Racist slurs against Bollywood star Shilpa Shetty on a popular British reality TV show have snowballed into a major row, with the British and Indian governments, as also feminist icon Germaine Greer, expressing outrage over the remarks. With conflict and controversy known to drive ratings, television strategists could not have dreamt up a better script for the "Celebrity Big Brother" reality show. Bookmakers have made Shilpa the favourite to win, while thousands of Asians and non-Asians who never watched the show now tune in every night to see what the uproar is all about.

British Prime Minister Tony Blair and Chancellor of the Exchequer Gordon Brown quickly condemned the remarks. "Racism should be opposed in all its forms," Blair said in the House of Commons after Indian origin MP Keith Vaz raised the issue during the Prime Minister's Question Time in parliament. Also, Dominic Grieve, the Labour Party spokesman on Community Cohesion, slammed the comments and signed the Early Day Motion (EDM) tabled by Vaz. "It is quite wrong that the programme should tolerate racist abuse and behaviour from participants and I believe it is an issue that should be addressed immediately. I am very happy to sign Keith Vaz's EDM," Grieve said. …

"Celebrity Big Brother" has a group of celebrities cooped up together, with no access to the outside world - no TV, no newspapers and no phones. But viewers are complaining that Shilpa has had to suffer racist remarks from other participants. On the BBC Asian Network, presenter Anita Rani has launched a 'Save Shilpa' campaign: "Let's do it. Let's unite and save the Bollywood princess. We have to get the real Asian network working in full force and spread the word…" ….read more

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