NEW DELHI, Jan 19: Indians across the country have leapt to the defence of Shilpa Shetty, praising a shining Big Brother performance by an actress who has faced abuse bordering on racism from her uncultured British rivals.

On Britain’s reality television show, the 31-year-old has been taunted for her accent, branded a “dog”, told to clean out the toilet with her teeth and asked if she lived in a shack.

Support for Shetty has been swelling with more voices added every day to the chorus – led by the media, senior Indian and British government figures and her colleagues from the Hindi film industry.

“I think she has handled herself perfectly well ... in a dignified way,” said Pradeep Mathur, a journalism professor at the New Delhi-based Indian Institute of Mass Communication.

“There has been overwhelming support (for Shetty) which was expected. This is what we expect from all civilised societies ... in the face of such remarks from less cultivated people,” Mathur said.

One housemate derided Indian hygiene while another said the actress “wants to be white,” on Channel 4’s “Celebrity Big Brother” show, whose ratings have shot up since the controversy broke out this week.

Shetty, however, on Thursday withdrew her accusation that she was a victim of racism on the show for which all the contestants are being paid, saying it had been made in the heat of the moment.

But the unexpected turn-around has not stemmed the tide of support.

“I am a proud Indian living in UK after seeing Shilpa’s guts, patience despite race related remarks. She has far more intellect, beauty and culture ... than ill-minded, spoilt brats (on the show),” said a message posted on news channel NDTV’s website

“She is a real Indian with beauty and brain. We all love you Shilpa,” said the message, by a correspondent identified as “bhutro from London”. Another message on the same site said Shetty could withdraw from the show to take a stand against racism “or she can stay there and prove that these hurdles will not keep us (Indians) from excelling and achieving our goals.” “Whatever the case may be, she will come out as a winner which she definitely is,” wrote the surfer who identified himself as a resident of the southern Indian city of Hyderabad.

Newspapers too have been receiving a flood of letters backing the conduct of the convent school and college-educated Shetty.

“The racist remarks hurled against Shetty are an insult not only to her but the entire Indian community,” wrote Gurpreet Singh to The Hindu about the star’s treatment.

Snap polls conducted by Indian media houses – both print and television – show a steady 70 per cent support for the way Shetty has handled herself in the face of alleged racial abuse from the other contestants on show.

“Shilpa is a fairly strong woman. She has some guts facing up to all that in the show,” said Roopali Ganguly, a television actress who was part of the Indian version of the Channel Four show currently aired on Sony Television.—AFP