Joking about Hinduism and Indian religious beliefs, even if done without malice, can be a very dangerous risk. James W. Laine, an American professor of religious studies, discovered that when he included in a book of his a few "naughty jokes" told to him by Indians about the parentage of a 17th-century Indian warrior king, Chhatrapati Shivaji. People in India idolize Shivaji - so Laine's book has been banned, the Indian institute where he did research has been ransacked, one of his former colleagues has been attacked, and a state government in India has asked Interpol to arrest Laine.

The Christian Science Monitor reports:

Laine is only the latest in a long string of authors - including Jawaharlal Nehru, Salman Rushdie, Khushwant Singh, and Taslima Nasreen - who have met the violent face of political correctness in a country that takes its heroes quite seriously. ... "This is a kind of resurgence of intolerance taking place in all aspects of Indian life," says Khushwant Singh, a prominent Indian novelist in New Delhi. He notes that Hindu fundamentalists have smashed cameras used by film crews working for Mira Nair, director of Monsoon Wedding. They have also vandalized the work of M.F. Hussein, an Indian painter. ..."The spirit of intolerance is on the upswing, and if you raise your voice against it, you're condemned, too," he adds.

Indian politicians are citing a few British-era measures for crowd control, called Sections 153 and 153A. These laws call for the arrest of someone who is "wantonly giving provocation with intent to cause riot," and "promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race, place of birth, residence, language, etc. and doing acts prejudicial to maintenance of harmony." These laws apparently apply to Laine's jokes that Shivaji's busy warrior dad may not have been his biological father. The laws haven't been applied, however, to the mob members who ransacked the BORI institute, nor to the Shambhaji Brigade spokesman, Shrimant Kokate, who threatened to hang BORI's elderly intellectuals. Shiv Sena parliamentarian Sanjay Nirupam decries the violence against BORI, but says Laine should be "brought to justice."

To be fair, there are a lot of reasons for people in India to take Shivaji - despite the fact that, at the time, he was apparently just another thug. For one thing, he was one of the few to stand up to Muslim rulers and thus gave Indians a means to take pride in themselves and their ability to rule themselves. For another, he was a member of a lower caste rather than a Brahmin. Thus, an attempt to take him down a couple of notches is seen as yet another attempt by the elites to maintain social control.

What people have done in reaction to the book, however, is inexcusable. They get upset when Laine repeats jokes he heard from Indians themselves - but in their rioting, they have made themselves and their beliefs the real jokes. Yes, that's right: they and their beliefs are a joke so long as they react in such a manner to things like what Laine wrote. A dangerous joke, to be sure, but nevertheless a joke.

Read More:

• Religious Intolerance & Bigotry
• Religion in India
• Religious Tensions in India