Recently Australian Newspaper Herald Sun published a cartoon depicting a Sikh with a cigar in the mouth, which was very offensive to the Sikh Community.
At SinghStation, we received emails and calls from our audience who expressed their outrage against this cartoon depicting a Sikh man smoking a cigar, which was published in the Herald Sun on Thursday. The issue was given a hype by SBS Punjabi as it posted a Facebook post in this regard.
SinghStation would like to stand united with our fellow Australian Sikhs to show our disapproval of the cartoon published in the Herald Sun. The image was inappropriate and offensive and immediately after coming across this issue, we contacted Herald sun to express our concerns and disappointment against the cartoon publication.
We are thankful to MP Michelle Rowland for bringing this issue to the forefront and for supporting Sikh community stance on this matter as well.
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MICHELLE ROWLAND MP SHADOW MINISTER FOR CITIZENSHIP AND MULTICULTURALISM SHADOW ASSISTANT MINISTER FOR COMMUNICATIONS MEMBER FOR GREENWAY
MEDIA RELEASE
HERALD SUN CARTOON
The cartoon in the Herald Sun portraying Sikhs as cigar smokers is offensive to many in Australia’s Sikh community.
It is fundamentally against the tenants of Sikhism to consume any form of tobacco.
Sikh community leaders have voiced their disapproval and offence and have contacted me directly to communicate this.
Australia is a proudly multicultural country and we owe much of our economic prosperity and rich diversity to the hard work of migrant Australians, including Sikh Australians.
I am very disappointed that this offensive cartoon has been published and would urge all Australians to respect the cultures and religions of our diverse community.
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