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Golf mag
publishes morphed image of Sikh Guru, feels sorry
WSN Network
Washington DC: An
American magazine Golf Digest carried a picture in its May 2008
issue which many Sikhs saw as a morphed image of the popular
rendition of the image of the fifth guru of the Sikhs, Guru Arjan
Dev. The magazine had depicted the morphed image as a sort of
‘golfing guru’, something that annoyed the community.
Now, Golf Digest is expected to send a letter of apology for its use
of an image of Guru Arjan that it pulled from the Internet,
manipulated and printed as the “golfing guru” in its May issue.
Jerry Tarde, the editor-in-chief of the monthly magazine, said the
apology would also be printed in the August issue that will be
released in mid July.
Many Sikh organizations and websites, including the Sikh-American
Legal Defense and Education Fund (Saldef) had sought an apology for
it. The objectionable image appeared on page 66 of Golf Digest and
was an obvious play on words for people’s questions being answered
by a golf guru.
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The Apology
The printed apology in the August 2008 edition of Golf
Digest will read as follows:
"It has been brought to our attention that an illustration
in the May issue of Golf Digest inadvertently depicted a
golfing character resembling an image of Guru Arjan Dev Ji,
who is a revered religious figure in Sikhism. This was not
our intent. We apologize for the use and for any offense to
the Sikh community." |
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Saldef's chairman Manjit Singh said his organization brought the
matter to the notice of the magazine editor almost a month ago. "But
since there has been no response, we decided to raise the matter
within the community.” While conceding it to be the result of
ignorance, Manjit said, “Since the mistake has now been pointed out,
it should be corrected.”
National Director of Saldef Rajbir Singh Datta himself said, “We
never believed there was any malice involved (by Golf Digest)...This
was an opportunity for education – for the administration as well as
the readers, which is an affluent crowd.” Rajbir Singh, also a
long-time subscriber of Golf Digest, said he missed the story in the
May issue, but was alerted by a couple of other local Sikh
golf-enthusiasts.
4
June,
2008
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