An Indian origin Member of Parliament of United Kingdom Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi lashed out at UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson for his racist remarks he made in a 2018 newspaper column.
The first turbaned Sikh MP in his speech said: “If I decide to wear a turban, or if someone decides to wear a cross or a hijab, it doesn’t mean that it is an open season for people in this House to make derogatory and divisive remarks.”
In a 2018 Daily Telegraph column, the British prime minister had said that Muslim women who wear burqas look like “letterboxes and bank robbers”.
If you have ever experienced racism or discrimination, you can appreciate full well the hurt and pain felt by Muslim women, who were singled out by this divisive Prime Minister. It’s high time he apologised for his derogatory and racist remarks! 2/2 pic.twitter.com/R3goWBTh1s
— Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi MP (@TanDhesi) September 4, 2019
“For those of us who have had to endure and face up to being called names such as towel head’ or Taliban’ or coming from Bongo Bongo Land’ we can appreciate full well the hurt and pain felt by already vulnerable Muslim women when they are described as bank robbers and letterboxes,” Dhesi said.
The Sikh MP also criticized Boris Johnson for failing to curb Islamophobia in the country and also within his party despite promising to do so on live television.
Calling on Boris Johnson to apologize for this statements, the Sikh MP said: “Rather than hiding behind sham and whitewashed investigations, when will the Prime Minister finally apologize for his derogatory and racist remarks which have led to a spike in hate crime and given the increasing prevalence of such incidents in his party?”
“When will the Prime Minister finally order an inquiry into Islamophobia within the Conservative Party, something which he and his chancellor promised on national television?” said Dhesi.
Dhesi’s speech was met with huge applause from Parliament as fellow MPs shouted, “Go on Tan!”
However, Boris Johnson defended his 2018 editorial by calling it a ‘liberal defense’ of freedom of expression.
Read: Airport Staff ‘Jokes’ about Finding Bomb Inside Sikh Activist’s Turban
Claiming that his cabinet was the most diverse Britain had seen, Dhesi said: “And I speak as somebody who is not only proud to have Muslim ancestors but to be related to Sikhs such as himself. And I’m also proud to say that under this government we have the most diverse cabinet in the history of this country and we truly reflect modern Britain.”
According to a recent report, after Johnson’s Islamophobic comments the hate crimes in Muslims saw a rise of 375 percent.
