Adnan Siddiqui outraged by racism Azeem Rafiq encountered

Actor, among others, took to Twitter and called it ‘shameful’

Former Yorkshire cricketer Azeem Rafiq fought back tears as he told British lawmakers on Tuesday he had lost his career to racism.

An independent report discovered how the Pakistan-born player was a victim of "racial harassment and bullying" while playing for the county club but said it would not discipline anybody – a decision greeted with widespread disbelief. Rafiq detailed the widespread discrimination within the English game in a compelling testimony.

The fallout for Yorkshire over the scandal has been devastating, with sponsors making a mass exodus, resignations from top administrators and the club getting suspended from hosting lucrative international matches.

Now, actor Adnan Siddiqui has taken to social media to condemn this discriminatory behaviour that penetrates its way into games that are meant to have no room for differentiation on the basis of caste, creed or religion.

He stated: “Outraged at the racism Azeem Rafiq was put through. [It is] shameful [and] must be condemned in the strongest possible words.” The Ye Dil Mera actor concluded, “No one should be humiliated because of his/her ethnicity.”

But Siddiqui isn’t the only one. Since Rafiq’s confession, several have called out the unacceptable, hurtful locker room jibes that are shoved under the carpet in the name of ‘banter’. “Azeem Rafiq's harrowing testimony shows that the problem isn't about misreading the line on inappropriate humour,” wrote a Twitter user.

Azeem Rafiq's harrowing testimony shows that the problem isn't about misreading the line on inappropriate humour.

It's that there was an institutionalised problem of racism, of ritualistically humiliating players of colour, and minimising that problem by framing it as 'banter'.

— Ash Sarkar (@AyoCaesar) November 16, 2021

“Every time I hear someone like Rafiq speak out about racism in their workplace, I think about the silence of their colleagues,” added another. Tim Walker also pointed out how BBC apologised to its “predominantly white viewers who were offended” during Rafiq’s live broadcast by the ‘language’ he used. “It is Azeem who is owed the apology,” he asserted.

Every time I hear someone like Azeem Rafiq speak out about racism in their workplace, I think about the silence of their colleagues. It doesn't matter if that silence is due to enjoyment of the racism, to ignorance, fear or cowardice - to a racist, silence is a standing ovation. https://t.co/IVkw2voeLj

— Musa Okwonga (@Okwonga) November 16, 2021