Sardarji jokes or Sardar jokes are a class of
ethnic joke
An ethnic joke is a remark aiming at humor relating to an ethnic, racial or cultural group, often referring to an ethnic stereotype of the group in question for its punchline.
Perceptions of ethnic jokes are ambivalent. Christie Davies gives ...
s based on stereotypes of
Sikhs (who use the title of "
Sardar
Sardar, also spelled as Sardaar/Sirdar ( fa, سردار, , 'commander', literally 'headmaster'), is a title of royalty and nobility that was originally used to denote princes, noblemen, chiefs, kings and other aristocrats. It has also been ...
", with
-ji being an
honorific
An honorific is a title that conveys esteem, courtesy, or respect for position or rank when used in addressing or referring to a person. Sometimes, the term "honorific" is used in a more specific sense to refer to an honorary academic title. It ...
). Although jokes about other ethnic and linguistic communities are found in various regions of India, Sardarji jokes are the most widely circulated ethnic jokes and found across the country.
Sardarji jokes are generally considered tasteless and inappropriate by members of the Sikh community, and have elicited protests as well as leading to arrests for
hurting religious sentiments.
Origin
Some of the dominant traits of the Sardar jokes include the Sardar being shown as naïve, inept, unintelligent, or not well-versed with the
English language
English is a West Germanic language of the Indo-European language family, with its earliest forms spoken by the inhabitants of early medieval England. It is named after the Angles, one of the ancient Germanic peoples that migrated to the ...
.
Many of the Sardar jokes are variations of other
ethnic jokes
An ethnic joke is a remark aiming at humor relating to an ethnic, racial or cultural group, often referring to an ethnic stereotype of the group in question for its punchline.
Perceptions of ethnic jokes are ambivalent. Christie Davies gives ex ...
or stereotype jokes. Some of them also depict Sardarjis as witty or using other people's stereotyped perceptions against them.
The researcher Jawaharlal Handoo associates some traits of the Sardar jokes with the
stereotype of Sikhs being associated with jobs where physical fitness is more important than knowledge of the English language or intellect.
He also states that "In my opinion, the 'success-story' of the Sikh-community as a whole has taken the form of a deep-rooted anxiety in the collective minds of the non-Sikh majorities especially the Hindus of India....Sikhs are a very prosperous and successful people ....this may have threatened the Hindu ego and created the anxiety which in turn seems to have taken the form of various stereotypes and the resultant joke cycle."
Soumen Sen states that these jokes perhaps reflect the anxiety of the non-Sikh Indian elite, who may have suffered from a sense of insecurity due to the growing competition from the enterprising Sikhs.
Some of the Sardar jokes, self-deprecatory in nature, were made up by the Sikhs themselves.
archived
In ''The Other Face of India'',
M. V. Kamath wrote about "the
Punjabi's enormous capacity to poke fun at himself, a trait that seems peculiar to the Punjabi, especially the Sikh." In his book ''
President Giani Zail Singh'', the Sikh author Joginder Singh states "...who can enjoy a good joke against himself or against his tribe except a Punjabi and more particularly, a Sikh?"
Joke cycles
Santa and Banta are two popular names for the
stock characters in the Sardar jokes.
A category of Sardar jokes is the "12 o'clock jokes", which imply that Sikhs are in their senses only at night. Preetinder Singh explains the origin of the "12 o'clock joke" as follows:
The real reason for the "12 O'clock Association" with Sikhs comes from
Nadir Shah
Nader Shah Afshar ( fa, نادر شاه افشار; also known as ''Nader Qoli Beyg'' or ''Tahmāsp Qoli Khan'' ) (August 1688 – 19 June 1747) was the founder of the Afsharid dynasty of Iran and one of the most powerful rulers in Iranian ...
's invasion of India. His troops passed through Punjab after plundering Delhi and killing hundreds of thousands of Hindus and Muslims, and taking hundreds of women as captive. The Sikhs decided to attack Nadir Shah's camp and free the captive women. Being outnumbered by Nadir Shah's huge army, they could not afford to make a frontal attack. Instead, they used to make midnight guerrilla raids on Nadir Shah's camp, free as many captive women as possible, and return them to their homes in order to "restore the dignity of the Hindu community".
In jest, the Hindus would say that the Sikhs are in their senses only at night. This later became the trait of a widespread category of derisive jokes. Singh opines: "Hindus started referring to the relatively neutral 12 o'clock, rather than midnight" to avoid annoying the armed Sikhs, and the "final result was the safe, bald statement, 'It is 12 o'clock' shorn of all reference to its very interesting history.....When Hindus crack this joke, they are oblivious to the fact that had the Sikhs not intervened, their womenfolk would have been dishonoured and taken into exile".
