Indian MPs debate racist treatment of Meghan Markle in parliament

Indian parliament discusses racism in UK days after its British counterpart took up the issue of safety of farmers in India

S Jaishankar, the Indian external affairs minister on Monday told the parliament that India will take up racism with the UK with “great candour” when required (AFP via Getty Images)

Days after the British parliament debated the issue of a farmers’ agitation in India, expressing concern about the safety of protesters, Indian lawmakers on Monday raised concerns about “racism in the UK” during an ongoing parliament session in Delhi.

The key topics of discussion in India were Meghan Markle’s interview with Oprah Winfrey in which she levelled damaging allegations against the British royal family, and the resignation of an Indian-origin woman from an Oxford students’ body.

S Jaishankar, India’s external affairs minister, told parliament that India will take up matters that concern Indians with the UK with “great candour” when required. His comments came in the wake of the resignation of Indian-origin student Rashmi Samant from the post of president of the Oxford University Student Union.

Samant, 22, was embroiled in a controversy regarding her old social media posts that users said were racist and insensitive. She quit her post within days of her election after an outcry.

Ashwini Vaishnaw, a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) lawmaker from Odisha, had contended that Samant, who was the first Indian woman to be elected to the post of president of the Oxford student was forced to resign because of racism and cyberbullying.

“I note the sentiments of the House. I do want to say that as a land of Mahatma Gandhi, we can never ever turn our eyes away from racism wherever it is. Particularly so when it is in a country where we have such a large diaspora,” reports quoted Mr Jaishankar as saying.

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The minister’s comments are significant since they were issued days after the Indian embassy in the UK criticised the debate on the safety of Indian farmers in the British parliament. Several UK members of parliament from the Liberal Democrats, Labour Party and the Scottish National Party had also discussed the concerns regarding press freedom in India.

A petition, signed by about 100,000 people, to debate the safety of farmers and the press was started by Gurch Singh of the Liberal Democrat Party.

Mr Vaishnaw, in his address to Indian parliament on Monday, said, “even the Hindu religious beliefs of her (Samant’s) parents were publicly attacked by a faculty member.”

Mr Jaishankar told parliament, “we will monitor such development very very closely, we will raise it when required, and will always champion the fight against racism and other forms of intolerance.”

Mr Vaishnaw said that Samant, who won the student body election in February by 1,966 votes out of a possible 3,708 votes, and was to begin her tenure as president in June, was cyber-bullied into resigning from her post. After the controversy, Samant had apologised for unintentionally causing hurt but alleged that she was unfairly targeted.

One of the racist posts included a photo of her from Malaysia with the words “Ching Chang” written as a caption.

Mr Vaishnaw said, “what was the treatment meted out to her? Shouldn’t this diversity been celebrated?” If this happens at an institute like Oxford what is the message that goes out to the world,” he said.

In a Facebook post, however, Oxford’s Campaign for Racial Awareness and Equality (CRAE) had dismissed her claims. It said, “in this instance, there is clear evidence of wrongdoing and no suggestion of malicious intent; as such, CRAE is confident in its firm recommendation that the President-Elect should stand down from her position.”

Twitter had also suspended her account for 36 hours.

On Meghan Markle’s accusations of racism in the royal family, Mr Vaishnaw said, “behaviour of a society is actually a reflection of its beliefs and value system. If such practices of racial discrimination are followed at the highest level what would be the following at the lower levels?”