I'm in trouble on the internet... again...

And this one is different.

I am in the middle of quite the bizarre media scandal, one that feels bigger than me. Coordinated and intentional, under the guise of being reactive to something I’ve said.

About ten days ago, two comedy podcasts I appeared on aired on the same day. Both with different sides of my feelings about Britain. On one, I was effusive about my love of modern day Britain, and mostly, British people, and how hilarious I think them to be (this was utterly ignored by the media). On the other, I, in a very tongue in cheek way, was commenting on this bizarrely sweet and civilized image that Britain has cultivated across the world, in spite of having such an evil and savage history of colonialism. I compared us to the Marvel final boss Thanos. The supervillain who collects precious stones. My wording, due to being in a very loose, unserious setting, with friends, was a little imprecise. I said:

"British people ARE the most evil people IN HISTORY." Then carrying on to very specifically share my feelings, about our horrific murdering, raping, colonizing, thieving Empire, and how many trillions economists claim they owe to India alone… thinking this made it clear I was not referring to British people (of which I am one) NOW. In 2026. I should have said, if aiming for utter accuracy, “the British have such an evil history.” I used a present tense word within a paragraph of clear commentary on the past, that to anyone seeking to misunderstand me, was a bullet, handed to them on a silver platter. And boy did the right wing media have a fucking field day with it. This incredibly innocuous, but lovely episode at large, covering pop culture, entertainment and fashion, was suddenly reduced down to this singular sentence, taken out of context, because of course, that was framed as the most offensive thing anyone has ever said… in the history of the world. Obviously had I known the right wing seek serious political discourse from the YESTER-GAYS podcast, I would have tightened up. I didn’t pre empt that this would be held to the same standards as me speaking at the UN.

Within hours I had taken over the right wing media space… the headlines were hysterical…taken as far out of context for maximum inflammation and offense as possible, calling for me to be deported, for my passport to be revoked, for me to have to publicly apologize… I was called in HEADLINES, “Depraved” (Literally for what I said above, they called me “depraved.” While staying largely silent of the men of the Epstein Files! Or the actually depraved act of colonialism!) I was called a Cretin! I was called “Dangerous!” News broadcasters were practically frothing at the mouth, relaying to audiences, with a totally straight face, how outrageous it was for me to compare Britain to Thanos. (Never did I ever think Thanos would make it onto a mainstream news stage!)

I was a little taken aback… there was not a peep from centrist or left leaning media. And they seldom forego a chance to tear me limb from limb, so I found it a little confusing how only the party of “anti cancel culture” and “freedom of speech” up in arms calling for cancellation, and even deportation… over my fairly innocuous words on a comedy podcast. It was frankly… peak Snowflake. The very thing they accuse liberals of, they were taking to the next level. Practically shaking and weeping into their keyboards as they called for my blood.

Unsurprisingly, this lead to an instant wave of violent rhetoric towards me. Because… men. I was subjected to 9 days straight and counting of threats of physical and sexual violence… and the most racist abuse I’ve ever encountered. This was not just private, this was on open forums like Twitter and Reddit, and in comments sections across the net. An angry patron of right wing media, even screamed for me to “Fuck off back to India” from his car, in the street. I have disabled family members being hounded by journalists at their front door, morning, noon and night, looking for more “dirt” on me. It has been truly insane.

“DEPRAVED”. lol.

The interesting thing is, the history of Britain is so dark, that little of the commentary against me is actually able to defend the Empire, as it is widely documented as being the largest in history, having taken all land with violence, and having the highest death count of any other empire… instead it mostly focuses on how The Mongol empire was technically worse (QUITE A LOW BAR!) and how if I have a problem with the history, I should “fuck off.” And then came my favourite headline of them all:

“Annoying!”

This is from an actual newspaper. One that people bother to print out. Annoying! In 2026. That was their response, defending colonialism, that I am “Annoying!”

I am old enough to know by now, that people only attack your character, when they cannot attack your ideas. This was dripping desperation to stamp out my voice, and embarrass me into silence. Because god forbid the internet should find me…. annoying! I’m a millennial social justice advocate. Being annoying is sort of… our main thing. It’s a badge of honor to not be “cool and quietly complicit.” The preferred state for women at large.

Might I add… this was written by a woman. In 2026. YIKES.

This same week a right wing politician, Glenn Gibbins has been suspended and then reinstated in spite of calling for NIGERIANS TO BE MELTED DOWN TO FILL POTHOLES, because there are “too many in town”… as a “joke” on his social media. This comes after another politician called Ben Rowe, a Plymouth City Councillor, shared a social media post depicting a bomb being dropped on Mecca…. was reinstated.