Reaction from the Sikh community
Protests by Sikh groups
In recent years, there have been several cases of Sikh groups protesting against the Sardarji jokes. In ''Folk Narrative and Ethnic Identity: The 'Sardarji' Joke Cycle'', Jawaharlal Handoo notes that the Sikh members in a group generally do not seem to enjoy a Sardarji joke, although they may pretend to enjoy the humour of the joke by smiling or joining the group laughter.
In 2005, some Sikhs protested against a scene in the Pritish Nandy Communications (PNC) film ''
Shabd
''Shabda'' ( sa, शब्द, ), is the Sanskrit word for "speech sound". In Sanskrit grammar, the term refers to an utterance in the sense of linguistic performance.
History
In classical Indian philosophy of language, the grammarian Katyayan ...
''. In the scene,
Zayed Khan
Zayed Abbas Khan (born 5 July 1980) is a former Indian actor and producer who appeared in Hindi films. The son of Bollywood actor Sanjay Khan, he has received a Filmfare Award nomination.
After graduating in Business Management at the Montgom ...
tries to cheer
Aishwarya Rai
Aishwarya Rai Bachchan ( Rai; born 1 November 1973) is an Indian actress who is primarily known for her work in Hindi and Tamil films. The winner of the Miss World 1994 pageant, she has established herself as one of the most popular celebriti ...
by telling a Sardarji joke. As he begins the joke with the words "There was a Sardarji", Aishwarya starts giggling. A group of angry Sikhs stormed the PNC office, and demanded that the scene be deleted from the film.
An organisation called ''The Sikh Brotherhood International'' wrote letters to the PNC, the
Central Board of Film Certification
The Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) is a statutory film-certification body in the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting of the Government of India. It is tasked with "regulating the public exhibition of films under the provision ...
, and the
National Commission for Minorities (NCM), saying that the film had hurt the sentiments of the Sikh community. The Pritish Nandy Communications Limited tendered a written apology, stating that they respect the Sikh community and hold it in high esteem, and they had no intention of ridiculing anybody. The Censor Board issued directions to delete the objectionable scenes in the film.
Complaint by National Commission for Minorities
On February 25, 2005, journalist
Vir Sanghvi
Vir Sanghvi (born 5 July 1956) is an Indian print and television journalist, author, columnist and talk show host. He has been a member of many professional, academic and government bodies including the National Integration Council. Currently, h ...
wrote a column in
Hindustan Times
''Hindustan Times'' is an Indian English-language daily newspaper based in Delhi. It is the flagship publication of HT Media, an entity controlled by the KK Birla family, and is owned by Shobhana Bhartia.
It was founded by Sunder Singh Ly ...
, saying that the NCM was curbing
free speech
Freedom of speech is a principle that supports the freedom of an individual or a community to articulate their opinions and ideas without fear of retaliation, censorship, or legal sanction. The right to freedom of expression has been recog ...
on behalf of the "forces of intolerance", while claiming to fight for minority rights. He wrote that the Sardarji joke is part of the "good-natured Indian tradition", and not an example of anti-minority feeling.
He pointed out that the best Sardarji jokes are told by the Sikhs themselves, presenting
Khushwant Singh
Khushwant Singh (born Khushal Singh, 2 February 1915 – 20 March 2014) was an Indian author, lawyer, diplomat, journalist and politician. His experience in the 1947 Partition of India inspired him to write ''Train to Pakistan'' in 1956 (made ...
as an example. He further went on to say that the protesters should develop a
sense of humour and that "All truth has the power to offend. Take away the offence and you end up suppressing the truth". Research has indicated however that suggesting truth in such
stereotypes
In social psychology, a stereotype is a generalized belief about a particular category of people. It is an expectation that people might have about every person of a particular group. The type of expectation can vary; it can be, for example ...
in
ethnic jokes
An ethnic joke is a remark aiming at humor relating to an ethnic, racial or cultural group, often referring to an ethnic stereotype of the group in question for its punchline.
Perceptions of ethnic jokes are ambivalent. Christie Davies gives ex ...
is not supported by facts which are contrary to this suggestion.).
On March 2, 2005, The NCM filed a complaint against the Hindustan Times with the
Press Council of India
The Press Council of India is a statutory, adjudicating organisation in India formed in 1966 by its parliament. It is the self-regulatory watchdog of the press, for the press and by the press, that operates under the Press Council Act of 1978., ...
, stating that "the tone, tenor and the content of the article in question has a tendency to hurt the sentiments of Sikh community."
