Melbourne:
That is a fresh debate in the ongoing "Paul Henry: Racist or Victim?" series in New Zealand, India and across the Internet. Paul Henry, for those who came in late, is the New Zealand anchor who infamously giggled on TV about Delhi Chief Minister Shiela Dikshit's name and then had to laugh out of the other side of his mouth when he lost his job.
(Read: New Zealand TV anchor quits amid uproar over Sheila remark) Well what would you know, the man is rather popular in some parts, with fan pages springing up in his support on Facebook. On one such page, a supporter, Serena Fiso posted the picture of her son's girlfriend, who had this year won a regional contest in the Miss India New Zealand pageant, saying she was booed by the crowd for not being "Indian enough."
The beauty queen Jacinta Rose Lal is blonde, blue-eyed, beautiful and has a Fiji Indian father.
(Read: Indians are being racist, says New Zealand beauty queen)Watch this video from the main Miss India NZ 2010 event in August. Jacinta indeed stood out, because of her very different looks, among a bevy of dark beauties. It's an 11-minute video of contestants introducing themselves and Jacinta speaks at about a little over 4 minutes on it. Do note this is not the event at which she says she was booed, which was a preliminary held in April.
Serena Fiso's photo caption, posted on the Facebook page Paul Henry start your own show, reads: "When the girl on the left recently won Miss Indian NZ Central the whole Indian community yelled obsentities, boo'd, stood up and left yelling "she is not Indian enough" (because she is blonde blue eyed) ... she is infact 1/2 Indian with the last name Lal ... shame on your India ... Good on you Paul ... Come back Paul!!!(sic)"
See this page: The comments make interesting reading. Especially when Jacinta raps her boyfriend's mother with sharp criticism of Henry and all forms of racism:
Jacinta Rose Lal: In regards to this comment, Paul Henry is just as bad as anyone else who makes racist comments, if not worse because he is saying it on National television. Yes that is me in the picture, and yes I did hear some people say that I wasn't Indian looking enough to win the pageant. But despite those small minded people that made those comments there were many Indians who encouraged me to enter the pageant, so just because some narrow minded people make a comment like that we can't assume that all Indians think the same way. And I'm sorry Serena, but by wanting Paul Henry back, you are justifying the actions of those Indian people in the crowd who made those comments. There is no difference between what Paul Henry is saying and what those select few Indians were saying, they are all wrong and should not say things like that, let alone on National television.
Spoken like a beauty queen. Jacinta, 21, also says that her overall experience of the Miss India New Zealand competition was a "positive one. I was fully supported by the organisers of the pageant and indeed encouraged to enter, and also had the full support of the Indian community as winner of Miss India New Zealand Central...I was not aware of any booing. I believe the media are "mischief making" and have made a "mountain out of a molehill" thereby taking the focus off the inappropriate and offensive comments Paul Henry made on national television."
You can catch more of the rather wise beauty on this promotional video from the pageant posted on YouTube:
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