BJP MP Tarun Vijay has offended all of South India with his racist remarks. While he has issued an apology, the damage appears to have been done. Many prominent personaliies have taken to social networking sites to vent their anger.
“If we were racist, why would we live with South Indians, black people around us,” said BJP’s Tarun Vijay, offending all of South India with his racist remarks. He has apologised for the statement, which he made during an interview on Al Jazeera on the attacks on African nationals in Greater Noida. But the damage appears to have been done. Many prominent personaliies have taken to social networking sites to vent their anger.
Tabu Rao, wife of Dinesh Gundu Rao, KCWP, posted his remarks along with her views on a networking site. “What does he mean by this? Are these so-called Indians doing us South Indians a favour by allowing us to live in this country? Are we second grade citizens because we have a dark skin?”
Such statements expose the racist mindset of BJP and it's leaders. I am surprised that not even a single BJP leader from the South has opposed this, which only shows they are in agreement with the statement ...
Fighting racism with racism .”...
New York based writer and political analyst Suchitra Vijayan expressed her angst through a long post.
All of South India is outraged by Tarun Vijay's comment calling us black.
Racism is not the exclusive privilege of the North.
Since I was ten, every time I have been to Salon, I have been offered bleaching services. In high end salons they call it removing the ‘tan’.
A classmate from school allegedly called me a black dog once in grade 11, and a fellow classmate thought it was appropriate to mention it to me. All because I was darker than most others.
When Meera was born, the first thing everyone wanted to know was whether she was light skinned and if she had her fathers green eyes. This is the question we ask of all our babies, are they "fair" ( a very Indian usage).
In less than a year, I have had five people, I have randomly encountered on the street or in our building lobby ask if Meera is my daughter, (I could be the nanny) and if so is my partner white. Oddly these questions came from other people of colour.
South India is also a big market for fairness creams, our movies follow the same misogyny of casting faired skinned women as the ideal type. Even our dark skinned heroes prefer lighter skinned munch younger nymphs.
Our matrimonial adds are no different.
I have lost count if the number of times I have heard family members say the most horrendous things relating to body types, color and appearance.
So before we become all sanctimonious and cry black, can we acknowledge how messed up our societies is ? We are no more progressive than our northern counterparts.
Bengaluru-based branding guru Harish Bijoor also took to Twitter to point out that this was racism. “The Aryan-Dravidian divide has gone nowhere after all these centuries. The Black & White divide remains,” he said. He also noted, “Tarun Vijay is neither tender, affectionate or victorious as his name suggests. His statement on blacks in South India reeks!”
