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."