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LONDON - Bollywood star Shilpa Shetty, a contestant on hit reality television show Celebrity Big Brother, finds herself at the centre of a storm over racism and bullying that has many Britons asking -- are we all bigots?
The 31-year-old, a major star in India but little known in Britain until now, will be one of the last people in the country to know that her treatment in the Big Brother house, which is cut off from the outside world, is front page news.
A record 13,000 complaints have been made to media watchdog Ofcom, politicians are weighing into the debate, the police are investigating email threats against contestants and the row has spread to India where the movie industry is up in arms.
The actress has been called a "dog", one housemate said "she makes my skin crawl", people refused to learn her name, her accent has been mocked and she has been reduced to tears by a group of contestants ganging up on her.
But there have been no overtly racist attacks, prompting a debate in Britain about whether what viewers have been watching is racism or bullying or both.
"Racism is racism," Sunita Patel wrote to the Mirror tabloid. "Shilpa is from another country and they are taking advantage of her manners and general differences."
One contributor to website www.digitalspy.co.uk added: "As an Indian, I feel thoroughly ashamed. It seems racism is still rife in this country."
But many people disagree, arguing that mocking someone's accent does not constitute racism, and that it is Shetty's beauty and poise that has triggered the abuse, not her race.
"I think racism is probably a bit strong," Philip Lindsey wrote on the BBC's website. "I would consider it some fairly intense female rivalry, especially in such an unnaturally claustrophobic environment."
Mirror of a nation?
What makes Big Brother uncomfortable viewing for some is the idea that its contestants reflect broader society.
Commentator Germaine Greer argued that Britons should not be surprised at Shetty's treatment, in a country where bigotry was widespread.
"This is a racist country," she said in the Guardian newspaper. "There is almost no inter-penetration of English and Indian cultures in Britain."
In the same newspaper author Hari Kunzru said a contestant's refusal to learn Shetty's name was "straightforwardly racist".
"This is what Big Brother is for. It holds a mirror up to national attitudes. If we don't like what we see, we ought to change," he said.
Finance Minister Gordon Brown, widely tipped to take over as prime minister from Tony Blair, was drawn into the debate on a trip to India on Wednesday.
"I understand that in the UK there have already been 10,000 complaints from viewers about these remarks which people rightly see as offensive," he told reporters in Bangalore.
"I want Britain to be seen as a country of fairness and tolerance ... and anything that detracts from that, I condemn."
Calls for action from Channel 4, which airs the show, have grown, some coming from unlikely sources like tabloid The Sun.
"This is prime-time telly, with millions of impressionable teens tuning in," the newspaper said. "Can Channel 4 turn a blind eye any longer? In a word, no."
Channel 4 is likely to have mixed feelings about the row. While it is under pressure to act, ratings for the main highlights show on Tuesday evening hit 4.5 million viewers, up from 3.5 million on Monday, the BBC reported.
And Shetty is now the bookmakers' favourite to win the show.
- REUTERS
