Fox apologises for "racist" comments on Sikh soldiers

Monday 27th January 2020 10:36 EST
 
 

A leading British singer-songwriter and former Lewis star has apologised for his comments around the inclusion of a Sikh soldier in the latest Hollywood film 1917

Laurence Fox had earlier referred to "the oddness in the casting" of a Sikh soldier in Sir Sam Mendes' movie centred around World War One and later even called it “incongruous”. In an interview with the James Delingpole podcast, Fox had said,

"It's very heightened awareness of the colour of someone's skin because of the oddness in the casting. Even in 1917 they've done it with a Sikh soldier, which is great, it's brilliant, but you're suddenly aware there were Sikhs fighting in this war. 

"It is kind of racist - if you talk about institutional racism, which is what everyone loves to go on about, which I'm not a believer in, there is something institutionally racist about forcing diversity on people in that way. You don't want to think about [that]."

According to the WW1 Sikh Memorial Fund, there were about 130,000 Sikhs who fought the war constituting about 20% of the British Indian Army. In light of their contribution, historians and academics across the board criticised the Fox who later appeared on ITV's Good Morning Britain, where he said 1917 was a "great movie" but that the casting "felt incongruous". He also said people "shouldn't be afraid to say how they feel". However, following widespread criticism, Fox tweeted,

"Fellow humans who are Sikhs, I am as moved by the sacrifices your relatives made as I am by the loss of all those who die in war, whatever creed or colour. Please accept my apology for being clumsy in the way I expressed myself."


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