New Delhi: Bollywood actor Shilpa Shetty made news when she joined the league of nine international celebs on UK’s Channel 4 reality TV show Celebrity Big Brother.
However, Shilpa - who is reportedly getting Rs 3 crore for her appearance on the show - made even bigger news when she claimed that she was being racially targetted and that she had been called a 'Paki', 'dog' and 'that Indian' on the show.
The racist abuse by housemates Jade Goody and her friends not just drove Shilpa to tears, but made the Indian Government stand up and take notice. The Information and Broadcasting Minister, Priyaranjan Dasmunsi, wrote to the Indian Foreign Minister - Pranab Mukherjee - and the Ministry of External Affairs looked into the matter.
And that's not all that it did. India's official tourism promoter, India Tourism on Friday invited Jade Goody and her friends on the reality show to visit India and experience the healing nature of the country.
According to a report in PTI, in an open letter addressed to Goody and her friends through advertisements in leading London dailies, including
The Times and The Guardian, the India Tourism said "Once your current commitments are over may we invite you to experience the healing nature of India."
The advertisement read: Being one of the world's oldest civilizations, our land is one where the ancient and the modern co-exist and a multitude of religions live in harmony. We have a modern thriving culture and offer an amazing wealth of sights and sounds, tastes and textures making our country a place like no other.
In an apparent indirect dig at Goody, the ad said "As a beauty therapist, you may be especially interested in visiting one of the many spas where you can cleanse your stresses away, enjoy yoga in the land that invented it and experience Ayurvedic healing which promotes positive health and natural beauty."
Director of India Tourism, UK and Ireland, Vivek Angra, was quoted by PTI as saying, "During the airing of Channel 4's Celebrity Big Brother show, there have been a number of negative and outdated views expressed about India. The India Tourism office has chosen to set the record straight by inviting Jade Goody and her friends to experience incredible India for themselves."
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