Hell hath no fury like a Hindustani at the butt end of humor. Or so it seems with the series of episodes that took place recently. You say a word on any one of our religions and we will be rightfully riled, you talk about what may be a reality of Indian life in most parts and we will be infuriated, you rib about our religious shrines and we will be all but raging. Do not dare say it was all in humor and jest. The world’s largest democracy of a billion has no business to bear with your buffoonery!
This is the kind of chord that India seemed to strike in a month that she celebrated her Constitution founded on fundamental rights. And free speech is very much a part of those principles. So then why were we so furious at a few wisecracks coming our way? Even if we leave out the whole Rushdie episode that had all advocates of free speech fuming, what about the diplomatic war being waged at harmless humorists? First there was the bizarre case of the Britain-based Indian mission registering its reservations over a BBC motoring show. All they were culpable of was some casual comedy over our conditions of cleanliness. And now the Indian embassy in US is enraged over jester Jay Leno’s gags on the Golden Temple, the holiest shrine of the Sikhs. All he said was it could be a summer home for Mitt Romney, the US presidential candidate.
I wonder if a 1.2 billion people are really that bigoted. Or is it actually the establishment that is ever edgy? If that is so, then it is our own and not some foreign funster who dishonor us for their humor.
