Tory leader 'withdraws' racially charged remarks on British-Pakistanis
Rami Ranger wrote to BBC about documentary on Modi, asking if "Pakistani-origin staff were behind this nonsense”
- Ranger asked BBC if"Pakistani-origin staff were behind this nonsense”.
- Tory peer accused Pakistani community of "drug peddling, grooming young girls".
- Labour's chair urges probe whetherconduct rules were broken.
A Conservative member of the UK’s House of Lords, who was criticised for his "racially charged" comments over BBC's documentary on Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, apologised and withdrew his remarks, The Guardian reported.
Rami Ranger wrote a letter to the BBC regarding the documentary on Modi and asked "Pakistani-origin staff were behind this nonsense”.
When approached by The Guardian, Ranger said: "Since you are judge and jury, please go ahead and write to damage me more." He also said that the British Pakistanis had made “inflammatory and unnecessary” criticisms of Modi.
Ranger heavily criticised the two-part documentary about Modi's role in the2002 religious riots.
“We are a very hard-working community, we are not in prison as much as the Pakistani community, we do not do grooming of young girls, we do not do drug pedalling,” the Tory peer told India Today.
The Tory leader, further criticising the British Pakistanis, said that "30-40 Labour MPs who depend on Pakistani votes” and that “Pakistani votes are the best because they are in ghettos”.
Ranger withdrew his comments later, admitting that they had "caused offence".
Calling his remarks an overreaction in the heat of the moment, Ranger said that they do not reflect his perception of theBritish Pakistani community.
“I withdraw the comments completely," said Ranger when connected about the interview.
Labour's chair Anneliese Dodds termed Ranger's comments as "offensive and racist". She urged theLord's commissioners to probe whether the Tory leader had broken the conduct rules as she suspected a "breach".
Meanwhile, the party's vice-chair said it was“shocking that any parliamentarian held such offensive views”.
He added that UK's Prime MinisterRishi Sunak’s“promise of honesty, integrity and professionalism looks more hollow than ever”.