Racist row not to affect Indo-British ties: Arthur

New Delhi, Jan 26: Amid a heated debate sparked off by the alleged racist comments made against Bollywood actor Shilpa Shetty by Britain's Jade Goody on the reality show 'Big Brother', British High Commissioner to India Michael Arthur has said the racial row had not affected Indo-British ties.

In an interview to the television channel CNN-IBN, Sir Michael Arthur dismissed suggestions that the incident had adversely affected Britain's image among Indians or impacted Indo-British relations.

In an interview with Karan Thapar on 'Devil's Advocate' programme, to be telecast on Sunday night, the British High Commissioner, reacting to comments by several cross-sections of society in India and some sections of the media in Britain of the 'Big Brother' episode being indicative of racism in Britain, said,'' The episode has set off a huge debate in Britain. There is a strong feeling in Britain that these offensive remarks made by Jade were rather intolerant and not the sort of what we as modern society stand for. This is evident from the fact that 40000 people have called in to complain about the said comments.

''I hope the conclusion of all this in India will be that in Britain we have a very lively and open society which is debating the issue and thus coming to a conclusion that we are not a racist society.'' It shows the tremendous affection in Britain for Shilpa who was not widely known in the country before, he said.

Sir Arthur said the public debate sparked off in Britain by the Shilpa episode was in a way indicative of a process of adjustment that had been going on inside British society over the last generation.

''In the last 15 to 20 years, we have become a very diverse, multicultural society. Huge number of different ethnic minority communities have been coming in, particularly Indian ethnic minorities who are extremely successful in our society and economy. Also, in our multicultural society, the key issues are to give a helping hand to minorities,'' the British High Commissioner said.

He said Britain had strict laws to deal with the racist comments.

On certain sections of the British media as well as intellectual circles terming the Big Brother episode a reflection of the fact that racism was an ugly reality of British society, Sir Arthur said.

''They are just individual comments being made by people who have come to prominence in this affair. However, a majority opinion, that includes views of House of Commons across the spectrum of public opinion, political leaders and editorials of many newspapers, has condemned the views aired about these few people (about Britain being racist).''

''Also, according to recent figures from a British source, Chinese children have best GCSE results than White British children. The figures also show that Indian British boys and girls have better GCSE results than British boys and girls. This shows that we are a multicultural society,''he said. On a personal level, however, Sir Arthur felt that Big Brother was hardly a forum to judge the record of Britain in this regard.

''Here is a very artificial forum in which you test people under rather stressful conditions. Its because it makes for good television. It sells well and people like it. Look at the attention it has grabbed. However, for me it seems to be an artificial way of debating any issue in the confines of the house set up by the Big Brother,''he said.

The British High Commissioner also felt that the controversy in India over the remarks made on the show could also have a lot to do with the vast difference in social mores between India and Britain.

''For example, some of the language used in public debate in Britain today, like use of swear words, was not used when I was a child.

Society has just gone more liberal about it. Also, a lot of debate in Britain is about whether this is a class debate more than anything else,''he said.

''That, however, is not to negate the fact that we as a society need to tackle racism.'' The reaction from a host of political personalities in India notwithstanding, Sir Arthur felt the issue had not impacted Britain's image in India nor affected India-Britain ties in any way.

''When you have got television headlines like this and you have British ministers visiting India at the time (Chancellor Gordown Brown), it is inevitable that Indian ministers will feel the need to raise the issue. Of course, the Governments need to handle it as there is a public debate there concerning us. However, no protests have been filed though there have been exchanges about the fact that we as a society need to be sure that due process of law is followed which will be,'' he said.

Sir Arthur said any adverse perception in India about Britain was a matter of concern for them.

''Any concerns of Britain being a racist country is a matter of concern because we have a very modern and improving relationship between India and Britain, a very deep cultural relationship in the 21st century. Any such thing would be very damaging to us and all I stand for,''he said.

UNI