“90% Indians are fools”: Justice Katju’s controversial remark
- Why jokes are dangerous in India
- The Kashmir–Bihar Facebook post and backlash
- Mamata Banerjee ‘husband’ comment and TMC’s reaction
- “Wink at the Judge” controversy with lady lawyers
- Free speech, humour and the culture of outrage in India
Katju’s advice: Never joke in India
Justice Markandey Katju recalls why he called 90% Indians fools, the backlash to his jokes on Kashmir, Mamata Banerjee, and women lawyers, and why humour is dangerous in India.
A country with a billion fools
By Justice Markandey Katju
I once said 90% Indians are fools
I also said that it is dangerous to joke in India, because these fools will not understand that you are joking
For instance, I once said on my Facebook page that since Pakistanis keep demanding that Kashmir should be given to them, we should say we will give it provided they take Bihar also with it. Now, anyone with even a little common sense would have understood I was joking. How can I, a retired man, give Bihar to Pakistan?
But soon afterwards, demonstrations were held against me all over Bihar, posters with my picture on it blackened, and my effigies burnt. The Chief Minister Nitish Kumar condemned me, and a police case for sedition was filed against me by an MLA.
Similarly, I said in a lighter vein on fb '' Why can't Bengalis find a good husband for Mamata Banerjee ? ''. A TMC leader, Kunal Ghosh, said he would slap me if I came to Kolkata for saying this
Some time back, a lady lawyer messaged me '' My Lord, please give me tips on effective arguments in the courtroom ''
To which I replied ''Judge ko aankh maar do''
I also wrote as a follow up ''All lady lawyers who winked at me in Court got favourable orders''.
All this was as a joke. But what I forgot was that 90% Indians are fools, who cannot understand that I was speaking in a lighter vein. And now these fools are shouting and screaming ( rather, braying ) against me, calling my remarks sexist, distasteful, demeaning, etc, etc and demanding that all my judgments be reviewed
So my recommendation to all Indians is: never joke. It is dangerous to do so. You may get embroiled in a criminal case filed by someone whose feelings have been hurt.’ And always have a funereal, sullen, morose, surly, melancholic, humourless, gloomy, grim, stony, dour, forbidding, and somber countenance. That is the only way to keep out of trouble in India.
(Justice Katju is a retired judge of the Supreme Court of India. These are his personal views.)