WEIRDLY… right wing media has been fairly quiet over all this. No talk of “depraved” or “dangerous” and lots of mentions of how these were just jokes! Because it’s all fun and games when you’re not a brown woman.

WHAT A BRILLIANT JOB the British right wing media has done at showing the world how wonderful the British actually are over here with their reaction to this. What a way to defend against the allegation of being compared to Thanos. With a hysterical, aggressive, bullying, coordinated, smear campaign against a woman of Indian descent, who ribbed the British Empire a bit over the way they ravaged India. As admitted to by the people who ravaged it. BRAVO! Job done.

The unexpected upside of all of this, is that the right wing reaction has been so disproportionate and inflammatory, that it has lead to hundreds of thousands of people actually looking into the history of the British Empire, which is not in our school curriculum, so many Brits, don’t really know much about it. I’ve been inundated with right wing voters messaging with me with shock and horror about the truth of how horrific the British Empire was. I’ve gained almost 60K followers in a week over this. Historians and economists have also come out in force to defend me. Their videos have garnered millions of views within a few days. This chaos has unearthed damning parts of the British legacy to those who would not otherwise have known. It’s all been terribly unflattering! And none of this had to happen. It could have been left as a tongue in cheek aside on a podcast that wasn’t even clipped or being circulated. Nobody would have cared.

Photo by Michael SKOPAL on Unsplash

Now you have people around the world learning that the evils of our empire were embarrassingly recent! They only left India in 1947! It is estimated by experts that up to 165 MILLION Indians died during the occupation. OXFAM have a 97 page report here that claims 64 TRILLION was drained by Britain, from the Indian economy alone! They ended their rule over Hong Kong in 1997! That is a modern day empire! Many comforted themselves with the idea that it was this ancient stain on our past, back when nobody knew any better. That is a harder claim to stand by when the end of the British empire is younger than MARILYN FUCKING MONROE! People are rightfully horrified.

The legacy of the British empire.

I think that’s why I hold Britain to a higher standard. Because we did have time and experience on our side. We did know better. To be the biggest colonizer of any empire, to be responsible for the most deaths, to have violently drained billions and reportedly even trillions in value out of other nations, who were then left for dead with no reparation, and to have done it up until a matter of decades ago… is… shocking. It is evil. It was not just “the done thing.” It is because I love Britain, that I can hold it to a higher standard. It is because I know we can do and be better that I do not shy away from its past. It is my forever home, and love it wholly and deeply, but with a heavy heart because I know there is a blood soaked weight to the prosperity of this nation. I am still rooting for this country. I am proud of our art, humor and our beloved NHS. I believe you not only can hold the duality of history, but you must, to steer away repeated mistakes.

(Look at Germany and how accountable they have been! You can not swing a cat in Berlin for an apology plaque and a reminder of what plagued their society. It has not weakened their nation to admit to their wrong doings. It has unified them against what was a critical stain on their conscience. We could learn from them. They earned back people’s trust and respect in doing so. Britain don’t have to keep sweeping our past under the rug.)

This week I have been repeatedly asked “why you fucking here then?” I must answer truthfully, that I am British because my family were impacted by the Empire directly. They came here due to Britain’s well documented destruction. The empire drained India’s economy, and brought the money to Great Britain. Surely it makes sense so many Indians fled here, given this is where their money was! Where else would they go? India’s region had around 25 percent of the world’s wealth before it was invaded by Britain. By the time the empire left, it only had 4 percent left. I find it shocking that Indians are treated as the invaders here. They didn’t come here because they just love grey skies, bland food and damp. They came because this is where their opportunities from home had been relocated to. And they brought such good food with them, that curry is now cherished as the National dish of Britain!

an excellent and important book.

The rhetoric is all able to be so backwards, because so few know the real history. Which is why what I said was deemed so very threatening to the right wing. I had dared to shed a tiny bit of light over the past of Britain. I had opened the door to context as to why so many immigrants flee here, and how such a tiny country has such prosperity. It disrupts the narrative of “these brown and black folk are invading our land on boats and draining OUR economy and stealing it from YOU!” That has less of a sting if you know that Britain so recently (actually) invaded THEM on boats, with young men of fighting age. Didn’t learn THEIR language. Diluted THEIR culture. Didn’t integrate with THEM first. And drained THEIR economies first. The migrants who come over now, are on inflatable boats, unarmed, fleeing violence and disaster. Whereas the Empire travelled to their homes on armed warships, bringing violence and disaster.

