the holiest shrine of Sikhism, in Amritsar, India, was shown in a “Tonight Show” joke about Republican Presidential candidate Mitt Romney last week. The Golden temple is regarded as the spiritual centre of the Sikh religion and a valued shrine to other Indian religions as well.
The Jay Leno joke ruffled feathers among people in Richmond Hill where a lot of Guyanese are settled. Guyanese and Punjabis share the community and have collaborated on issues affecting the community.
Several Guyanese attend Punjabis temples in Richmond Hill and Sikhs participate in Guyanese Phagwah and Diwali parades as well as attend Guyanese temples.
The NBC late-night host’s monologue offended the Sikhs and Guyanese, who say the gag disrespected one of the holiest shrines in India when it was depicted as belonging to Mitt Romney. Many Guyanese visited the Golden temple in trips to India.
Leno’s monologue showed the homes of the Republican presidential hopefuls, including houses owned by Newt Gingrich and Representative Ron Paul of Texas. But when Mr. Romney’s summer home on Lake Winnipesaukee was announced, the screen instead showed the Golden
Temple in Amritsar.
BBC News reported that Vayalar Ravi, India’s Minister of Overseas Indian Affairs, called the joke “quite unfortunate and objectionable” in remarks to reporters, adding that his embassy “planned to discuss the matter with the United States State Department”.
“Freedom does not mean hurting the sentiments of others,” Mr. Ravi said. “This is not acceptable to us and we take a very strong objection for such a display.”
Minister Ravi met with Guyanese for an exchange in New York and the matter was raised with him again.
The BBC also pointed to an online petition at change.org that received thousands of signatures and declared that “Jay Leno’s racist comments need to be stopped right here.”
Peoples’ faiths and religious icons should be off limits to crude jokes.
Written by VISHNU BISRAM
Thursday, 02 February 2012 22:00
A JOKE on the Jay Leno Show has offended Indian nationals and Guyanese in Richmond Hill and in the US and India. The Golden Temple, the holiest shrine of Sikhism, in Amritsar, India, was shown in a “Tonight Show” joke about Republican Presidential candidate Mitt Romney last week. The Golden temple is regarded as the spiritual centre of the Sikh religion and a valued shrine to other Indian religions as well.
The Jay Leno joke ruffled feathers among people in Richmond Hill where a lot of Guyanese are settled. Guyanese and Punjabis share the community and have collaborated on issues affecting the community.
Several Guyanese attend Punjabis temples in Richmond Hill and Sikhs participate in Guyanese Phagwah and Diwali parades as well as attend Guyanese temples.
The NBC late-night host’s monologue offended the Sikhs and Guyanese, who say the gag disrespected one of the holiest shrines in India when it was depicted as belonging to Mitt Romney. Many Guyanese visited the Golden temple in trips to India.
Leno’s monologue showed the homes of the Republican presidential hopefuls, including houses owned by Newt Gingrich and Representative Ron Paul of Texas. But when Mr. Romney’s summer home on Lake Winnipesaukee was announced, the screen instead showed the Golden
Temple in Amritsar.
BBC News reported that Vayalar Ravi, India’s Minister of Overseas Indian Affairs, called the joke “quite unfortunate and objectionable” in remarks to reporters, adding that his embassy “planned to discuss the matter with the United States State Department”.
“Freedom does not mean hurting the sentiments of others,” Mr. Ravi said. “This is not acceptable to us and we take a very strong objection for such a display.”
Minister Ravi met with Guyanese for an exchange in New York and the matter was raised with him again.
The BBC also pointed to an online petition at change.org that received thousands of signatures and declared that “Jay Leno’s racist comments need to be stopped right here.”
Peoples’ faiths and religious icons should be off limits to crude jokes.
