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Paki -word or insult?
Vaz Sayed23/11/2006
A RACE row has broken out after a councillor defended the use of the word 'Paki'.
Councillor Ian Robinson, who is a school governor, asked: "Is Paki
such a wrong word?" during a public meeting.
Liberal Democrat Councillor Robinson, who represents the Waterside
area of Colne, Lancashire, was chairing the Police and Communities
Together (PACT) meeting public in the town in which a man who had
been challenged for using the phrase walked out.
He said: "At that meeting, he couldn't understand what he was doing
wrong.
"He raised an issue saying that Paki taxi drivers were parking on
double yellow lines.
"A police inspector challenged him over the use of the word saying
it was wrong to use the word and the guy stormed out.
"We have used this word for donkey's years but apparently you can't
say it any more.
"It is getting ridiculous. It is political correctness gone
mad.
"I am not a racist and it is not a racist word. It is the context
the word is used not the word itself.
"It's a word a lot of people use and I would not class him as
prejudiced or racist.
"One of our own councillors who actually is Pakistani comes out
with 'Paki', so is it such a wrong word to use?
"Are we going to ban it because one or two people think it's wrong
when the majority think it's acceptable?
"Are we going to ban 'golliwog' and 'blackboard' too? I was told in
the 90s that you can't use the word blackboard and that it is a
chalkboard."
The leader of the Liberal Democrats in Pendle, Councillor Alan
Davies, distanced himself from his colleague's views, saying the
term Paki' was derogatory and inaccurate. He added it was used to
refer disrespectfully to anyone with brown skin.
He said: "It is not a word I would use and does not reflect the
true origin of people."
And Salim Mullah, secretary of the Lancashire Council of Mosques,
said he understood the word to be wrong, and advised friends,
especially white people, against it.
He said: "The word is not a respectful term. I would use a
different phrase, like a member of the Pakistani community'.
"A lot of people feel uncomfortable when someone uses 'Paki'."
But Councillor Robinson was supported by Pendle Council's Labour
leader, Councillor Mohammad Iqbal, who said he had been called "a
lot worse" and that he saw the term as an abbreviation, not an
insult.
He said: "When my parents arrived in Britain I think it was just an
abbreviation.
"It was seen as against political correctness in the 90s, but
personally I don't find it a derogatory term.
"A small number may see it like that, but we have moved on in
Pendle and in Britain as a whole."
Conservative leader Councillor Tony Beckett added: "I don't think
it's offensive, but then I don't come from Pakistan.
"As with all words, it all depends on the context."
Most recent 2 of 12 user comments
It is in general used as an insult and i do not like to hear it, the same as i do not like to hear any other words that single out any person.
We are people, male and female, young and old, we all have cultures and beliefs and we are born from all over the same world.
Not one of us is the same, and so none can be compared, we are individual beings and spirits.
When i walk in to my town, i see people, i see humans, i see older wiser people sitting and talking, i see younger people gathered by the river enjoying being young, i see mothers pushing there babies, and buisness men in smart suits chatting on mobile phones. I see dogs being walked, cars being driven, shopping being done people calm and some people stressed.
So many kinds of people and so many words to describe them with out the need for insulting ones.
It is an insulting word, i have never heard it being said for a good reason not once in my life.
17/01/2007 at 10:33
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9/07/2007 at 20:23