Sure they built roads, but only to be able to loot India’s goods and resources away with more ease...

It also begs the pertinent question: “If England took all this money, and these resources from these nations so recently… where has the money been all these decades?” It wasn't distributed to the masses. The working class never got a look in. They were forced to fight for scraps as the tiny monitory elite pocketed almost all of that shocking wealth and used it to privatize British land and basic resources. We have unutterable wealth on the doorstep of starvation and poverty in this country. Just 10 percent of this country holds over 50 percent of the nation’s wealth. We do not adequately tax the super rich here, for fear they might leave… and instead we pit the working class against immigrants.

The right wing, the far right especially is dependent upon the narrative that the immigrants are taking the scraps from the people… they have staked their entire platform on it, because they have so few actual policy suggestions to improve our country… all the while never entertaining the conversation on why there were only scraps to begin with. NOBODY wants you to ask that question. We are careful over here to lambast those in poverty as lazy, especially teenage girls who get pregnant with no mention of blame for the men who get them pregnant, and carefully conceal the names of those hoarding all the stolen wealth. We are very good at aiming the focus, because we have a subservient public who tend to en masse look where they are told to. Diversion is spectacularly easy on both sides of the political spectrum in this country. Polarity is the most popular drug in Britain these days. Divide and Conquer a national sport.

No talk of the exploitative corporations who have carte blanche to pay next to nothing to immigrant workers who will work for fees you could never get away paying a British citizen. Their salaries allow them to live in accommodations of 20-30 people in a single room together. living on top of each other. We claim “they’re coming over here stealing jobs”, but they’re just accepting conditions the British wouldn’t.” As they shouldn’t! But preying on the desperate, often fleeing a country Britain has actively interfered with, or helped destroy… is a dirty game. I wish our media had the integrity to report on the salaries (if any) or conditions for so many of those jobs that have been “stolen” from our British public, so the public could decide whether they would want said conditions for themselves. I wish there were protections for workers. I wish there were tax implications for these predatory corporations. I wish we had some fucking sense as to what this looks like in the long term. This is a convenient cash grab for the uber wealthy, while they cleverly point the finger elsewhere. They will all run with the money, off to a tax haven, once we are bled dry, with no water or sustainable access to food, when it is too late for us to wake up and stop the rot. None of us will know their names, because we will have spent all this time just glaring at each other. It’s heartbreaking to watch in slow motion.

I am not the first to say any of this. But I am the most disapproved of because I am a woman of Indian and Pakistani descent. We only like to hear history from the perspective of the victor. That is the dominant narrative we allow and perpetuate. White scholars are allowed to say this without such vitriolic response, but when someone who looks like me says it, the reaction is laced with a note of:

“Quiet monkey! You’re lucky we gave you anything! We can send you back at any time!”

I have noticed many a right wing pundit scoffing at how ungrateful I am for all the prosperity I was afforded here, but the truth is, I was born here, into an immigrant family with no money, I lived my first few years in South London, then moved to Spain, with my grandmother because we couldn’t afford to live in England, then my mother and I came back and lived in assisted housing in London, and I got a full scholarship to a private secondary school called Queens College. I began working at 14. I did start my television career and radio career in England, but opportunities were far and few between for people of colour back then, (things have changed now which is fantastic!) and I moved to America, which is where 90 percent of my money and opportunities came from. I say this not from a lack of gratitude, but just for some balance and accuracy. I am extremely grateful for our housing benefit system, our NHS - which kept me alive, and the British Indian executive who fought for my place on Channel 4. Shout out Sangheeta Bhaskar!

This week has been really shocking. I’ve never had so many strangers reach out to me in horror over our press. I am glad it has all lead to so many investigating our past. I am glad people are choosing to educate themselves. I am glad this has actually been quite a uniting moment between myself and the public. I am glad it shed a light on the fragility and hypocrisy of the right wing. I am glad our tabloid media revealed itself without my having to lift a finger. Sometimes the trash takes itself out!

But most of all, while I hate the circumstances, I am glad my parents came here. I do have a huge affection for what recent generations made of this mess. I am especially proud to be a Londoner. I love this ridiculous melting pot with all of my heart.

I will always love England. I will never shy away from its full story. And neither should you. Love means sometimes having to say “you did a lot of genocide and raping and stealing, really recently, and that was bad!”

I dedicate this piece to all people who inconvenience others with painful historical truths.

AND FUCKING LONG FUCKING LIVE ANNOYING WOMEN. We owe so much to the “annoying” women of the past who won us the vote, our rights, and our autonomy.