Posted on Monday, January 23, 2012 - 10:43 am:

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It�s the rare Jay Leno joke that results in ruffled feathers in the United States. But a recent bit from that NBC late-night host�s monologue has offended India�s Sikh community, who say the gag disrespected one of their holiest shrines when it was depicted as belonging to Mitt Romney.

On Thursday�s broadcast of �The Tonight Show,� Mr. Leno�s monologue included what appeared to be a segment from the entertainment program �The Insider,� showing the homes of the Republican presidential hopefuls, including houses owned by Newt Gingrich and Representative Ron Paul of Texas. But when Mr. Romney�s summer home on Lake Winnipesaukee was announced, the screen instead showed the Golden Temple in Amritsar, regarded as the spiritual center of the Sikh religion and a valued shrine to other Indian religions, as well as the site of historic acts of violence, including an Indian Army raid that killed hundreds of Sikh militants in 1984.

BBC News reported that Vayalar Ravi, India�s Minister of Overseas Indian Affairs, called the joke �quite unfortunate and quite objectionable� in remarks to reporters, adding that his embassy planned to discuss the matter with the U.S. State Department.

�Freedom does not mean hurting the sentiments of others,� Mr. Ravi said. �This is not acceptable to us and we take a very strong objection for such a display.�

The BBC also pointed to an online petition at change.org that has received more than 2,200 signatures and declares that �Jay Leno�s racist comments need to be stopped right here.�

A press representative for �The Tonight Show� did not immediately reply to a request for comment.

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