Yesterday, Azealia Banks posted a string of offensive tweets directed at Zayn Malik and members of the UK music scene. As well as referring to him as a “punjab” and a ““sand n****”,  she called him a “curry scented bitch”. 

In the wake of her remarks, South Asian women are turning the slur on its head, using the hashtag #curryscentedbitch to share photos of themselves and of other women. 

“Just your average punjabi #curryscentedbitch and proud,” tweeted model Tris Dhaliwal, along with a series of photos of herself sporting traditional Punjabi clothing. “Oops @AZEALIABANKS another proud #curryscentedbitch right here,” tweeted singer Bambi with a set of similar pictures.

“#curryscentedbitch and harry’s lovin it,” tweeted @coconutxqueen with a picture of herself posing with a cardboard cut-out of Harry Styles. 

While Banks is yet to apologies for her remarks, she has said, “I said what I said to Zayn because I was angry” and that “He felt as if he was too good to acknowledge me yet not to (sic) good to copy my creativity.”

In the wake of her comments, Rinse FM have cancelled her headline appearance at Born & Bred. “We celebrate inclusivity and equality”, they wrote in a statement posted to Twitter.