The Hindustan Times responded by stating that the article was not aimed to ridicule the Sikh community in any manner, and was a criticism of the NCM, justifiable under the right of free speech under the
Constitution of India
The Constitution of India ( IAST: ) is the supreme law of India. The document lays down the framework that demarcates fundamental political code, structure, procedures, powers, and duties of government institutions and sets out fundamental ...
. The NCM decided not to proceed with the matter, and the case was closed as withdrawn.
Complaints to police and court cases
In March 2007, around 25 Sikh youths from Sikh Media and Culture Watch (SMCW) demanded arrest of Ranjit Parande, a
Matunga
Matunga (Marathi pronunciation: aːʈuŋɡaː is a locality in the heart of Mumbai City towards downtown Mumbai. It is serviced by the Matunga Road station on the Western line, Matunga station on the Central Line and King's Circle station on ...
-based book seller, for stocking the ''Santa and Banta Joke Book'', a collection of Sardarji jokes. Based on a complaint filed by a Sikh businessman, the
Mumbai Police arrested Parande under section 295 of the
Indian Penal Code
The Indian Penal Code (IPC) is the official criminal code of India. It is a comprehensive code intended to cover all substantive aspects of criminal law. The code was drafted on the recommendations of first law commission of India established ...
, for "hurting religious sentiments."
The SMCW members alleged that several of the Sardarji jokes border on the obscene, and have begun to have a demoralising effect on the Sikh youths.
They later requested the cyber cell department of the
Mumbai police crime branch to "ban jokes on the internet" which portray Sikhs as objects of ridicule. Swaranjit Singh Bajaj, the vice-president of SMCW, blamed the Sikh humorists such as
Navjot Singh Sidhu
Navjot Singh Sidhu (born 20 October 1963) is an Indian National Congress politician, television personality and retired international cricketer. He is the former President of Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee. Formerly, he was the Minister of To ...
and
Khushwant Singh
Khushwant Singh (born Khushal Singh, 2 February 1915 – 20 March 2014) was an Indian author, lawyer, diplomat, journalist and politician. His experience in the 1947 Partition of India inspired him to write ''Train to Pakistan'' in 1956 (made ...
for perpetuating the stereotypical image of Sikhs.
Khushwant Singh, a Sikh author who has included several Sardarji jokes in his joke books, received a notice from the secretary of
SGPC
The Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee ( SGPC; "Supreme Gurdwara Management Committee") is an organization in India responsible for the management of Gurdwaras, Sikh places of worship in states of Punjab and Himachal Pradesh and the unio ...
in 2004, asking him to desist from hurting the sentiments of the community. Singh also received similar notices from some Marwari organisations, the
Shiv Sena and the
RSS. However, he continued to include Sardarji jokes in his subsequent joke books. In the preface to his 7th joke book, he claimed that most of his Sardarji jokes were "pro-Sardarji".
In December 2007, India's second biggest mobile operator
Reliance Communications
Reliance Communications Limited (RCOM) was an Indian mobile network provider headquartered in Navi Mumbai that offered voice and 2G and 3G and 4G data services.
In February 2019, the company filed for bankruptcy as it was unable to sell asse ...
and its head
Anil Ambani were charged by
Lucknow
Lucknow (, ) is the capital and the largest city of the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh and it is also the second largest urban agglomeration in Uttar Pradesh. Lucknow is the administrative headquarters of the eponymous district and division ...
police with "insulting a religion or faith", after Reliance sent a Sardarji joke as its "joke of the day". Many Sikhs in
Meerut
Meerut (, IAST: ''Meraṭh'') is a city in Meerut district of the western part of the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. The city lies northeast of the national capital New Delhi, within the National Capital Region and west of the state capital ...
staged violent protests.
The joke originated from the website santabanta.com, and was supplied to Reliance by OnMobile, a third party supplier. Reliance stated that it was not responsible for content provided by OnMobile, but apologised its subscribers and the Sikh community in Uttar Pradesh. OnMobile also issued a public apology.
In 2013, Atul Kumar was arrested in
Jalandhar
Jalandhar is the third most-populous city in the Indian state of Punjab and the largest city in Doaba region. Jalandhar lies alongside the Grand Trunk Road and is a well-connected rail and road junction. Jalandhar is northwest of the state ...
for texting offensive Santa-Banta jokes, under
Section 295 (A) and
IT Act.
See also
*
Pathan joke
References
{{Reflist, 30em
Indian humour
Ethnic jokes
Censorship in India
Joke cycles
Desi culture
Racism in India
Persecution of Sikhs