BENGALURU: BJP leader Tarun Vijay 's allegedly racist statement has caused widespread disappointment among the intelligentsia. The general opinion of most intellectuals is that the BJP leader is only disabusing them of their hope that the mainstream right would be more responsible with its ascendancy to power, and not behave like the fringe.“The root cause of racism is intolerance towards the other. It's shameful that we have politicians who have racist thoughts deep inside them and that's why it has come out. When you are put under pressure, the real self comes out. He was trying to hide his racist thoughts, but could not. I am shocked and shocked,“ said Vivek Shanbagh , prominent Kannada writer.Participating in a TV debate on Friday on racism in India , in the context of last week's attacks on Nigerians in Greater Noida, Vijay said, “If we were racist, why would we have the entire south (India)...which is you know, completely Tamil, you know Kerala, you know Karnataka and Andhra. Why do we live with them... We have blacks, black people around us. You are denying your own nation, you are denying your ancestry, you are denying your culture.“Facing widespread flak, Tarun Vijay later tendered an apology, stating that he hadn't properly worded his sentences.“I am not protesting Tarun's comment because I am a South Indian. Even if I were to be a North Indian, I would oppose this. It is a racist comment,“ Shanbhag said.Former Infoscion and edu cationist T V Mohandas Pai said Vijay's statement should just be ignored. “North Indians have their prejudices that South Indians are not fair. In fact, it's not a racism bug, it's got to do with many other things. I say we should ignore such comments,“ he said.“In India, there is no discrimination like there is in the US or South Africa . Here, peo ple don't restrain their curiosity. We've got to be careful with such expressions. This is more a lack of sensitivity and education,“ said Pai.Pai gave the example of the Siddi tribal community which has its roots in Africa, and lives in North Karnataka.“Siddis are not discriminated against and speak Konkani and Kannada,“ he said.BU special officer Prof S Japhet, whose special interests include group inequality , social exclusion, social movements, caste, religion, affirmative action and equality jurisprudence, said Vijay's statement was racist. “We are all 'coloured', as Americans call it. More than 90% of Indians are dark complexioned. We are obsessed with the notion of fairness, despite our gods being dark in colour, and we are racist. Such statements by Tarun dent the pan-Indian nationalism and culturalism that they have been trying to advocate. The divide between North and South is always there and that's sad,“ he said.Japhet pointed out that even in corporate companies, a fair-skinned candidate is considered during recruitment. “When all other criteria match, companies look at the candidate's colour,“ he said.