Laurence Fox has claimed the inclusion of a Sikh soldier in Sam Mendes’ war film 1917 ‘diverted attention away from what the story is’

Laurence Fox has been given a ‘history lesson’ after claiming Oscar-nominated war epic 1917 is ‘institutionally racist’ due to the inclusion of a Sikh soldier.

The English actor, known for his role in Lewis, sparked fury when he said the appearance had ‘diverted’ attention away from ‘what the story is’.

He added that the ‘oddness of the casting’ caused a ‘very heightened awareness of the colour of someone’s skin’.

Following the performer’s comments on James Delingpole’s podcast The Delingpod, people online have been educating him on the ‘vital’ role Sikh people played in World War I.

They pointed out that:

One in six WWI soldiers were Indian (one in five Sikh)

74,000 Indian soldiers died

Tell Mama, a national project which records and measures anti-Muslim incidents in the UK, took to Twitter to remind people that thousands of Sikhs from the Indian sub-continent fought and died for Britain in the First World War.

More than 70,000 Indians sacrificed their lives during WWI (Picture: Archive)

Sikhs made up more than 20% of the volunteer army (Picture: Archive)

They wrote: ‘History lesson for Laurence Fox: Every sixth British soldier serving in WWI was from the Indian subcontinent, Sikhs made up more than 20% of the volunteer army (close to 1.5m served).

‘74,187 Indian soldiers died and a comparable number were wounded.’

The Twitter thread went onto speak of the importance of Sikh troops in the First Battle of Ypres, fought on the Western Front around Ypres, in West Flanders, Belgium in 1914.

It read: ‘Sikh troops were vital in the first battle of Ypres, but their contributions were overlooked.

The actor added that the ‘oddness of the casting’ caused a ‘very heightened awareness of the colour of someone’s skin’ (Picture: The James Delingpole Channel/YouTube)

Sikh soldiers in World War I One soldier in every six in the British Army during the First World War was from the Indian sub-continent, with Sikh soldiers comprising one-fifth of Indian servicemen. It’s estimated that at least 74,187 Indian soldiers sacrificed their lives fighting for the British between 1914 and 1918. In the aftermath of the war, pressure for Indian independence mounted and following protests, 400 people were killed and 1,000 injured in the Jallianwala Bagh massacre in Amritsar on the 13 April 1919. Many historians claim the Sikh contribution to the war has been largely forgotten or left as a footnote in history. In 2014, the Sikhs who fought in the First World War were honoured in a commemoration at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst, where 36 volunteers took part in a re-enactment.

‘Britain imposed martial law on Punjab which created the conditions for the Amritsar massacre where 379 unarmed protesters were killed in April 1919.’

TellMAMAUK then tweeted some ‘useful links and references’ for Laurence – and anyone else who wanted to learn – including articles from BBC Teaching Resources, History.com and SOAS University.

Their ‘history lesson’ was commended online, with 1,400 ‘likes’ and nearly 800 retweets so far.

Sam Mendes’ 1917 chronicles the story of two British soldiers during World War I who are sent on a mission to call off an attack doomed to fail soon after the German retreat to the Hindenburg Line during Operation Alberich in 1917.

The film – which has been nominated for ten Oscars, including Best Original Screenplay and Best Picture – stars Nabhaan Rizwa as Sepoy Jondalar, alongside George Mackay, Mark Strong, Benedict Cumberbatch and Andrew Scott.

Speaking to Breitbart London’s executive editor James Delingpole on his podcast The Delingpod, Laurence had said: ‘It’s very heightened awareness of the colour of someone’s skin because of the oddness in the casting. Even in 1917 they’ve done it with a Sikh soldier.

‘Which is great, it’s brilliant, but you’re suddenly aware there were Sikhs fighting in this war. And you’re like “okay”. You’re now diverting me away from what the story is.’

Delingpole then discussed ‘shoehorning’ different ethnicities into other films, with Laurence saying: ‘It is kind of racist – if you talk about institutional racism, which is what everyone loves to go on about, which I’m not a believer in, there is something institutionally racist about forcing diversity on people in that way. You don’t want to think about [that].’

Expand

Later in the interview, Laurence praised the war film, saying it was ‘so good’ – with Delingpole quipping: ‘Apart from the gratuitous Sikh.’

The actor replied: ‘He’s great in it as well, it didn’t bother me, but it did sort of flick me out of what is essentially a one-shot film… it’s just incongruous with the story.’