Skip to content 
Search

Latest Stories

Tan Dhesi challenges Johnson over 'hurtful' veil comments

By Rithika Siddhartha

LABOUR MP Tan Dhesi prompted unprecedented applause in the Commons this afternoon (4) as he challenged prime minister Boris Johnson over the use of his language describing women wearing veils as looking like letterboxes.


Dhesi, a turban wearing Sikh who represents Slough, said: “If I wear a turban... does that mean that is is open season for right honourable members of this House to make derogatory and divisive remarks about our appearance?

“For those of us, who from a young age, 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 fully well the hurt and pain felt by already vulnerable Muslim women when they are described as looking like bank robbers and letterboxes.

“So, rather than hide behind sham and whitewash investigations when will the prime minister finally apologise for his derogatory and racist remarks ?

“Racist remarks which have led to a spike in hate crimes.

“And given the increasing prevalence of such incidents within 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?”

The opposition benches broke into applause twice during Dhesi's question as senior cabinet members and Tory MPs watched on.

It was in August 2018 that Johnson wrote about veils in his column for The Daily Telegraph.

He said: “If you tell me that the burka is oppressive, then I am with you. If you say that it is weird and bullying to expect women to cover their faces, then I totally agree - and I would add that I can find no scriptural authority for the practice in the Koran. I would go further and say that it is absolutely ridiculous that people should choose to go around looking like letter boxes.”

And he added: “If a constituent came to my MP’s surgery with her face obscured, I should feel fully entitled – like Jack Straw – to ask her to remove it so that I could talk to her properly. If a female student turned up at school or at a university lecture looking like a bank robber then ditto.”

Johnson's views sparked outrage among members of his own party as well as Opposition MPs and community leaders.

During this summer's Tory leadership debate on TV, Sajid Javid – who was in the race to be prime minister – agreed to set up an investigation into Islamophobia within the party, and got agreement from other contenders, among them, Johnson.

Replying to Dhesi today, the prime minister said noted his ancestors were Muslims (Johnson's forebears were of Turkish descent) and also pointed - rather awkwardly - to his ties with the Sikh community. Johnson's estranged wife Marina is of Sikh origin.

He added: “I am also proud to say that under this government we have the most diverse cabinet in the history of this country.”

Johnson's cabinet includes Javid, who is his chancellor and who has previously said politicians should choose their language carefully. Javid is the son of Pakistani immigrants and he has spoken of being growing up in parts of England where immigrants faced hate crimes.

Dhesi later told the BBC: “The prime minister's response was pathetic. He needs to be held to account. Having relatives who are Sikh or Muslim does not mean you can make statements such as these without being responsible for the consequences.”

More For You

Prithvi

The Prithvi-II missile has a range of around 350 kms and can carry a payload of up to 500 kgs.

DRDO and Doordarshan

India test-fires nuclear-capable missiles; Akash Prime tested in Ladakh

INDIA on Thursday successfully test-fired nuclear-capable short-range ballistic missiles Prithvi-II and Agni-I from the Integrated Test Range in Chandipur, off the Odisha coast.

The launches were carried out by the Strategic Forces Command and demonstrated India's strategic deterrence capability, the defence ministry said.

Keep ReadingShow less
Marco Rubio

US secretary of state Marco Rubio said TRF is a 'front and proxy' of Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), a UN-designated terrorist group based in Pakistan. (Photo: Getty Images)

US designates Kashmir attack group TRF as terrorist outfit

THE UNITED STATES on Thursday designated The Resistance Front (TRF), the group blamed for the April attack in Kashmir, as a terrorist organisation. The attack had triggered the worst conflict between India and Pakistan in decades.

US secretary of state Marco Rubio said TRF is a "front and proxy" of Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), a UN-designated terrorist group based in Pakistan.

Keep ReadingShow less
Diane Abbott

Diane Abbott has been suspended again by Labour after repeating comments about different forms of racism in a radio interview.

Getty Images

Labour suspends Diane Abbott again over race comments

THE LABOUR PARTY has suspended Diane Abbott, the UK’s longest-serving female MP, after she repeated remarks on racism that had previously led to her suspension.

Abbott, a prominent figure in British left-wing politics and the first Black woman elected to parliament, was initially suspended by Labour in 2023 after she said the prejudice faced by Jewish people was similar to, but not the same as, racism.

Keep ReadingShow less
sunil-bharti-mittal

This is Mittal’s ninth honorary doctorate and his third from a UK institution. (Photo: Getty Images)

Getty Images

University of Bath awards honorary doctorate to Sunil Mittal

SUNIL BHARTI MITTAL, founder and chairman of Bharti Enterprises, has been awarded an honorary doctorate in business administration by the University of Bath in the United Kingdom, the company said on Thursday.

The University of Bath is ranked among the UK’s top ten universities and is placed within the top 10 per cent globally, the statement added.

Keep ReadingShow less
Chemmani Sri Lanka

The gravesite is one of dozens unearthed across the country. (Photo: X)

x

Child’s remains found in Sri Lanka’s Chemmani mass grave

THE skeletal remains of a girl aged between four and five have been identified among 65 sets of human remains exhumed from a mass grave in Sri Lanka’s Jaffna district. The site first came into focus during the LTTE conflict in the mid-1990s.

“The findings of the excavation at the Chemmani mass grave were reported to the Jaffna Magistrate’s Court on on Tuesday (15) by Raj Somadeva, a forensic archaeologist overseeing the exhumation,” Jeganathan Tathparan, a lawyer, said on Thursday (17).

Keep ReadingShow less