Idiot Joginder Bassi is host of the Gaunda Punjab Radio and TV show.
AB Wire
Joginder Bassi, host of the Gaunda Punjab Radio and TV show, based in Toronto, Canada, has got intense criticism after he said on a show that Indian female students are promiscuous, lazy and home wreckers and come to Canada with the intention to hitch up with a man.
“You’re targeting a whole community and you’re saying negative things about them and that’s so sad,” said Harjot Mannan, a 23-year-old from the Indian state of Punjab who studies at Toronto’s Centennial College, reported CBC News.
Mannan said people should write to the CRTC to have Bassi’s program taken off the air.
“When he says that on national TV, that means a lot because many people are watching him, many people are listening to him. And when he says that, that leaves a negative impact on everybody,” she said. “When he says that we’re not paying our bills or finding a man just to get married, that is just wrong.”
The controversy stems from a show in November in which a woman called in to complain about international Indian students in Canada. The woman, speaking in Punjabi, said they should cut off the number of students being allowed to enter because they “spread so much garbage around” and “think they can do whatever they want.”
Bassi responded that these female students don’t work, are having babies and are unaware of the father’s identity. He also said they’re trying to find a guy in Canada to take advantage of, and in the process, ruining families and causing divorces, reported CBC News.
“It’s a big problem,” Bassi said.
As part of the religion and in an effort to ensure no one goes hungry, Sikh temples, known as gurudwaras, offer free food to all people. But Bassi said these students are taking advantage of this practice.
Harpreet Kaur, a 26-year-old nursing student from India who studies at Kitchener-Waterloo’s Conestoga College, found Bassi’s words offensive and discouraging.
“You are really discouraging people who are really working hard here to make their future because they’re really starting from nothing to build everything here.”
Kaur said Bassi’s comments on his show, which is seen in Toronto and in India, have also sparked fears among some parents about the activities of their children in Canada.
“There were parents who haven’t been to Canada and they were really worried about their girls. Especially there were parents who thought it may be right,” Kaur said.
The video clip of Bassi’s show has since gone viral and prompted many current and former students to respond through social media.
“He has intentionally targeted female students and calling them sexual subjects,” wrote one former Humber College student on Facebook. “[He has] 0% right to target the whole community and defame their existence. He has completely ignored the fact that how international students are contributing to this great nation and how hard they are working to earn a better living.”
Most of the responses and videos are in Punjabi. But Ritu Virk, a former international student, posted a message on YouTube in English to make others aware of what was said.
“My main motivation was that this thing was just kind of boiling up in the [Punjabi] community and outside the community people didn’t have any information about this issue because of the language barrier,” she said. “That’s why I made this video in English. My main concern is what is to stop this guy from next time going on this show and saying things again. My main motivation is that these things shouldn’t happen again.”
She said Bassi’s comments were “emotionally demoralizing” to all female students who made the decision to study in Canada.
“I have many other Indian friends who have a much bigger aim in life … than just sleeping around with guys and finding a suitable Canadian guy.”