LONDON: Be it racists comments or hate comments by prominent personalities, at times are suddenly turned into some pathetic light-hearted joke as done recently by a right-wing journalist who defended Boris Johnson’s comment on Muslim women.
Coming to PM Boris Johnson’s aid, American journalist Lionel Shriver defined his racist comment describing Muslim women who wear burqas as ‘Bank robbers’, ‘letterboxes’ as a light ‘hearted joke’ convincing the audience at the recent BBC Question Time yesterday, Scramnews.com reports.
Seated in the audience, one Muslim woman brilliantly replied to her why Mr PM was not just being ‘light-hearted’ and instead gave a racist, hate comment that is affecting Muslims in the country.
Defending Johnson, Shriver said: “From that rhetoric, I get told to go back to my own country, I can’t see how you can blame Boris Johnson for that”
The BBC audience applauded her before this first Muslim woman interrupted and said how people have been reacting to PM’s “letterboxes” comment and tackling her on the streets asking her to “go back to your own country,” when she is born and brought up in the UK.
Slamming Shriver for defending Johnson, she said “Take responsibility,” and soon another Muslim woman joined the debate.
“You are spreading hate by saying that,” the second woman said, adding “You’re spreading hate and racism.”
Shriver convincingly said PM was only trying to stand up for the rights of Muslim women “to wear whatever they want.”
To that the lady prompted and said the true meaning to rights of Muslim women is the freedom to wear whatever they wish or want which also includes the right to safely wear the burka or the niqab, without getting abused.
Shriver’s flimsy excuse to defend PM Johnson’s racist comment went down the drain on national television.