TV doctor slams the British Curry Awards after racist joke made on stage and a Winston Churchill item auctioned off

30 November 2022, 12:00

By Fran Way

@journofran

A TV doctor has slammed the British Curry Awards after a racist joke was made on stage.

Ranj Singh said he felt ‘uncomfortable’ at the awards which were hosted by a white person, judged by a panel of white people and entertainers on stage were ‘over 90% white’.

Ranj Singh said he felt ‘uncomfortable’ at the awards, where the host, judges and entertainers were all white people.

He said a piece by Winston Churchill was also auctioned off which was inappropriate given his ‘problematic’ relationship with India and Bengali people specifically.

The awards, now in its 18th year, are associated with Just Eat and took place on Monday night at the Evolution London venue in Battersea.

Writing on Twitter, he said: “I cannot stay silent.

“I have to say something because I’m not the only person that felt uncomfortable. And if we don’t say anything, things will never change.

“I was honoured and privileged to be invited as a guest for the British Curry Awards. Firstly, thank you to this brilliant organisation for doing their best to celebrate our Asian community.

“However, when the host is white, the judging panel is entirely white and the performers on stage are over 90% white, are we really representing the community fairly?

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“And to top it off we have a racist joke on stage, and are auctioning off a piece by Winston Churchill whose relationship with India and Bengali people specifically is problematic?

“We are better than this. We are magnificent people. We have done so much and still have so much to offer. Let’s do better together.”

He shared his take on the racist joke, which was told by a white person guest presenting on stage. The joke questioned why India had never won the World Cup and ended with a punchline about corner shops.

Others at the event have also said they were unhappy with the event.

Writing on Twitter, a man called David said: “I couldn’t have summarised this better myself.

“The organisers did not consider that representation matters – it felt uncomfortable to see so many white people to present, host and judge the awards when there are so many others that could have easily represented the community.”