Kiwi Indians feel let down by PM Key on Henry episode
The recent uncivilised comments by Paul Henry in the presence of John Key has outraged the Indian Community. Unfortunately, the Prime Minister failed to react to him and also continued to defend him in subsequent press conferences.
Though the Indian community expected the Prime Minister to give a befitting response to Paul Henry’s racist buffoonery – he chose not to and even went to the extent of committing himself to his show on next Monday. The Prime Minister thus has undoubtedly failed the Indian community and the wider ethnic communities that comprise 21st century New Zealand.
Even as TVNZ suspended broadcaster Paul Henry for his widely condemned comments on New Zealand Governor General Anand Satyanand during the course of an interview with Prime Minister John Key, a large cross section of the Indian community has voiced its utter disappointment with the manner in which Mr Key handled the situation.
While Mr Henry is known for his abrasive style and is given to air controversial views on sensitive topics it was up to the Prime Minister to stop him in his tracks especially in this instance, several Indian community leaders told Indian Weekender.
Dr. Rajen Prasad, Member Parliament of Indo-Fijian descent, expressed his profound sadness and frustration at the way the Prime Minister laughed along with Paul Henry while he was making racist comments.
“If the Prime Minister cannot defend the Governor General on a state run broadcast – then he is not fit for the job as how can the common man trust Mr Key to look after their interests?” Dr. Prasad asked. He added that this is a serious slur on the background of all ethnic communities and the behaviour of both Mr Henry and the PM has been unwise.
“Prime Minister John Key can’t just smile and pass it as a joke as he seemed to do on screen. We expected more than that,” Mr Veer Khar, former General secretary of the NZICA said.
Ram Rai a National part office bearer was cautious in his comments but said that the Prime Minister definitely needs to clarify his position and he would prefer him not to go back on the breakfast show hosted by Henry and instead hoped that he is fired by TVNZ.
Whau Board candidate Ann Nisha Pala strongly felt the prime minister could have responded more strongly as soon as he heard the “insulting comments.”
“As a journalist, Henry’s job is to openly air opinions and make people react to them ... But I was surprised the Prime Minister said nothing at the time. He should have stopped him in his tracks. The country was watching. Mr Key should have come out far more forcefully right there. Commenting several hours later was good but not good enough.”
Mr Key later in the day said that he was taken off guard by the comment. But he told the media that he would continue to appear on the programme with Mr Henry next week.
“If he was genuinely concerned, the Prime Minister would have made a statement later refusing to appear on the programme. That makes it looks like he did not think the comment was serious – exactly as he appeared when Paul Henry made them,” said senior community leader Prithipal Singh, MNZM and Chairman of Global Indians, a National Party outfit.
Prominent Indian community leader Ashok Darji of the Auckland Indian Association and the NZICA said multicultural and multiethnic New Zealand, particularly Auckland, had no place for such comments and that they must be condemned by all right thinking people.
Ajay Kumar of Global Financial Services expressed his extreme disgust at the unfortunate episode.
“Any seasoned politician would have gauged the political fallout of merely smiling at such a damaging, unabashedly racist statement and immediately corrected that perception with an appropriate statement. Mr Key simply seemed to go along with it,” said Sunil Kaushal a well known figure in the community and also a member of the Waitakere Ethnic Board.
“The Prime Minister and the National Party, which in any case tends to be perceived as conservative and right leaning by ethnic groups, will have to work hard to prevent from such a perception being reinforced in the run up to the next election, if they still want to be in the running with ethnic groups,” said Roshan Nauhria, MNZM, President of Bhartiya Mandir and a successful businessman.
Prominent businessman of Indo-Fijian descent, Harish Lodhia, has termed this incident and the subsequent reaction by the Prime Minister as an insult to the entire nation.
Ranjana Patel, a third generation Kiwi Indian and President of the Manukau Indian Association is organising a meeting to galvanise community support. She claimed herself to be more Kiwi than Paul Henry but as a matter of fact will always look like an Indian. She termed the comments as outright racist and flippant. “Paul Henry does not live in the real world,” she said.
Community leaders were especially outraged that it was a public broadcaster funded by the taxpayer that was acting so irresponsibly and the fact that the head of the government was not doing enough to take it to task.
Labour MP Trevor Mallard yesterday said the furore over Henry's comments “could have been fixed right as it happened if the Prime Minister didn't try and smile and please Paul Henry.
“His decision at the time not to challenge Paul Henry was gutless and it means ... someone who has to make instant decisions that could be very important to the country made a decision to condone racism and not to call it right then.
“Frankly you do need to have a Prime Minister that has the backbone to say that behaviour is unacceptable. You don't have to go back to the office to think about it.”
Unite Union and Global Peace and Justice Auckland (GPJA) joined a protest outside TVNZ's Auckland offices last night and said suspending Henry, “the poster boy for bigotry,” was not enough and called for his sacking.
Unite Union national director Mike Treen said he did not call for someone's dismissal lightly.
“However Paul Henry legitimises racism and bigotry in the workplace. I deal every day with problems associated with managers and even co-workers abusing staff because they look or sound different.”
