The Free Satpal Campaign and its fellow travellers have made it abundantly clear that the mere allegation of racism is to be regarded as far more serious than overwhelming evidence of murder. In keeping with this, and with the martyrdom of Satpal Ram, they have blown up the incidence of so-called racism in Britain’s prisons (qualitative as well as quantitative) out of all proportion. As might be expected, the major offenders in this all-pervasive racist conspiracy are white prison officers.
Early last year a big inquiry was launched into so-called racism in prisons when it was revealed that prison officers were using politically incorrect terminology in their memoranda. In recent years, prisoners have been allowed controlled access to the telephone; conversations can be – but are not always – monitored. When Asian and other inmates have made calls to non-English speakers these have prompted the officers monitoring the conversations to note “talks in Paki” and “foreign crap, well dodgy” and so on in their logs.
Knifing an innocent (white) stranger to death cuts no ice with the Free Satpal Campaign, but perish the thought that prison officers should even dream of using such language. One Ram campaigner who demanded action was John McDonnell. John McDonnell it will be recalled is the Labour MP who was duped by the Ram campaign into laying a lie-ridden Early Day Motion before the House of Commons. He demanded the immediate suspension of the officers concerned. Why only their suspension, one might ask? Surely they should be flogged, or better still, hung, drawn and quartered?
Prisons Minister Paul Boateng – who unlike Mr McDonnell is more black than red – declined to impose such Draconian sanctions. To the Free Satpal Campaign this is unforgivable; such ingrained racist attitudes are proof positive of their hero’s continued psychological torture in addition to his innocence. Let us though look at this racist language objectively.
According to the tiresome Macpherson Report:
Racism in general terms consists of conduct or words or practices which disadvantage or advantage people because of their colour, culture, or ethnic origin. *
It remains to be seen how such words written in a confidential prison log book bring the inmates concerned any disadvantage. There is no suggestion that their phone calls were terminated or that they were beaten up or even subjected to verbal abuse.
The word Paki can be construed as offensive, but it can also be viewed as a bona fide abbreviation, unlike the dreaded N word. In fact, even the word nigger brings no general condemnation (when used by blacks).
The proof of this pudding is in the eating; in the July 28, 1992 issue of the Asian newspaper Eastern Eye, Shahid of Birmingham opined sensibly that calling an Asian a Paki is like calling an Englishman a Brit.
“I’m proud to be a Paki. Just because racists call us Pakis doesn’t mean it’s a bad word.
Let everyone know that.”
While these edifying comments (below) appeared in a cyber-space forum devoted to chit-chat about the sub-continent at
http://www.indiafamily.net/talk/messages/54/83.html
All I can say is that Rana - go back to Pakiland and start ****ing your sister and then your mother - cuz that’s the only thing you are good for.
JAI HIND !
Arjun Singh Malhotra on Saturday, September 16, 2000 - 03:37 am:
RUBI, You do sound like a nigga hoe. I think that Pakistani people gave a lot to UK.
| By Arjun Singh Malhotra on Tuesday, November 14, 2000 - 04:43 am: |
What the hell did Pakis give to the UK, except maybe illegals, terrorism ,Hizb, and fried onions. `
| By Anonymous on Thursday, November 16, 2000 - 09:55 pm: |
First of all Pakis have a old culture.
As you know UK parents usually have 2 children
and Pakis have at least 5.
You Hindus and Shiks should stick together with
Pakistans in foreign countries especially in UK.
In that way southasians will increase in population
of UK and it will be a payback for colonialism
and humiliations in the history.
You white English have to understand that Pakistans
had give a lot to UK.Pakis were soldiers,economists
scientists etc.
While on hindustan.net, a contributor who is obviously proud to call herself Paki-girl writes:
on Wednesday, February 14, 2001 - 06:11 pm:
Come on you guyz!! The Indians call pakis bad, and pakis call the indians bad...aisa hi challta raha to phir to hogayee dosti!!! It was heartbreaking reading through this page..how can it ever be possible to join hands if there’s so much hate between us! Come on! Why dont you think about that once we were together! And becuz of some stupd politicians there has grown such a hate between us, that still after so many years it pisses people off!
polticians like Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif!Perish the thought that any white person should be caught using such language. The language used by some blacks, American “street blacks” in particular, is even more avant garde. The 1993 film Poetic Justice which features Janet Jackson (who is as mad as her brother except that she doesn’t think she’s white) is an all-black affair, cast and crew; there is hardly a white face in the film. And the language is appalling. Literally every tenth word is bitch, hoe, ** motherfucker or nigger. Young American blacks in some cities habitually call each other nigger, and call their girlfriends bitch and hoe. In one scene a potential suitor calls Jackson’s heroine bitch. When she objects to this he replies that she bleeds every month just like all the other hoes. Strange courtship.
It must be stressed that this is not only the language of “street blacks”; the black music scene is far broader based than that, and has spawned bands with names like NWA (work out the acronym yourself). Curiously, you can search in vain through the literature of the mainstream far right parties in Britain for comparable epithets. Of course, none of the foregoing justifies genuine racially motivated abuse, even of convicted murderers like Ram. But one should keep a sense of proportion even when there is some substance to the allegations. And when they come from such notorious and many times proven liars as Satpal Ram and his acolytes, they should be taken with a large grain of salt.
And one final, and extremely relevant point. Ram himself for all his rants against racism is not – or was not in the past – averse to using similar language. Just before he stabbed to death the unarmed Clarke Pearce in a drunken rage, Ram stood up and shouted at his hapless victim “Don’t you like Paki music...?
April 15, 2001
* THE STEPHEN LAWRENCE INQUIRY, Cm 4262 – I & 4262 – II (Revised), published by HMSO, London, (February 1999), Part 1, page 20.
** Literally whore but pronounced hoah as in Shoah.
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