David Jason, iconic TV star of Only Fools and Horses and of course Danger Mouse, made a joke on a radio station and has been vilified around the world. His joke "What do you call a Pakistani cloakroom attendant? Mahatma coat" is a funny one and is not at all racist. He is not making fun of anything about Pakistan or the people that come from Pakistan. The joke would actually be more accurate, but equally less racist, if he had said and Indian cloakroom attendant, as Mahatma is a Sanskrit word meaning 'Great Soul' and was first applied to Indian spiritual and political leader Gandhi.
Mohammed Shafiq, a spokesperson for the Ramadhan Foundation, accused David Jason of being out of touch with reality in portraying Pakistanis as cloakroom attendants which is ridiculous and makes both him and the Muslim community sound so delicate it defies belief. If the joke had been made accurately it would have made all of Mr Shafiq's concerns moot but as it is he is on his soapbox. It seems that Mr Shafiq is trying to make this non-incident about Muslims and how once again they have been marginalised and trodden on but the truth is, it was a joke. He did not mean to portray Pakistanis, or anyone for that matter, as anything and only the most over sensitive of PC souls would think otherwise.
Maybe you could accuse David Jason of being ignorant to the differences between India and Pakistan but that does not make him a racist. Racists are ignorant but that does not make all ignorant people racist. I have met many people who do not know the difference between the UK and England and most British people fail to see the difference between the UK and GB. Wales barely gets a mention in the wider world as it is often encased inside England but to call all these people racist would be absolutely stupid. Are all the people I have spoken to who do not know the difference between Korea, Japan and China racist? Don't be silly. What about the genuinely nice, law abiding, tolerant people who go out and enjoy food from the Indian sub continent. If they say they 'Fancy an Indian' but then go into a Bangladeshi restaurant with out being aware of it, are they racist too?
Britain's first Muslim minister, Shahid Malik, who is of Pakistani origin, said he did not see the joke as racist. 'It really is a storm in a tea cup,' he said. 'I'm a big fan of David Jason. 'The only thing is he's let me down because it's not very funny.' Personally I though the joke was funny, if a little inaccurate. Other 'racist' jokes of this nature that will have the over politically correct among us spitting their tea up are:
What do you call a Scottish cloakroom attendant? Angus McCoatup. As 'racist' as the other but unless a certain Mr McCoatup were to complain surely nobody would bat an eyelid.
Why did the Frenchman not have two eggs for breakfast? Because one’s an oeuf.
What’s the difference between Bing Crosby and Walt Disney? Bing sings but Walt Disney. *Joke best said in a Scottish accent*
And what about WC Fields, his film The Bank Dick was written under the pseudonym of Mahatma Kane Jeeves.
What’s the difference between Bing Crosby and Walt Disney? Bing sings but Walt Disney. *Joke best said in a Scottish accent*
And what about WC Fields, his film The Bank Dick was written under the pseudonym of Mahatma Kane Jeeves.
In the over sensitive climate we live in with regard to Muslims, people like Mohammed Shafiq are dangerous and disingenuous They seem to want to elevate the storm in a tea cup into a full scale storm. Oh and David Jason only went on the radio phone in to try and earn £20,000 for charity, from charitable, lovable national treasure to racist in one easy phone call. What a country we live in.
Mr Shafiq has a blog so if you want to debate it with him go and see him http://mshafiq.blogspot.com/
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