Related post: Tazeen Javed supports Najam Sethi: A racist defending another racist
Najam Sethi is known for making racist remarks during his weak, candid moments. A few weeks ago he was caught unguarded on Twitter when he frankly stereotyped the Taliban militants as representing the Pashtuns of Pakistan and Afghanistan.
Today (8 February 2012) he was seen using racist, antisemitic remarks against Jemima Khan (Imran Khan’s ex-wife) by falsely and dishonestly alluding to her Jewish background.
Antisemitism is described as a suspicion of, hatred toward, or discrimination against Jews for reasons connected to their Jewish heritage. In the following Tweet (dated 8 Feb 2012), Sethi clearly refers to Jemima Khan’s Jewish heritage while in full knowledge of the troublesome implications of such allegation in conservative, sectarian sections of Pakistani society.
najamsethi Najam Sethi
@qumarmc Brit media described Jemima as a “jewish heiress”. Google her. But it doesn’t matter. Love transcends. Didn’t she convert to Islam?
(Not that it matters but it’s a fact that the Jewish religion goes through the mother – Jemima’s father’s mother was a French Catholic and her own mother is Protestant.)
Only a day ago, on 7 Feb 2012, Najam Sethi tried to ignite same antisemitism card against Imran Khan through his talkshow on Geo TV (Aapas Ki Baat) when he gave coverage to Mullah Fazlur-Rehman’s hate speech against Jews to paint Imran Khan as a Jewish lobby stooge. Watch from the 2:30 min mark:
Whether Sethi wants to create trouble for Imran Khan in a subtle manner is anybody’s guess. Apparently, Pakistan’s military establishment is currently investing in the Difa-e-Pakistan Council, an alliance of banned militant organizations (Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan and Jamaat-ud-Dawa) and retired army generals, in order to create a noisy, forceful right-wing pressure group in Pakistan. Any allusion to Imran Khan’s support by an imaginary Jewish lobby might dissuade the right-wing supporters from his political party (PTI) who might switch their support to the Difa-e-Pakistan Council. Given Najam Sethi’s long association with Pakistan’s military establishment, this could be a deliberate attempt to restarting a vicious propaganda against Imran Khan.
Even if the above conjecture is not true, one thing is abundantly clear, i.e, Najam Seth’s racist attitude, which must be condemned without any apologist excuses or argumentations.
Here is a transcript of how Jemima Khan responded to Sethi’s racist tweet:
Jemima_Khan Jemima Khan
@KAMRAN_FAR00Q @najamsethi My mother is a ProtestantJemima_Khan Jemima Khan
In any case, pathetic & irresponsible that you should use your position to play the race/ religion card & stir up the fanatics @najamsethiJemima_Khan Jemima Khan
FYI @najamsethi Not that it should matter but the Jewish religion goes thro the mother- My father’s mother was a French CatholicJemima_Khan Jemima Khan
You call yourself a journalist @najamsethi ? Then check your factsJemima_Khan Jemima Khan
@najamsethi You have always been a critic of IK’s (except when you and your wife wanted an invitation to dinner with Princess Diana OBVS)Jemima_Khan Jemima Khan
@najamsethi what rubbish. Sounds like you’re trying to make trouble
Pakistan Blogzine 