The highest court of India is hearing a petition seeking a ban on jokes targeted at Sikhs.
The Supreme Court of India asked bodies representing the Sikh community to create a mechanism to stop jokes on Sikh within six weeks.
The Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee-an elected body for the management of Gurudwaras in Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and Jammu & Kashmir in India-along with other organisations claiming to be representatives of Sikhs had earlier approached the Supreme court seeking a ban on jokes that project members of the community in poor light.
A bench of the Chief Justice T S Thakur had in April stated that the SGPC’s petition seeking a ban would be clubbed along with other pending matters on the issue and would be heard together.
Even earlier, the apex court had asked the petitioners in the matter as to how such a ban can be “enforced judicially.”
In February, during the hearing of a case pertaining to over 5,000 websites which feature jokes on Sikhs, the court had asked how to determine whether a particular joke is derogatory.
Last year, the Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee (DSGMC) had started an online petition for school children studying in around 18 Guru Harikrishan Public Schools to generate support for banning Sikh jokes.
Another online petition started by Delhi Sikh community on change.org website to demand a ban on Sikh jokes had also reportedly gained momentum worldwide recently.
