AS PER a report in a local ethnic TV programme 'Desi Kangaroos', RJ Kyle Sandilands reportedly said, "India is a shit hole", and went further to describe river Ganga as a 'junkyard' on his "Kyle and Jacky O" show. Incensed at the comments, the Council of Indian Australians (CIA) has come down hard on Sandilands for the "insulting" remarks. The Council has warned to take up the matter with Australia's media regulatory body if the matter is not sorted out amicably.
"Sandilands made insulting comments against India and ridiculed the Ganges which is a sacred river in Hinduism. His ridicule involved some of the practices of the followers of Hinduism," said CIA president Yadu Singh said in an official public statement. The president of CIA also found Kyle's comments "insensitive, insulting, hurtful and unwarranted," and expressed his anger and indignation at Sandilands' comments.
"The Indian Australian community is a peaceful and tolerant community... It does not attack any nation, national group or religious practices of any group. It is obviously not happy when others attack them or their belief system," Singh further added.
The Council has written to the radio station, asking for an apology from the station as well as Sandilands, and intends to seek closure in the matter through a mutually satisfactory way. If the radio station and the RJ Kyle Sandilands don't apologize the matter will be taken up with the Australian Communication & Media Authority.
It was highly unprofessional of Sandilands to make such comments in the public domain - in a clear breach of freedom to speech. His comments come at a time when Australia as a nation is trying hard to be empathetic to the Indian community after a wave of attacks on Indians studying in various universities in the large country down under.
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