One of the most beloved British celebrities, singer and songwriter Zayn Malik recently opened up about witnessing hatred, racism and Islamophobia for being Pakistani and Muslim.
With all the fame, high admiration and praise, the erstwhile One Direction team’s member and singer witnessed dreadful hatred, racism, and also islamophobia. With his Pakistani background with the Islamic faith, the Pillow Talk singer had always been vulnerable to the bitter side of social media. Despite the fact that he had been working with the most popular four white boys with massive fandom and is highly popular around the world, he faced discrimination for being Pakistani and Muslim.
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Many fans are now wondering whether the hate and racism are what actually drove him away from the band. He had usually been observed to be voicing the discrimination he had faced in his life for having Muslim religion and brown skin. He once claimed that he faced many fights caused by racism.
Speaking to ES Magazine, Zayn Malik spoke about his Pakistani and Muslim father and Irish mother and what it was like to grow up as a mixed-race child. “Saw dad as dad and mum as a mum. I didn’t see color, I didn’t see religion, I didn’t see race.”
He further said, “I was lucky that my mum and dad would always explain it to me: ‘This is just the way it is, this is some people’s belief, this is the way that they’ve been brought up. You’re brought up differently so you’ve got to respect everybody and hope that people respect you in return’,” he said, adding that he was often excluded and treated as an outcast as he got into brawls: “nine times out of 10, the fights were due to racial things.”
Added, “I never really dwelled on this in the past, but I do believe it is something that people should know — this is who I am, this is where I’ve come from. It’s not so much that it hurts — it’s what builds you as a person. What you learn from that. I have an understanding of certain issues”.
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