Brits dressed as Muslims for Cornwall carnival creates political row

Locals dressed as Muslims for a carnival procession in the Cornish market town of St Columb Major, have caused a row over political correctness.

London, Aug.23 : Locals dressed as Muslims for a carnival procession in the Cornish market town of St Columb Major, have caused a row over political correctness.

According to The Telegraph and The Daily Mail, students visiting the area thought the act was offensive to Muslims, and called in the police.

Calling themselves the Page Three Beauties from the Ramalamadingdong Times, the locals dressed as Muslims carried placards with names including Miss Poppadomistan" and "Miss Reallyamanistan". A home-made banner read "Join the Kernow Mosk drekly and become a Musli" over a picture of a Cornish pasty.

Kernow is the Celtic name for Cornwall, while drekly is Cornish slang for "get it done quickly".

The group knelt down in mock prayer, using fake compasses to "find" the correct direction to locate Mecca.

The stunt was apparently intended as a harmless send-up of the Prince of Wales's plan for a mosque in his nearby "Surfbury" model settlement. The plan has been criticised because there are only 33 practising Muslims in a population of 22,000.

Six students watching the carnival complained to the police and the carnival organisers.

Nina Brenton, one of the event's organisers, said the students told her that the act was disgusting and offensive to Muslims.

"They had a real go at us, and asked how we could allow it in our carnival. We told them it was not up to us to dictate what is offensive unless a group is clearly causing offence. We did advise the group what had happened and gave them the choice of whether to carry on, and they did," The Telegraph quoted Brenton, as saying.

"The crowd seemed to love them. It just offended this small minority," she added.

The judges backed out of giving the group a cup for receiving the biggest cheer. Instead they gave the prize to a display that poked fun at the council parking restrictions.

One of the judges, Pat Harvey, the mayor of the local borough of Restormel, thought the entry was "excellent".

Police said no action would be taken because no official complaint had been made.

Fareed Ahmad, the president of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Association for Devon and Cornwall, said: "With carnivals it's quite difficult to judge between humour and causing offence, and on this occasion it looks like they have that balance wrong.

"You have to be careful not to stray into the territory of racism, and this is heading in that direction, but I'm sure their intention was quite the opposite," he added.

A spokesman from the National Assembly Against Racism said: "It wouldn't have been done in a place with a more diverse community."

The Rev Chris McQuillen-Wright, of St Columb Minor church, said: "One can see the intended humour and the play on words but, in light of the current international climate, it was insensitive."

One of the group, David Holloway, of St Columb Major parish church, apologised, but said: "The idea of the carnival is to dress up and have fun. We thought up the idea at late notice because it would be easy to get the costumes together. We were not laughing at anybody, more at ourselves than anything else and we certainly didn't want to cause any offence."

In all, 17 men and women carried placards with made-up names and paraded through the streets of Cornwall in Burqas. They also used fake compasses to face Mecca when 'preying'.

The carnival was held 20 miles from Padstow, where the annual Darkie Day - which involved locals blacking up their faces - regularly attracted accusations of racism. It is now known as Mummers Day.

ANI