Zeeny wants Saladin to understand that the roles he plays in his television show reinforce negative stereotypes about immigrants. In other words, the British television producers are merely using him to reinforce their xenophobic agenda. However, Saladin sees things differently; he thinks of himself only as an actor—not an
Indian actor. Even if one grants Saladin this point, Rushdie uses this argument to underline an obvious contrast between the roles Saladin gets—which are questionable at best—and those Gibreel gets, as he literally portrays Gods.