SCOTLAND health secretary Humza Yousaf has claimed that Asians can be racist on “religious grounds”.
Yousaf’s observation comes after allegations that a Dundee nursery refused admission for his two-year-old daughter, while it was apparently "more open" to children with white Scottish sounding names.
Little Scholars Nursery in Broughty Ferry, which denied any discrimination, is owned by Usha Fowdar, a Hindu businesswoman.
Yousaf told BBC Radio 2, “All we have heard from the owners is they have an ethnic origin and can’t possibly be racist… I am from a Scottish Asian descent and can tell you now, Asian people can be racist.”
Asked if Hindus can be racist towards Muslims, Yousaf replied, “Of course. But again, throughout my life, I’ve heard from people in the Asian community being racist towards black people, for example, but yes. The discrimination could be on religious grounds. I don’t know.”
He and his wife Nadia El-Nakla initiated legal action against the pre-school earlier this month.
Yousaf, an SNP politician of Pakistani heritage and first Muslim member of the Scottish cabinet, recently tweeted, “We are fooling ourselves if we believe discrimination doesn’t exist in Scotland. I believe evidence we have proves our case beyond doubt...”
However, the nursery’s spokesman said, “our owners are themselves of Asian heritage, and for more than a decade, we have regularly welcomed both children and staff from a range of different religious, cultural, ethnic and racial backgrounds”.
Damian Talbot