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Coronation Street star Marc Anwar has been sacked by the soap after an ­astonishing racist attack on Indian people.

The Pakistan-born actor – TV’s love cheat Sharif Nazir – branded Indians “b*****ds” and “p**s-drinking c**ts”.

Anwar, 60, fired off a series of tweets in which he also referred to Indians as killers and suggested Pakistanis should refuse to work in the country.

The Sunday Mirror alerted ITV chiefs to the vile rants and he was sacked within hours.

ITV said in a statement: “We are deeply shocked by the entirely unacceptable, racially offensive comments made on Twitter by Marc Anwar.

"We have talked to Marc and, as a consequence of his comments, he will not be returning to Coronation Street with immediate effect.”

(Image: ITV)

The actor, who has also appeared in a string of films including Captain Phillips and 51st State, posted the comments on Friday.

The remarks came days after 17 soldiers were killed at a – sparking a UN clash between India and Pakistan.

In his rant – in which he inserted asterisks in the most offensive words – he said: “Why the F***k do #pakistaniartists want work in #f*** face #india, do you love money so much.”

He followed that up by tweeting an image of a clenched fist before adding: “Ban #india movies in #PakistanisLeaveIndia. B*****ds p**s drinking #c**ts.

(Image: Twitter)

The next targets were Indian Prime Minster Narenda Modi and Pakistan PM Nawaz Sharif, who have repeatedly clashed over Kashmir.

The actor tweeted: “F***ing #indians killing our #Kashmir brothers and sisters, beygairth #NawazSharif still sucking #modi Lul!”

In another he slammed India and called on ­Pakistanis to leave it. Last night the actor rushed to delete two of his most offensive tweets, which caused ­widespread shock. Ironically, in his Twitter label he describes himself as “actor, writer, director and producer” and adds: “It’s not what you say, but what you do.”

Baroness Hussein-Ece, a Liberal Democrat and anti-racism campaigner, led criticism of Anwar’s comments.

The vice chair of the All-Party ­Parliamentary Group on Race and Community said: “I understand the ­frustration but it doesn’t justify the kind of language he’s used and blaming all Indians.

“It is one thing to campaign and another to say these kind of things on Twitter.

(Image: Twitter)

“There are atrocious human rights abuses occurring there. People are dying. I’m not for a minute undermining that. But he is a public figure and he’s gone about this in the wrong way.”

Fiyaz Mughal, director of the charity Faith Matters, said: “It’s unacceptable for anyone today to put material online that targets a segment of a population. You can’t just blame a whole group of people for a conflict.

“Marc needs to reflect, and in a way retract what he said, and understand you can’t go online and add fuel to the fire.

“I can empathise with the anger and feel nothing is moving, but the best way to relieve that anger is to work with your political leaders.

“If you’re on Coronation Street, you’re in a powerful position, you have huge influence on social media. If the reverse happened and it was said Pakistanis are bad, he wouldn’t like it. It’s ludicrous and those comments don’t work one way or the other.”

(Image: ITV)

Anwar’s sudden departure will leave Corrie in chaos as writers work out how to write his exit. A show source said: “Sharif’s storyline is at a particularly pivotal moment right now. He’s a few months ahead but it’s still going to be a headache for bosses to write him out now he’s gone for good. That said, the show does not tolerate racism, ­whatever the context.

“They had to act quickly to avoid any controversy affecting the show and this is a small price to pay. They just feel deeply frustrated that he had to air his feelings so publicly.”

Anwar’s character, gym boss Sharif, has just been exposed as a love rat – having cheated on wife Yasmeen with longtime family friend Sonia. The star, who hails from ­Rochdale, Lancs, joined the Street in 2014 and was popular with viewers.

He has appeared in dozens of TV shows and films, including a controversial Anglo-Hindi film called Pusher. The 2012 movie was banned from some independent cinemas in Mumbai for its “shocking, drug-fuelled violence”.

Religious leaders in India claimed it bordered on “the psychotic”.

He also appeared in Emmerdale in 2002 as Dr Ajit Devgan, Holby City and Doctors.

Anwar was unavailable for comment yesterday.

(Image: EPA)

India and Pakistan have been locked in a conflict over Kashmir for decades.

It has been disputed since Pakistan was created in the partition of India in 1947 and has twice sparked wars between the countries.

Both have nuclear weapons and the Himalayan region remains highly militarised.

The population is 60 per cent Muslim and many would prefer Kashmir to be part of Pakistan rather than India.

High unemployment and crackdowns on protests add to the tensions.