Raman Bhardwaj

[Blue Moon 1,547]

Bigotry !

 

Thought you would say that. That's what Charles Green said.

[der Berliner 4,051]

Disagree. Racism can be based on nationality. "any distinction, exclusion, restriction or preference based on race, colour, descent, or national or ethnic origin ."

 

That must be a recently invented "explanation" then. Still, there is no race that is Irish, Scottish or English, hence to use this word in this context is surely politically driven.

[Blue Moon 1,547]

I joined Twitter about the same time as I joined Gersnet and for the same reason - to find out information about Rangers. I only follow Rangers guys, journalists, a certain political party, Alex Thomson (want to know what he is up to) and one or two celebs that are good value.

 

Last year I contacted several key politicians about something that was of particular interest to me and from the replies I got it is clear that Twitter is an important tool for communicating with politicians. It serves notice of articles that are often of interest to me that I wouldn't otherwise know about.

 

I think it is facile to see it as a series of soundbites for attention seekers.

[BlueMazza 0]

Like it or not, social media is big. It's a way for companies to interact with customers quickly. I find more things out on twitter now than I do mainstream. I also trust more twitter sources than I do main stream journos when it comes to Rangers. If i didn't read twitter etc what am I left with? the record?

 

Of course there are twats there, but you use your brain and learn to filter through it. It's a useful tool and it's a bit ignorant to claim it's redundant when in fact its the fastest growing form of communication.

[amms 0]

AMMS:

 

That's a fair explanation and I think many of us would sympathise with your point of view.

 

However, Raman is not daft and it's exactly because of his own negative experiences that he should not make light of (or at least not fully explain) any issues he may have on that topic.

 

I enjoy Twitter a lot but in terms of debating or making points, it's rather simplistic. Perhaps Raman would benefit from writing a similar explanation as you have as to why he felt it reasonable to post about an inflammatory issue late at night in such an empirical and open-ended fashion.

 

If he is a Rangers fan, then he should be especially aware of just how such generalisations would be taken.

 

It would be interesting to read his thoughts on it I agree, perhaps Gersnet or the Rangers Standard might offer him a platform?

[amms 0]

Second coming of Hitler then is he?

 

Angel John Terry is not but I admire him as a player and as a captain, and he was cleared of his criminal charges, you can talk about the technicalities of the verdict all you like but he was not guilty. His black friend Ashley Cole gave him a character reference, and was called something racist himself by Rio Ferdinand for his trouble.

 

I never actually replied to Raman initially but I do find the witch hunt against Terry staggering and do defend him generally, and that is an entitlement without being branded racist in any way, Raman needs to get over himself if that really is what he meant.

 

What exactly is their to defend about Terry, he's demonstrated on a number of occasions that he's just a ned with money. If that's your kind of man then good luck to you.

[amms 0]

Racism has nothing to do with Rangers FC. John Terry is indeed an unpleasant man. If Rangers fans are defending him, why would an Indian Rangers fan see fit to comment on that sarcastically if not to make trouble for Rangers?

 

If he's "dismayed and disappointed" at football fans defending an unpleasant but innocent man, it sounds like Bhardwaj has personal issues which are clouding his judgement.

 

Aren't all our views clouded by personal experience? Isn't that how they become personal, he, like you and me, can only express his own views. I didn't read his tweet as an attack on Rangers, simply pointing out that some Rangers fans have an odd sense of loyalty to the former England and Chelsea captain.

[amms 0]

I take issue with this. Maybe he has experienced racism, but it's glib to imply that white Scots receive very little.

 

I could say I'm a victim of racism by people of pakistani origin which is more than casual. I had a girlfriend for three and half years of pakistani origin and we even thought about marriage - however, that would have been difficult as despite us living together for three years, her family could not know about me as she told me she would be disowned and shunned by them due to me being a white, non-muslim. That's is pretty extreme racism. In contrast, all my family and friends welcomed her and also, when I first started going out with her, I was always on the lookout for racist comments against us as a mixed couple and was surprised that we received not one in English. She did have hassle in Urdu in Pakistani shops now an again, so we stopped going into them.

 

I also have received "casual" racism in England for being Scottish. It all seems like banter and so I just let it go or give as good as I get. I remember reading an article about Scots being racist to the English and found it so ignorant in that I had received pretty much all the type of the abuse they reported that the English get.

 

There is casual racism everywhere by all colours and creeds, but sometimes it's all about how sensitive your are - and that also affects how it's reported.

 

I used the word 'most' not 'all' because most white, English speaking Scots will not experience racism in Scotland. I didn't state racism is a one way street or the proviso of 'whites' only, nor did I infer it.

 

That you feel you've experienced racism is regrettable and shameful, you are right to be angered by it.

[andy steel 0]

It would be interesting to read his thoughts on it I agree, perhaps Gersnet or the Rangers Standard might offer him a platform?

 

Only if he wants his media career to grind to an immediate end!

[simplythebest 0]

What exactly is their to defend about Terry, he's demonstrated on a number of occasions that he's just a ned with money. If that's your kind of man then good luck to you.

 

I'm a football fan, I think he's a quality player and a good captain, that's really what I look at first unless there's anything really extreme to consider off the pitch. As far as I know the guy hasn't murdered or raped anyone.

 

I've defended Terry because the two times he's lost the England captaincy were a joke, as is this FA kangaroo court case when the law of the land cleared him of that charge.

 

You're entitled to your opinion, Raman is too, but moral indignation of a differing view in this particular issue is really not needed.