| Sikhs upset over cartoon linking them to Osama | |
| IANS Washington, October 18 | |
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A cartoon in a US paper associating Sikhs with Osama bin Laden has angered the community that has been trying to educate the public and the media about their religion. The cartoon appeared in a respectable newspaper, the Hartford Courant, published from Connecticut state, where the picture of a bearded and turbaned Sikh is referred to as "Osama's no-good cousin, Randy bin Laden." In a climate where Sikhs are increasingly becoming the target of backlash attacks, many Sikhs found the cartoon not only offensive but potentially dangerous. The United Sikhs, an advocacy group, quickly launched an online petition drive against the newspaper cartoon and its author Carol Lay. In response to this petition, Lay removed the cartoon from her website and apologised in writing to the organisation. As an afterthought, however, Lay tried to make light of the controversy with a follow-up cartoon in which she attempted to illustrate different styles of turbans. This was met with even more outrage from the Sikh community. She said she had been inundated with vicious and life-threatening emails. Nearly 3,000 people and several Sikh organisations signed an online petition which read: "We believe your reference to the Sikh gentleman in the AP photo as 'Randy bin Laden' was not only distasteful but simply dangerous and possibly life threatening for innocent Sikh men in turbans. Such gross misinformation within the media leads only to cause more confusion and negative sentiment towards innocent people." The United Sikhs said in its release that the organisation is looking for peaceful means to resolve the issue. | |
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