After veteran Punjabi radio talk show host Harjinder Thind came under criticism after artist Jag Nagra made a complaint regarding Thind’s misogynist use of the term “abandoning babies” in regards to South Asian women allegedly leaving behind babies at Surrey Memorial Hospital, both Thind and Punjabi radio station RedFM has apologized for the fiasco. Recently, station owner Kulwinder Sanghera and host Harjinder Thind apologized on air for comments about mothers ‘abandoning’ babies to adoption. “I apologize unconditionally to anyone who was hurt or offended by my words,” Harjinder Thind said of his comments, which originally aired on Feb. 24, adding that he needs to be aware of the impact of his words on all listeners.
By DESIBUZZCanada Staff
SURREY – After veteran Punjabi radio talk show host Harjinder Thind came under criticism after artist Jag Nagra made a complaint regarding Thind’s misogynist use of the term “abandoning babies” in regards to South Asian women allegedly leaving behind babies at Surrey Memorial Hospital, both Thind and Punjabi radio station RedFM has apologized for the fiasco.
Recently, station owner Kulwinder Sanghera and host Harjinder Thind apologized on air for comments about mothers ‘abandoning’ babies to adoption.
“I apologize unconditionally to anyone who was hurt or offended by my words,” Harjinder Thind said of his comments, which originally aired on Feb. 24, adding that he needs to be aware of the impact of his words on all listeners.
RedFM president Sanghera also apologized on air and said the station plans to retain a diversity and sensitivity training consultant to better reflect the community.
The apology comes after Thind and the station came under fire including from South Asian gay organization Sher Vancouver which fully supported Nagra and applauded “her courage to stand up to male privilege, patriarchy, and blatant sexism” by Harjinder Thind of Red-FM.
“It is unfortunate that as we approach International Women’s Day that Harjinder Thind choose to attack vulnerable women in our community who for whatever reason had to leave their newborns behind at Surrey Memorial Hospital. This must have been a very difficult decision for these women. Imagine the emotional distress these women must have gone through to carry the baby to full term and successfully deliver their child,” Sher Vancouver said in a press release.
Thind came under criticism after Nagra, who was featured in the Sher Vancouver documentary on gay South Asians called Emergence: Out Of The Shadows, filed a Canadian Broadcasting complaint against Thind over comments he allegedly made about South Asian mothers abandoning babies at a local hospital.
“In my personal view, a hospital is a safe and appropriate place to leave a child. At least the child will have nutrition and shelter and receive 24/7 care, not to mention begin the process for formal adoption through proper official Ministry channels. The women are making a difficult but responsible decision” said Sher Vancouver Founder Alex Sangha.
JAG NAGRA STATED: “I was a call-in guest on Red FM on Thursday, February 24, 2022, to talk about the Punjabi Market Collective. While I waited on hold for my segment to start, Harjinder Thind was speaking on air saying that dozens of women are leaving their newborns at Surrey Memorial Hospital hours after they were born and he wanted to know who these women are.
“I found this line of questioning incredibly worrying for a number of reasons. I have reached out to Red FM, Harjinder Thind, Pooja Sekhon (Programming Director) and Kulwinder Sanghera (President) about why this line of questioning is damaging and have asked for them to have me on air with medical professionals and advocates to talk about why this is wrong, but have not received a reply from them. He asked for doctors and nurses to call him to verify his claims about women abandoning their newborns at Surrey Memorial Hospital and said he would disguise their voices and hide their identities. He asked multiple times “Who are these women?” What he is doing is asking medical professionals to break patient/doctor confidentiality.
“The three of them went on air on Monday, Feb 28, and Red FM released a statement on Twitter on Thursday, March 3, and gaslit me and are trying to change the narrative to justify why he asked what he did.
“I have received hundreds of messages including phone calls, comments, and private messages from people in the community and in media who have supported me and are standing with me. This sort of misogyny has no place on Canadian airwaves and we need accountability from Red FM and from the CRTC who is giving licenses to broadcasters. We must keep our communities safe.”
ENGLISH TRANSLATION OF HARJINDER THIND’S PUNJABI COMMENTS FROM STATION’S AUDIO OF THE SHOW
“I want to share another very serious news with you, its information is coming continuously but no person is ready to come out publicly to talk about it. Our trusted sources tell us that every week many infants are being left for adoption at the SMH.
Who are these mothers who deliver their kids by the dozens and leave right away without even seeing their faces?
We have been trying our best to find out for the past 2 weeks who these mothers are. We are getting continuous reports from there that ‘today this many kids, today these many kids have been delivered and the mother left after a few hours even without seeing the child’s face.
Who are these young mothers, we are continuing to get ‘unclear’ reports, the number of these infants is increasing.
If any nurse or delivery doctor can support us, we want to assure you that their identity will be kept confidential, we can change their voice, but they must confirm these reports, and they must verify who these mothers are who are giving birth to these children, usually, these are their firstborns, and they leave the Surrey Memorial Hospital right away.
And these kids are being left at the maternity ward, where the number of children for adoption has skyrocketed suddenly. We have yet to find out who these girls are who give birth and leave at once.
This news is related to our community because these kids are South Asian”
Sher Vancouver asked these questions of Thind: “Why is Harjinder Thind asking for the identity of these women? Why is he calling on health care professionals to reveal this information? Does he not realize that health care professionals abide by a Code of Ethics and must protect client confidentiality at all costs, especially around sensitive public health care information. Is it Harjinder Thind’s intention to publicly blame and shame vulnerable women in our community who just gave up their newborn?”
Satwinder Kaur Bains, director of the South Asian Studies Institute at the University of the Fraser Valley, told CBC News Thind’s broadcast remarks were reflective of a wider attitude among certain older South Asian men.
“The ‘uncle complex’ is that senior men in our community who have, through patriarchy, created positions of both privilege and power for themselves [but] have not reciprocated with younger people to understand their lives and to make changes in their own thinking,” she said.
Bains had said Thind should publicly apologize for his comments and make efforts to change his viewpoint.
“[The incident] should convey that issues around women’s lives are not the purview of men to make light of,” Bains said. “The journalistic platform has ethical responsibility, has a moral responsibility and has a regulatory responsibility.”
Previous complaints
Thind and RED FM have been the subject of previous regulatory complaints.
In 2011, the Surrey Women’s Centre said they had filed a complaint with the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) against Thind and RED FM, stating that Thind had made inflammatory comments about domestic abuse.
Thind’s remarks came a day after a murder case in which a man fatally stabbed his estranged wife in Surrey.
In 2008, Thind was forced to issue an on-air apology following a CBSC complaint which said he breached ethical codes. The CBSC found Thind did not perform his duty during a show which saw callers make disparaging comments about gay people.
The CBSC is a self-regulatory body of Canada’s private broadcasters. It does not have the ability to issue fines or strip a station of its broadcasting licence. However, it can compel broadcasters to issue on-air apologies and follow up with complainants.
