UK police to probe Marc Anwar’s rant

LONDON : British police said on Monday they were opening an investigation into “racist” antiIndia tweets by Pakistan-born actor Marc Anwar, who was fired from the country’s most popular TV soap following uproar over his remarks.

“On Sunday, 25 September 2016 police received a report of a hate crime. Police have launched an investigation and enquiries are ongoing. Hate incidents will not be tolerated in Greater Manchester and should be reported to police,” Greater Manchester Police said in a statement.

Anwar, 45, unreservedly apologised for the tweets that referred to protests and unrest in Jammu and Kashmir. He called Indians “b ***** ds” and used other insulting terms. The actor was dropped from Coronation Street, the world’s longest-running soap opera, and producers said the storyline would be redrafted to drop his character in future episodes.

In a video uploaded to YouTube, Anwar said the language he used in his tweets was “unacceptable” and that he felt he had “let everyone down”.

Anwar said: “On Friday evening I saw, on the news, children being pulled out of rubble, people being pelted with pellets, women mourning their dead in Kashmir. This upset me very deeply and in a moment of madness I ranted out. I vented my anger.”

He added, “Again, the language that I used, I sincerely apologise for. But my feelings were very sincere for the people of Kashmir...”