'Our little Paki friend' - Princely Insults

Only recently, my attitude towards the word ‘paki’ was one of acceptance. For me it was a word that had become diluted over time and not carrying the same significance it used to. That has changed. I was tremendously hurt recently to discover that Harry the soldier prince called an Asian soldier “our little Paki friend”. It is ignorant, foolish and it sums up the extent to which racism is deeply impregnated in the UK. Feelings of bitterness, anger and pride for all that is Asian, Indian, ethnic, eastern and British about me bubble to the surface of my mind. It serves as a slap in mouth for me, I was naïve in assuming that the racist slur was diminishing in society today as the UK becomes an increasingly tolerant nation. As I walk through the streets of London on a daily basis, I am astounded by the variety and ethnicity of the people around me. Multiple foreign languages can be heard ranging from an obscure Russian dialect to the strongest patois you can imagine. It makes me proud.

I have been called a ‘raghead’ - an offensive name for an Arab or turban wearer of the Islamic world. As a third generation Sikh turban wearer, this insult repulses me. In the US, many Sikhs have been murdered – wrongly mistaken for an Arab with images of Osama Bin Laden influencing the rising trend of hate crimes towards people with turbans post 9/11. In the UK, confusion between an Arab and a Sikh is profoundly high amongst the White demographic.

“F*** me, you look like a raghead” - Prince Harry tells a fellow soldier wearing a camouflage veil.

While I am all for giving the Prince the benefit of the doubt – A 21 year old officer cadet at the time, I am saddened to think that racism and more importantly the term 'paki' has made its way to the Royal family. It must be a terrible blow for Islamic groups and Muslims still feeling the after effects of 9/11 and the 7/7 attacks. On a wider scale, it is a blow for all ethnicity groups - racism is alive and well and even the Royals are calling us names! All people of Asian ethnicity become tarnished with the same brush in the UK – we are not all terrorists in the same way that not all white people are racist. Nor can it be assumed that all westerners hate the Islamic world. Wouldn't it be fantastic to see what Prince Philip makes of it all? He himself has been accused of upsetting the 'slitty eye' Chinese people, the 'overbred' Romanians due to their many orphanages, Eastern females who 'sit around smoking pipes' and Austalian Aborigines who 'still throw spears at each other'. Perceptions, Assumptions, Ignorance.

Only 14 months before his ‘paki’ slur, the Prince was criticised for wearing a swastika on a German uniform to a fancy dress party. Prince Harry’s apology for his latest slip-up has been seen to be enough in the eyes of other servicemen. Ex Royal Marines officer and former Foreign Office minister, Rod Richards is one of many who believe Harry’s words are not racist. The poor lad at the centre of the case, Ahmed Raza Khan, a Pakistani who won the award for the best overseas cadet at Sandhurst Military College is a brave lad choosing to fight in the British service. He must be commended for undertaking a role many Asians would not ever contemplate today.

The whole scenario begs the question of whether racism is institutionalised within the Army just as racism remains current in UK society today. I am deeply saddened by the remarks made by Harry, A Royal who will be subject to scrutiny his whole life. As a highly regarded public figure, he should know better. Should Harry have been reprimanded in the same way that I would have been had I racially mocked my fellow white man? A racial attack made by a Royal in the 21st century, who would have thought it?

'I refuse to accept the view that mankind is so tragically bound to the starless midnight of racism, that the bright daybreak of peace and brotherhood can never become a reality'

Martin Luther King