# Today: FIR lodged against Anil Ambani and senior Reliance Communications officials in Lucknow, after an “emergent meeting” of the Lucknow Gurudwara Prabhandak Committee, for allegedly circulating derogatory jokes against the Sikh community through its mobile and internet services.
# November 2007: D. Gurumurthy, a Hindu Munnani activist in Kumbakonam, has lodged a complaint against actress Khushboo for hurting religious sentiments by wearing chappals in front of goddesses at a film muhurat in Madras.
# May 2007: Mahesh Tayade of Dalit Panthers in Amravati lodged a complaint against item girl Rakhi Sawant for hurting the religious sentiments of Buddhists by keeping a statuette of Buddha in her bathroom.
# April 2007: Rajasthan court orders arrest of Richard Gere and Shilpa Shetty after the mock-slobbering of the Celebrity Big Brother winner by the Hollywood actor.
# April 2007: K.K. Pushpraj of Calicut has filed a petition against Mandira Bedi and designer Satya Paul after the television anchor appeared in a saree bearing a print of the national flag during a cricket telecast.
Have we become a nation of think-skinned idiots without a sense of humour? Is creeping political correctness the biggest disease confronting our increasingly uncivil society? Has our criminal-justice system been reduced to a joke at the hands of publicity mongrels? Or have out-of-work nuisance makers found a way of extracting their 15 minutes of fame before a media ready to slap the words “breaking news” on any story?
Above all, when there are thousands of cases crying out for justice, how do our courts, especially in the smaller towns, find the time and promptness to take cognisance of such ridiculous plaints? Is a “Taliban mindset” creeeping in the Indian lower judiciary as Soli Sorabjee says?
Also read: MIDWEEK MASALA: The frog and the sardar
Photo courtesy: Businessweek
churumuri 
Actually frivolous litigation is a great way of earning cheap publicity… and getting to hobnob with annoyed superstars.
Besides, as a lower court judge, it makes the pittance you earn seem worth it if it gives you the power to summon film stars at will.
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Alok, you have hit the nail on the head. This country is full of publicity mongers who will do anything to hit the headlines. If media stops reporting stuff like this as news they will probably learn.
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Felt happy about Reliance communications. They are very arrogant with the customers. Their computer disconnected my telephone when there was still some credit balance and made me run around.
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Felt happy about Reliance communications. They are very arrogant with the customers. Their computer disconnected my telephone when there was still some credit balance and made me run around.
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Have to agree with you Alok. But ‘Stupidity’/’Need for limelight’, permeates all skin types alike. Indians do it and so do westerners. In the west, it even gets rewarded every so often ; so it is even more — remember the McDonalds and the lady with a hot cup of coffee between her legs while driving? Tort reform vis-à-vis health care costs are another sticky point.
Sanjay, I don’t think the media will stop. The freakier the story, the better for them; pure sensationalism and capitalism at work. It is the evening newspaper mentality of 10 years ago — blood, gore, freaks rule the roost. The only difference, now, it is 24 x 7…
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What do you mean “Have we become…”… “We have already become”… PILs at the drop of a hat…
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If a LOT of people believe that we as a nation have become thin-skinned idiots because some nut filed a case agaisnt Khushboo or Amabni, well maybe we have.
But I strongly believe that we should stop this genre of pontificatory nonse that begins typically with, “have we become a nation of”..”are we a people that are ..” etc, etc. How can you draw a conclusion about a billion people based on what a few do?
Have we become a nation of whining bloggers? ;-)
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What makes you think others nations are different? An example:
http://lrs.moonstar.com/blog/2007/12/05/no-wonder-atheists-make-fun-of-christians/
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There is a limit to Humor and we all want it to take the stress out. But this latest joke on Reliance is crossing the line, this is just not called for, guys wake up and fight for your dignity
A devoted Sikh
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The Client is the roaming idiot and the lawyer is the standing idiot and the judge is sitting idiot.
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