New Zealand TV host criticised for ridiculing Sheila Dikshit

SYDNEY - A New Zealand TV station which had recently suspended one of its show hosts for a racial slur on the country’s governor-general, has come in for fresh trouble after it featured a clip on its website ridiculing the name of Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit.

TVNZ has received at least four complaints about the clip, in which show host Paul Henry, who was suspended Tuesday, deliberately mispronounces Dikshit, despite being told it is said “Dixit”, the Sydney Morning Herald reported on its website Wednesday.

He also says the name “Dick Shit” is “so appropriate” because she is Indian.

Dikshit was called in to fix the problem-plagued Commonwealth Games preparations, the report said.

New Zealand Indian Central Association president Paul Singh Bains said the fact TVNZ was still promoting the clip on its website showed it had “totally lost the plot” and was insensitive to the offence Henry had caused.

Henry was suspended for an on-air racial slur on the country’s Indian-origin Governor-General Sir Anand Satyanand.

During a TVNZ programme Monday, Breakfast show host Henry asked Prime Minister John Key whether Anand was a New Zealander or not. When Key told him that Anand was a New Zealander, Henry asked if he was going to pick someone who looked more like a New Zealander next time.

The Dikshit clip - which now appears to have been removed - was promoted on the Video Extras section of TVNZ’s website under the heading “Paul Henry laughs about the name Dikshit”.

“The dip shit woman. God, what’s her name? Dick Shit. Is it Dick Shit … it looks like ‘Dick Shit’,” Henry says through bouts of laughter.

“It’s so appropriate, because she’s Indian, so she’d be dick-in-shit wouldn’t she, do you know what I mean? Walking along the street … it’s just so funny.”

Bains said he accepted that Dikshit’s name and other Indian names could be difficult to pronounce, but Henry had moved beyond that to ridicule.

He said TVNZ appeared insensitive to the offence caused by leaving the clip on its website, and it should have sacked Henry after his comments about Sir Anand.

“TVNZ have lost the plot. I honestly think the credibility of TVNZ is down the tubes through this,” he said.

“He should be sanctioned more than that. He should be eliminated from that spot. He should be sacked and given another role somewhere else.”

“He has an attitude about Indians and all other ethnicities for that matter. If we sound different, if we look different, he thinks there’s no place for us in New Zealand.”

TVNZ spokeswoman Andi Brotherston said the website was an independent news organisation.

“(It) is part of TVNZ’s news and current affairs department, which has its editorial independence enshrined in legislation.”

She would not say whether TVNZ chief executive Rick Ellis, who suspended Henry from his Breakfast role and is TVNZ’s editor-in-chief, had control over the content on the website.

Greens human rights spokesman Keith Locke said the clip, first aired last Friday, was a “particularly graphic illustration of Paul Henry’s cultural insensitivity”.

“He went on and on being offensive to the chief minister of Delhi by mispronouncing her name in a crude manner.”

“The latest incident with the governor-general shows that he has learnt nothing past criticism of his racist commentary. Ten days in the sin bin is unlikely to change that, so perhaps he should be given a red card.”

The Herald on Sunday reported that TVNZ had received four complaints about the Dikshit piece. It has received more than 600 about Henry’s comments about Sir Anand.