The Carol Lay comic strip in the Sept. 4 Cal section was titled “Foto Funnies,” but the strip wasn’t funny to some in the Sikh community.
The strip started with a note from Lay that said, “I saw this A.P. photo of California’s Lt. Gov. Cruz Bustamante on at least two different Internet news sites. See photo at: www.waylay.com.”
The strip went on to lampoon the picture, which showed Bustamante
surrounded by reporters as a man whom Lay described as a “shady character”
stood in the background. The comic strip then focused on the man, who was
wearing the distinctive Sikh turban and had a beard. The question: “Could it
be Osama’s no-good cousin, Randy bin Laden?”
A subsequent panel said the composition of the photo “looks like a
cut-and-paste job to me … subliminal sabotage! But who would do such a
thing?” The last panel was a photo of California Gov. Gray Davis holding a
pair of scissors and a cutout of the Sikh.
The whole thing was rife with controversial issues: doctored photographs,
the California recall and the erroneous connection between Sikhs and Osama bin
Laden.
Amarjit Singh Buttar of Vernon, chairman of the American Region of the
World Sikh Council, who has been quoted in The Courant frequently since Sept.
11, 2001, trying to dispel any connection between Sikhs and bin Laden, called
Thursday to express the concern of the Sikh community.
“The Courant has been very good about educating the public about Sikhs,”
Buttar said. “I can’t understand how the cartoon could have gotten into the
paper.”
Evidently, the comic strip sailed past editors at The Courant. But Buttar
is right. Since September 2001, The Courant has published at least a dozen
stories about the Sikh community and the religion founded in the 15th century
in the Punjab region of India. The articles have explained that bin Laden and
Sikhs wear turbans and beards, but that’s where the similarities end.
Lay said she knows that. “The tone of the strip is a satire on conspiracy
nuts, with me playing the role of the overeager dupe. … I understand the
difference between Sikhs and Muslims and Arabs, but I intentionally wrote the
strip as if I didn’t. The point was too subtle. I was really trying to point
out that this [California recall] campaign is so negative that [Bustamante and
Davis] will stoop to anything. … I thought I was making it clear that I was
being facetious and making fun of ignorant people.”
Well, some understood the point, but it was at the expense of Sikhs.
I can’t help but think timing magnified the affront. Immediately after the
9/11 attacks, Muslims, Arabs and Sikhs in the U.S. were subjected to threats
and violence.
“Even an inadvertent mention can mislead innocent, simple folks out there,
considering that this came from a reputable newspaper like The Hartford
Courant,” Buttar said. “The name of Osama bin Laden is interchangeable with
terrorism and 9/11. The president declared war on terrorism, which in turn
became a war on immigrants. Only the Sikhs have suffered the loss of human
life.”
Buttar was referring to the shooting of Arizona gas station owner Balbir
Singh Sodhi four days after the attacks.
Lay, whose comic strip also appears on salon.com and buzzle.com, said: “I
totally forgot about the Sept. 11 connection. … Even though I apologize for
the misunderstanding, I stand by the strip. I received positive mail from Sikh
and Indian readers, so I don’t feel like I failed to make the points I was
making.”
Lay has done a follow-up strip “in the interest of de-propagation.” She
calls it “A Field Guide To Turbans.”
Features Editor Naedine Hazell said the follow-up will not appear in The
Courant. “I don’t think it goes far enough in clarifying what she was trying
to say.”
We all know sweeping generalizations are the language of cartoons, but Lay
didn’t help matters by using the wrong one in “Foto Funnies.”
