Sharif Nazir (Marc Anwar)

[Dazzle]

Surely what someone says should not have any bearing on there employment unless they use their employers email addresses or mention their employer by name. If I post my opinion on twitter and it offends someone thats between me and them nothing to do with my employers. Its sounds Orwellian to sack someone because you do not agree with their political views. We have all came out with statements which may offend someone. None of us are perfect but its should not be a sacking offence to publish your views.

Coronation Street almost certainly have a clause in all the actors contracts about not bringing them into disrepute. As far as I'm aware that's standard in the industry. No doubt there's plenty of detail in the contract about what that entails and he would have been well aware of it. It's not as if there's been no precedent of this kind of sacking at Coronation Street.

Plus the tweets were hateful rants not just an expression of political views. Would his Corrie colleagues (some of whom are of Indian descent) have even worked with him after this?

The right to free speech doesn't mean the right to speak without consequences.

[parkerman]

And how would it look to all the Indian viewers if Corrie just ignored his racist rant. There is no such thing as complete freedom of speech. Some things like that are just not acceptable. Supposing he'd have said all gays are *******s and piss-drinking c****? Would that be ok? Or all women? Or all Jews? You just can't say things like that without consequences. In fact, what he said is illegal and could open him up to prosecution.

I think Corrie did exactly the right thing and gave the right message that that sort of ignorant racism will not be tolerated.

[olivia1896]

And how would it look to all the Indian viewers if Corrie just ignored his racist rant. There is no such thing as complete freedom of speech. Some things like that are just not acceptable. Supposing he'd have said all gays are *******s and piss-drinking c****? Would that be ok? Or all women? Or all Jews? You just can't say things like that without consequences. In fact, what he said is illegal and could open him up to prosecution.

I think Corrie did exactly the right thing and gave the right message that that sort of ignorant racism will not be tolerated.

also if i were an actor from indian decent, like the actor who plays dev is, i wouldn't feel comfortable working with an actor like mark anwar.

[swmc66]

As a British born Pakistani with close Indian friends I find this shocking. Pakistan and India are always near the brink of something and we do not let it interfere with our friendships. Unfortunately our countries of ethnic origin are not run well and this leads to awful incidents. But you cannot blame all for actions of a few.

[alan45]

Obviously I am in the minority here and I have read all your posts in which you have given your views so eloquently. I am not a racist, homophobe or any other sort of bigot and indeed have been the victim of racist and bigotted attacks myself. My major gripe here is that a man should lose his job for his outburst which may have been made in the heat of the moment. I know thats no excuse for it but where do we draw the line between someones personal views and their job. Does that mean we sack all muslims who work in supermarkets who refuse to sell pork to customers or alcohol. Do we sack all chemists who refuse to supply the morning after pill to unmarried girls. Do we sack anyone who is employed and joins parties like the BNP or some radical islamic group. Of course that sounds ridiculous but is it really any different that these rantings by this man. Im sure there are none of us who have never uttered a racist or homophobic remark in the heat of the moment. Im not excusing him but surely the punishment should fit the crime and if we go around sacking people fro their political. or religious views then we are on a slippery slope.

[parkerman]

Obviously I am in the minority here and I have read all your posts in which you have given your views so eloquently. I am not a racist, homophobe or any other sort of bigot and indeed have been the victim of racist and bigotted attacks myself. My major gripe here is that a man should lose his job for his outburst which may have been made in the heat of the moment. I know thats no excuse for it but where do we draw the line between someones personal views and their job. Does that mean we sack all muslims who work in supermarkets who refuse to sell pork to customers or alcohol. Yes, because that is their job. They shouldn't take the job in the first place.

Do we sack all chemists who refuse to supply the morning after pill to unmarried girls. See last comment.

Do we sack anyone who is employed and joins parties like the BNP or some radical islamic group. A harder decision. It depends whether their membership of said group or party affects their work or relationship with customers.

Of course that sounds ridiculous but is it really any different that these rantings by this man. Im sure there are none of us who have never uttered a racist or homophobic remark in the heat of the moment. Speak for yourself. I have never done such a thing. Being of Jewish descent, I am only too aware of where racist comments can lead to.

Im not excusing him but surely the punishment should fit the crime and if we go around sacking people fro their political. or religious views then we are on a slippery slope. They were not political or religious views. It was a completely unacceptable intolerant racist rant.

