The Hindu Business Line : Slurs are no laughing matter

ONE day it's a bank chairman who is arrested, and on another it's the Election Commission engaged in a war of words with Lalu. The common thread is the allegation of having passed casteist remarks. Though Microsoft Word doesn't seem to have `casteist' in its dictionary, common people flip dictionaries and watch for the `derog' label against words that are about to fall off their lips. Here's some help.

What's a casteist remark?

It's anything that denigrates the other person on the basis of his or her caste. An important piece of legislation in this context is the Protection of Civil Rights Act, 1955, "An Act to prescribe punishment for the preaching and practice of `untouchability'." Section 7(1)(d) of the Act that became relevant in the IDBI case is about `insults or attempts to insult.'

My friend Cheenu is angry that his colleagues in Delhi call him Madrasi!

Madrasi is explained as `any South Indian person' in the `list of ethnic slurs' on http://en.wikipedia.org. (Slur, if you want to know, is synonymous for smear, disgrace, insult, slight, and affront.) Also on the slur-list are expressions such as ABCD for American-Born Confused Desi, bhai meaning brother but considered an offensive reference to a Sikh person in Singapore, Da Bi Zi (Chinese) to mean Caucasian people, (literally `Big noses') and so on. It all depends on whether Cheenu's colleagues are only making friendly comments or using the word as a put-down.

Don't such remarks always make one angry?

In a majority of cases, you're right. Which is why the way Amandeep Singh Sidhu reacted in the US has made news. Soon after September 11, as he was driving home, when a motorist tried to run him off the road, Sidhu slowed down and the enraged man sped away. "We were forced into a situation where we could mask our identity or become more proud of it,'' Sidhu said, emphasising the need for educating people about one's faith to battle prejudice. That everybody has a right to be treated equally, with dignity, free from insult, should be part of one's education and upbringing.

Aren't politicians smarter than executives and bureaucrats?

"Mind your speech a little lest you should mar your fortunes," King Lear advised his daughter on discretion while talking. Much of the politics of our present-day kings relies on vote-banks; so, the netas try not to tread on any particular group's toes. There can be slips, though. Such as when Hungary's PM had to apologise for joking that Saudi Arabia's soccer team had `very many terrorists' on its roster, and Bush was in a spot for using the word `Pakis'.

What else to watch for?

Avoid terms of disparagement; for, they are pejorative terms whose use pains the targeted group, as Wikipedia explains. It has links to both ethnic and sexual slurs. Don't miss the `related articles' on topics such as offensive terms on the basis of nationality, ethnic group names used as insults, words meaning outsider (foreigner or `not one of us'), phrases based on stereotypes, hate speech, pejorative political slogans and so on.

Do some precautions help?

There's useful guidance on www.idaho-humanrights.org. "Think before you speak," it advises. "Sometimes, words that may not seem offensive to you may be very offensive to someone else." Before you crack a joke, ask yourself if it pokes fun at someone's race, ethnicity, religion, gender, sexual orientation or disability because `slurs are no laughing matter', directs the site.

Publilius Syrus said, "I have often regretted my speech, never my silence." Yet, when someone uses a slur in your presence, it may not be appropriate to remain silent unless you're able to convey otherwise an effective message that slurs are inappropriate.

SayCheek@TheHindu.co.in

Article E-Mail :: Comment :: Syndication :: Printer Friendly Page

Stories in this Section
Boom time

Slurs are no laughing matter

Summer blossoms

Afghan women still at receiving end

Bengal chamber's `classic' touch to lounge-cum-bar