John Minto, spokesman for Global Peace and Justice Auckland, described Henry as a “boil on the backside of New Zealand.”
“He’s giving legitimacy to bigotry and racism,” he said. “Paul Henry is a serial offender. He has abused women, people of colour, gay people, people with disabilities and all migrant Kiwis who don't look like him.”
“What will it take the Prime Minister and the government to take decisive action on the errant broadcaster and its wholly owned broadcasting organisation?” asked Kevin Patel, a South Auckland businessman.
“Such racist comments, by Paul Henry have hit at the very roots of multiculturalism and Kiwi Indians will not tolerate this. The Prime Minister should feel sorry and apologise to the community at large,” said Harish Bajaj QSO, JP, a veteran community leader and vociferous supporter of anything Indian. He wishes to ask the Prime Minister that are all brown skin people holding NZ citizenship second class citizens?
The community’s disgust with Mr Henry’s comments has been steadily building up over the past weeks in the run up to the Commonwealth Games during the coverage of which he has spoken extremely disparagingly.
His repeated digs at Delhi Chief Minister Shiela Dixit’s name was aptly described as a “cheap shot” by NZICA President Paul Singh Bains.
Another Indian businessman who did not wish to be named said that he will surely not be voting for National and John Key – if he cannot stop a stupid and racist state broadcaster from mocking the Governor General and thus the future for the common man under John Key’s leadership is “bleak.”
National List MP Kanwaljit Bakshi has not been returning calls and has failed to vociferously condemn the actions of both Henry and the Prime Minister. He is a representative of the Indian Community first and then a member of the National Party and the community expects more from him.
Pansy Wong Ethnic Affairs Minister did not return calls and instead sent a brief statement by email which failed to address the basic issue of the Prime Minister’s inability to stop Mr Henry from making racist comments and his willingness to go back on a show with him as host.
Minister Wong’s statement also did not term Mr Henry’s convoluted comments as racist and did not ask for his permanent removal from the state run TVNZ. Such actions lend tacit support to racist people like the suspended show host.
Some community members have been outraged enough by the inept handling of the issue by the Prime Minister and are calling for an apology from him.
All like minded organisations can contact Indian Weekender at info@indianweekender.co.nz as we have been encouraged by our readers and community leaders to rally support to impress upon the Prime Minister to have the state broadcaster take strong and decisive action on Mr Henry – going beyond the a mere two week suspension.
The recent uncivilised comments by Paul Henry in the presence of John Key has outraged the Indian Community. Unfortunately, the Prime Minister failed to react to him and also continued to defend him in subsequent press conferences. Though the Indian community expected the Prime Minister to give...
The recent uncivilised comments by Paul Henry in the presence of John Key has outraged the Indian Community. Unfortunately, the Prime Minister failed to react to him and also continued to defend him in subsequent press conferences.
Though the Indian community expected the Prime Minister to give a befitting response to Paul Henry’s racist buffoonery – he chose not to and even went to the extent of committing himself to his show on next Monday. The Prime Minister thus has undoubtedly failed the Indian community and the wider ethnic communities that comprise 21st century New Zealand.
Even as TVNZ suspended broadcaster Paul Henry for his widely condemned comments on New Zealand Governor General Anand Satyanand during the course of an interview with Prime Minister John Key, a large cross section of the Indian community has voiced its utter disappointment with the manner in which Mr Key handled the situation.
While Mr Henry is known for his abrasive style and is given to air controversial views on sensitive topics it was up to the Prime Minister to stop him in his tracks especially in this instance, several Indian community leaders told Indian Weekender.
Dr. Rajen Prasad, Member Parliament of Indo-Fijian descent, expressed his profound sadness and frustration at the way the Prime Minister laughed along with Paul Henry while he was making racist comments.
“If the Prime Minister cannot defend the Governor General on a state run broadcast – then he is not fit for the job as how can the common man trust Mr Key to look after their interests?” Dr. Prasad asked. He added that this is a serious slur on the background of all ethnic communities and the behaviour of both Mr Henry and the PM has been unwise.
“Prime Minister John Key can’t just smile and pass it as a joke as he seemed to do on screen. We expected more than that,” Mr Veer Khar, former General secretary of the NZICA said.
Ram Rai a National part office bearer was cautious in his comments but said that the Prime Minister definitely needs to clarify his position and he would prefer him not to go back on the breakfast show hosted by Henry and instead hoped that he is fired by TVNZ.
Whau Board candidate Ann Nisha Pala strongly felt the prime minister could have responded more strongly as soon as he heard the “insulting comments.”
“As a journalist, Henry’s job is to openly air opinions and make people react to them ... But I was surprised the Prime Minister said nothing at the time. He should have stopped him in his tracks. The country was watching. Mr Key should have come out far more forcefully right there. Commenting several hours later was good but not good enough.”
Mr Key later in the day said that he was taken off guard by the comment. But he told the media that he would continue to appear on the programme with Mr Henry next week.
