London | An Indian-origin MP from UK Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi has slammed Prime Minister Boris Johnson for racist slurs he had made in 2018.
Dhesi is the first turbaned Sikh MP elected to the UK House of Commons.
The MP hit out at Boris Johnson for a column the latter had written in Daily Telegraph, calling Muslim women who wore burqas a “letterbox” or “bank robber”.
“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,” said Dhesi as he began his speech.
“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 while slamming Johnson.
He accused the Prime Minister of spreading Islamophobia.
Demanding an apology from the PM, he said, “Rather than hiding behind sham and whitewashed investigations, when will the Prime Minister finally apologise 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.
His speech was met with applause by the other MPs.
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