UNITED SIKHS Complains to BBC Trust for Offensive Cartoon
“The (Sikh) community finds the animation not only offensive
but also highly irresponsible of the BBC. Sikhs who wear the turban are commonly
victims of mockery and discrimination which includes the bullying of turbaned
schoolchildren, due to no other reason than their appearance and ignorance of
what it represents. Rather than attempting to improve understanding of the Sikhs
and Sikh identity among the general public, animations such as this could serve
to exacerbate such problems faced by Sikhs,” Mejindarpal Kaur, Legal Director of
the UNITED SIKHS, said in the complaint letter to the BBC.
London, UK – UNITED SIKHS this week sent a complaint to the Chairman of the BBC
Trust regarding the offensive portrayal of the Sikh identity in the BBC3
programme, ‘World’s Craziest Fools’.
The opening sequence of the program, a short cartoon, features a turbaned and
bearded man, unmistakably representing a Sikh, while completely nude.
In Sikhism the Turban is considered to be the ‘crown of spirituality’, the form
of a Sikh with a turban and uncut beard represents the form of Guru Gobind Singh
Ji, the tenth Guru himself. UNITED SIKHS has requested from the BBC an apology and withdrawal of the
sequence from any future broadcast of the programme and urged a full
investigation of this sequence.
“The programme depicts the Sikh character as an object of mockery; the Sikh
appearance is linked with stupidity and crass behaviour. Being the only
character in the clip given any religious identity, the Sikh community felt that
they in particular were being targeted,” Mejindarpal Kaur, UNITED SIKHS legal
Director, said in her complaint.
UNITED SIKHS were alerted about this humiliating portrayal of the Sikh identity
through complaints from deeply offended Sikhs.
The lack of positive representation of Sikhs in the BBC both through
documentaries and use of Sikhs in comparison to other faiths is visibly
apparent. The UNITED SIKHS complaint, also copied to the National Community
Tension Team (NCTT) an organisation set up by the Association of Chief Police
Officers (ACPO), asks whether the BBC will ‘produce specific positive
documentaries on the Sikh faith and increase the number of visible Sikhs shown
on its programing in a positive light to dispel the negative stereotypes
encouraged by this animation’. To read the complaint letter to the BBC click
here
Previously, in October 2009, a BBC news report had also deeply offended the Sikh
community through the inappropriate use of the Khanda and references to the Sikh
religion while covering a crime totally unrelated to the faith. You may read the
press release issued by UNITED SIKHS on this issue here:
http://unitedsikhs.org/PressReleases/PRSRLS-22-10-2009-00.html
Issued by:
Rishipal Singh
Director
UNITED SIKHS
Law-uk@unitedsikhs.org
+44 8701993328 |