“If he was genuinely concerned, the Prime Minister would have made a statement later refusing to appear on the programme. That makes it looks like he did not think the comment was serious – exactly as he appeared when Paul Henry made them,” said senior community leader Prithipal Singh, MNZM and Chairman of Global Indians, a National Party outfit.
Prominent Indian community leader Ashok Darji of the Auckland Indian Association and the NZICA said multicultural and multiethnic New Zealand, particularly Auckland, had no place for such comments and that they must be condemned by all right thinking people.
Ajay Kumar of Global Financial Services expressed his extreme disgust at the unfortunate episode.
“Any seasoned politician would have gauged the political fallout of merely smiling at such a damaging, unabashedly racist statement and immediately corrected that perception with an appropriate statement. Mr Key simply seemed to go along with it,” said Sunil Kaushal a well known figure in the community and also a member of the Waitakere Ethnic Board.
“The Prime Minister and the National Party, which in any case tends to be perceived as conservative and right leaning by ethnic groups, will have to work hard to prevent from such a perception being reinforced in the run up to the next election, if they still want to be in the running with ethnic groups,” said Roshan Nauhria, MNZM, President of Bhartiya Mandir and a successful businessman.
Prominent businessman of Indo-Fijian descent, Harish Lodhia, has termed this incident and the subsequent reaction by the Prime Minister as an insult to the entire nation.
Ranjana Patel, a third generation Kiwi Indian and President of the Manukau Indian Association is organising a meeting to galvanise community support. She claimed herself to be more Kiwi than Paul Henry but as a matter of fact will always look like an Indian. She termed the comments as outright racist and flippant. “Paul Henry does not live in the real world,” she said.
Community leaders were especially outraged that it was a public broadcaster funded by the taxpayer that was acting so irresponsibly and the fact that the head of the government was not doing enough to take it to task.
Labour MP Trevor Mallard yesterday said the furore over Henry's comments “could have been fixed right as it happened if the Prime Minister didn't try and smile and please Paul Henry.
“His decision at the time not to challenge Paul Henry was gutless and it means ... someone who has to make instant decisions that could be very important to the country made a decision to condone racism and not to call it right then.
“Frankly you do need to have a Prime Minister that has the backbone to say that behaviour is unacceptable. You don't have to go back to the office to think about it.”
Unite Union and Global Peace and Justice Auckland (GPJA) joined a protest outside TVNZ's Auckland offices last night and said suspending Henry, “the poster boy for bigotry,” was not enough and called for his sacking.
Unite Union national director Mike Treen said he did not call for someone's dismissal lightly.
“However Paul Henry legitimises racism and bigotry in the workplace. I deal every day with problems associated with managers and even co-workers abusing staff because they look or sound different.”
John Minto, spokesman for Global Peace and Justice Auckland, described Henry as a “boil on the backside of New Zealand.”
“He’s giving legitimacy to bigotry and racism,” he said. “Paul Henry is a serial offender. He has abused women, people of colour, gay people, people with disabilities and all migrant Kiwis who don't look like him.”
“What will it take the Prime Minister and the government to take decisive action on the errant broadcaster and its wholly owned broadcasting organisation?” asked Kevin Patel, a South Auckland businessman.
“Such racist comments, by Paul Henry have hit at the very roots of multiculturalism and Kiwi Indians will not tolerate this. The Prime Minister should feel sorry and apologise to the community at large,” said Harish Bajaj QSO, JP, a veteran community leader and vociferous supporter of anything Indian. He wishes to ask the Prime Minister that are all brown skin people holding NZ citizenship second class citizens?
The community’s disgust with Mr Henry’s comments has been steadily building up over the past weeks in the run up to the Commonwealth Games during the coverage of which he has spoken extremely disparagingly.
His repeated digs at Delhi Chief Minister Shiela Dixit’s name was aptly described as a “cheap shot” by NZICA President Paul Singh Bains.
Another Indian businessman who did not wish to be named said that he will surely not be voting for National and John Key – if he cannot stop a stupid and racist state broadcaster from mocking the Governor General and thus the future for the common man under John Key’s leadership is “bleak.”
National List MP Kanwaljit Bakshi has not been returning calls and has failed to vociferously condemn the actions of both Henry and the Prime Minister. He is a representative of the Indian Community first and then a member of the National Party and the community expects more from him.
Pansy Wong Ethnic Affairs Minister did not return calls and instead sent a brief statement by email which failed to address the basic issue of the Prime Minister’s inability to stop Mr Henry from making racist comments and his willingness to go back on a show with him as host.
Minister Wong’s statement also did not term Mr Henry’s convoluted comments as racist and did not ask for his permanent removal from the state run TVNZ. Such actions lend tacit support to racist people like the suspended show host.
Some community members have been outraged enough by the inept handling of the issue by the Prime Minister and are calling for an apology from him.
All like minded organisations can contact Indian Weekender at info@indianweekender.co.nz as we have been encouraged by our readers and community leaders to rally support to impress upon the Prime Minister to have the state broadcaster take strong and decisive action on Mr Henry – going beyond the a mere two week suspension.
Leave a Comment