Be careful the next time you make a Santa Banta joke as it could get you kicked out of college.
Any joke that will portray Sikh students as silly or intellectually inferior will constitute as ragging and repeat offenders will be rusticated from educational institutes, according to a Times of India report.
A panel headed by former Supreme Court justice HS Bedi announced this decision. The panel also recommended cancelling of licenses of media houses and blocking websites that do not withdraw the racially discriminating jokes they are circulating.
The Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee had started the petition in 2015 to end racist jokes against the community. The PIL had been filed by lawyer Harvinder Chowdhary, calling such jokes a “violation of Sikhs’ right to equality and an attack on the dignity of the community” under Article 21 of the Constitution.
Justice Bedi Commission’s report, which was to frame guidelines from primary schools to workplaces, was submitted to the apex court on Friday.
The bench headed by Justice TS Thakur is seeking ways to curb the circulation of such jokes on social media and society.
Negative stereotyping, mocking base sense of humour can leave indelible, irreversible and irreparable impact on the psyche of impressionable minds, to which a lethal edge is being provided by various electronic and social media platforms.Panel
The DSGMC has submitted guidelines including setting up of grievance redressal cells in schools, colleges and workplaces. It also said that if a particular student is repeatedly indulging in racist jokes, a remark stating that should go on his school certificate when graduating.
Anti-ragging committees should deal with students who habitually discriminate against Sikh students by intentionally cracking racist jokes and making them and their community feel inferior. The Justice Bedi committee suggested the rustication of habitual offenders.
It also proposed the registering of a criminal complaint against the student, given the severity of the comments passed, be it against the Sikh community or any other community.
Source: The Times of India
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