India's embassy in Washington has contacted US assistant secretary of state Robert Blake to protest a gag by late night TV host Jay Leno involving Sikhism's holiest shrine, a senior State Department official said Tuesday. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the Indian government "contacted us" and Blake responded along the lines of an earlier State Department position, which affirmed US constitutional rights to free speech.
Sikh activists voiced outrage after Leno showed a photo of the ornate Golden Temple in Amritsar, joking it was the summer home of presidential candidate Mitt Romney, whose handling of his personal fortune has become a campaign issue. Minister Vayalar Ravi termed the gag by "The Tonight Show" host as "quite unfortunate and quite objectionable" and said the Indian embassy in Washington would raise the issue, the Press Trust of India reported on Monday.
State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said Monday that the United States has "absolute respect" for all Indians including Sikhs, but she noted that the US constitution strictly protects freedom of speech. "I hope (Leno will) be appreciative if we make the point that his comments are constitutionally protected in the United States under free speech and, frankly, they appeared to be satirical in nature," Nuland told reporters.
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