Pakistan-born actor sacked from 'Coronation Street' for rant against Indians

 JournalismPakistan.com |  Published: 26 September 2016

Marc Anwar has been dismissed from 'Coronation Street' after making racially offensive comments about Indians on Twitter. His actions follow a tense period between India and Pakistan regarding recent events in Kashmir.

Summary

LONDON: Pakistan-born 'Coronation Street' actor Marc Anwar has been fired from the soap for a racist rant against Indians on social media. His comments come days after an attack on an Indian army base in Kashmir killed 18 soldiers. India claimed Pakistan was behind the attack, but Pakistan has denied it. The Mumbai-based Maharashtra Navnirman Sena has demanded a ban on Pakistani artistes working in India. Anwar, 45, who plays the role of Sharif Nazir in the British TV show, referred to Indians as 'b******s' and 'p*ss-drinking c**ts' on Twitter, mirror.co.uk reported. The next targets were Indian Prime Minster Narendra Modi and Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif. In another post, he slammed India and called on Pakistanis to leave it. On Saturday, the actor deleted two of his most offensive tweets, which caused widespread shock. His comments have been deemed "unacceptable" by an ITV (commercial TV network) spokesman. "We are deeply shocked by the entirely unacceptable, racially offensive comments made on Twitter by Marc Anwar. We have talked to Marc and, as a consequence of his comments, he will not be returning to 'Coronation Street' with immediate effect," the spokesman said. Anwar joined 'Coronation Street' in 2014 to play the role of Kal's (Jimi Mistry) father in what was the first Muslim family on the show. - IANS

KEY POINTS:

• Marc Anwar was fired for a racist rant on social media.
• He referred to Indians with derogatory terms on Twitter.
• Anwar joined 'Coronation Street' in 2014 as Kal's father.
• The situation escalated after an attack in Kashmir.
• ITV found his comments to be racially offensive.