I had better plans to spend my Saturday morning than writing this post but changed my mind quickly after reading the article by Mr. Nirpal Dhaliwal in the Evening Standard yesterday. I thought this controversial columnist in the evening free sheet targeted at the right wing leaning, white population who do not buy any newspaper so this is sustained through commercial advertising. The marketing strategy is clear.
What is really striking is that the column is so far removed from reality that it refuses to acknowledge some basic facts and misses out on learning and education which is vital as a human being. This columnist was educated in England where the education aspires to be world class and somehow has missed this guy totally. To bridge the gap you may want to enlighten him with Article 1 of the United Nations says: All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights.
And in Article 2 – says everyone is entitled to all the rights and freedoms set forth in this Declaration, without distinction of any kind, such as race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status.
For the record the ‘soviet era queuing’ at Heathrow is nothing new – it is more to do with the cuts and lack of investment in our creaking infrastructure. We won to host the Olympics a good few years ago and had all this time to get it right. No amount of winging by officials on this will help the millions of visitors to and residents of the UK. Racial profiling holding things up is a convenient scapegoat – I though this was done before you flew out!
How can someone say “I’ve been racially profiled in several countries — in Britain, America and, most of all, India? And I have no problem with the process.” Mr. Dhaliwal, you may not have any problem with that and you may think it is ok as ‘non-white’ person to be searched at the airports longer than your white counterpart, that’s for you, but do not generalise as what you clearly trying to point out in your article is nothing short of ridiculous and pandering to the right wing bigots.
How do you justify your opinion in the face of the massacre of 69 innocent people from all backgrounds, in Norway recently by a blond haired nationalist Andres Breivik? Was that not terrorism or do you have another warped definition for that word as well?
You give India as an example that white people go though quicker in queues than Indians? Have you also forgotten that India was ruled by the British for couple of hundred years and the scars are unfortunately still there to be seen? You are welcome to travel to different countries you will quickly see how wrong you are with your prejudiced opinion.
Let’s also explore if your idea of racial profiling stands up to credible investigation. I am aware of at least a dozen cases of high profile people who have been subjected to intimidating and demeaning treatment as a result of this recent profiling practice. This is not the ordinary folk like us but people of note that have included the Turban wearing Mr. Puri, India’s Ambassador to USA, the Ex- President of India Mr. Kalam ( 80 years old) visiting the USA and Ms. Shankar, the new Indian ambassador to the USA for wearing her Sari. All these people had special VIP status and diplomatic passports. Yet they have received such treatment and mind only boggles as to the treatment meted out to the majority of the travelling public. This is no racial profiling but clear systemic demeaning of human beings using the guise of heightened treat of extreme violence.
What is even more scary about his article is that if somehow if you wish to deal with the kind of racist behaviour that occurs on the streets of London then somehow you are labelled as a ‘politically correct – race walla’s’. Nothing could be further from the truth. The ‘Race Walla’s’ are a dying breed and the organisations that were in most cases the lifeline for community self help, most have gone out of business since the wheels fell off the British economy. It escapes Dhaliwal that only last week, a court heard the evidence from Mr. Galbant Singh Juttla, the man who filmed the racist abuse whilst travelling on the London Tube.
Mr. Galbant Juttla filmed Jacqueline Woodhouse, 42, so that his daughters and other Londoners should never have to face this kind of behaviour from others. This is London today and there are countless other examples on the internet. Demonising one community at the expense of another is not very profitable way to earn your crust, while living thousands of miles away from the life in London today for that matter in the UK.
To cap it all you may want to also note the behaviour of one of the elite training institutions in the USA – The Joint Forces Staff College in Norfolk, Va., after it suspended its elective class entitled “Perspectives on Islam and Islamic Radicalism” The course indoctrinated the cream of its army recruits that “the United States is at war with Islam and we ought to just recognize that.”
Mr. Dhaliwal if it was not a complaint from a student who took the class in March, then we would never have known and the training never brought to the attention of the authorities. How many others have we not heard about? All because others feel that people are being nudged into keeping silence as they may be called ‘politically correct crusaders’? Your column in the ES does little to dispel this fear and adds weight to the bigots misplaced fears and scaremongering.
Mr. Dhaliwal spare us your misconceived out of touch rants thousands of miles away and if you must to indulge in the passion of writing then let’s see some light and less of the heat that you are attempting to generate.
Copyright Semra Eren Nijhar – All rights reserved
Semra Eren-Nijhar 