Sajeda Momin

London: Ellesha Newton, the cheerleader who was racially abused when she was dancing for the Kings XI Punjab, is so traumatised that more than a month later she is still unable to work in public without the horrific memories flooding back.

“Ellesha is a sensitive girl and has been badly scarred by the experience,” said Jorge Aldana, the director of Fierce Performance Productions, the company which brought the team of 12 cheerleaders to India from the UK.

“We are now working with Bollywood choreographer Ganesh Acharya in his latest film and Ellesha every time she goes for the shoot and people look her she feels they are going to ask her to get off the set – that is how badly she is traumatised,” Aldana told DNA over the telephone.

Aldana, whose London based company has worked in India before, said all he wants is an apology from Wizcraft International, but no one from the event management company has responded to his calls.

“I have sent hundreds of text messages and made thousands of calls to Wizcraft in the last four weeks but there is nothing but silence from them. They simply do not take my calls or reply to my messages,” said Aldana.

“And now they are alleging that we are lying. But we have proof that they discriminated against two of my dancers simply because they are black, and we demand a public apology, otherwise I will have to seek professional advice,” he added.

Newton and her colleague Sherinne Anderson were called ‘Niggers’ by an employee of Wizcraft and stopped from performing at the IPL match in Mohali claiming that the ‘crowd doesn’t like girls with dark skins’.

“Both Ellesha and Sherinne have worked in Bollywood before including the forthcoming film Money hai to Honey hai, and they have never been told treated like this,” explained Aldana.

“In fact the only reason I have brought this to public attention is because I want to make a point that no one should be discriminated against because of their race or the colour of their skin,” he said.

The choreographer from Lanzarote in the Canary Islands said he was first approached by DJ Akhtar to bring a troupe of 12 girls from the UK to perform for the IPL series.

“Initially I said no but when he mentioned Preity Zinta’s name than I said yes because I have worked with her in the past and have good relations with her. But I never expected this shabby treatment from Wizcraft who have shown they are anything but professional,” complained Aldana.

Source : DNA