See above for comments.

[Perdita]

Coronation Street star Marc Anwar will face a police investigation for the racially offensive comments that led to his sacking from the soap.

The actor, who plays Weatherfield's Sharif Nazir, had his contract terminated by ITV at the weekend after posting a shocking rant about Indian people on his Twitter account.

The controversy has now escalated even further, with Greater Manchester Police launching an investigation after receiving a report from a member of the public.

A Greater Manchester Police spokesperson told Digital Spy: "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 on 101 or using the True Vision website www.report-it.org.uk or the independent charity Crimestoppers, anonymously on 0800 555 111."

Anwar, who was born in Pakistan, branded Indians "b*****ds" and "p**s-drinking c**ts" in his Twitter rant on Friday. He made his remarks days after 17 soldiers were killed at a Kashmir airbase, sparking a clash between India and Pakistan.

Speaking to BBC News today (September 26), Anwar commented: "I cannot apologise enough for those remarks. I can't retract those. In future I can only try and do something that hopefully proves that I am not a bigot, a coward, a liar, a cheat and definitely not a racist."

After losing his job at Corrie and facing a public backlash, Anwar later posted a video on YouTube apologising for his comments.

"I'd like to offer my sincerest apologies to anyone I may have offended with my tweets on Friday evening – and especially people from India," Anwar said.

"This was never my intention. The language was unacceptable. I feel I've let a lot of people down – my family, my friends, and my former colleagues.

"This, I again very sincerely apologise for."

He added: "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. Again, the language that I used, I sincerely apologise for.

"But my feelings were very sincere for the people of Kashmir. And I hope that everyone I've offended can find it in their hearts to forgive me."

Sharif will disappear from screens in Corrie later this year, as Anwar didn't film an on-screen exit before being axed.

The character will continue to appear in future Corrie episodes as his current storyline is too prominent to be scrapped altogether. However, producers will look to minimise his presence in episodes where possible further on down the line.

Digital Spy

[Dazzle]

Obviously I am in the minority here and I have read all your posts in which you have given your views so eloquently. I am not a racist, homophobe or any other sort of bigot and indeed have been the victim of racist and bigotted attacks myself. My major gripe here is that a man should lose his job for his outburst which may have been made in the heat of the moment. I know thats no excuse for it but where do we draw the line between someones personal views and their job. Does that mean we sack all muslims who work in supermarkets who refuse to sell pork to customers or alcohol. Do we sack all chemists who refuse to supply the morning after pill to unmarried girls. Do we sack anyone who is employed and joins parties like the BNP or some radical islamic group. Of course that sounds ridiculous but is it really any different that these rantings by this man. Im sure there are none of us who have never uttered a racist or homophobic remark in the heat of the moment. Im not excusing him but surely the punishment should fit the crime and if we go around sacking people fro their political. or religious views then we are on a slippery slope.

I'm sorry but you can't compare what Marc Anwar did to Joe Bloggs who works in an office and who silently joins the BNP.

This incident will have been reported all over the world and seriously embarrassed ITV and been very concerning to the advertisers who fund it. As I've already said, he likely had some kind of clause in his contract regarding bringing his employers into disrepute (which he certainly has done) so they had every right to sack him.

I believe his onscreen wife is of Indian descent for goodness sake. Should she be expected to work with him after he basically publicly branded her a "p*ss drinking c*nt"?

I understand he was very angry and upset about the dire situation in Kashmir. Perhaps he'd been drinking and would never have said those things in another situation, let alone so publicly. But he did do it, and he's ruined his reputation and would have seriously harmed the reputations of Coronation Street and ITV if they hadn't immediately got rid of him.

[alan45]

....

[alan45]

See above for comments.

Thank you for you thoughtful response as usual. Glad to see that we agree on certain things.

Of course that sounds ridiculous but is it really any different that these rantings by this man. Im sure there are none of us who have never uttered a racist or homophobic remark in the heat of the moment. Speak for yourself. I have never done such a thing. Being of Jewish descent, I am only too aware of where racist comments can lead to.

As I said it was in the heat of the moment and it involved the bodies of women and children blown up for a so called political cause. It was an instant knee jerk reaction which obviously I regretted afterwards. Im not perfect.